LA Course #GCE-1-2301
Climate Change & Trees
Edited by Richard W Gibney
Sections Go directly to the Section by clicking on the title below
Climate Change & Trees
Edited by Richard W Gibney
Sections Go directly to the Section by clicking on the title below
Note: Click on green text in each section for more information and photos.
Proof that People Need Trees Edited by Len Phillips
People living in dense cities are often unhappy because the built environments fail to put people at ease and make them feel safe. The rates of depression among city dwellers are 40% higher and anxiety is 20% higher than people living with green surroundings. On top of this, COVID19 has caused many people to stay at home and they have become very stressed, bored and unhappy.
Professional Responsibility
Arborists, planners, architects, and landscape architects have a responsibility to design a built environment that increases the well-being of all people. Well-defined corridors and streets are necessary to encourage walking in parks and among beautiful trees around the city. However, many of these outdoor urban environments are neglected and in need of improvement.
In response to this many cities are starting to spend resources to improve their public open spaces. As we now understand, humans are drawn to landscapes that provide a refuge, a sense of safety, and a view of the entire scene, which supports that sense of safety and happiness. Visual storytelling is also important in landscapes, whether they are gardens, parks, or streetscapes. Humans are drawn to landscapes that provide clear and interesting sequences. Researchers are beginning to study why and how residents use a landscape.
Research
Through eye-tracking software, researchers were able to track a person's eye movement to determine what is seen and to learn what a mind is looking at in an unconscious level. This visual attention software can map the path that a persons’ eyes take across an image. It can detect where the eyes fixate in order to experience an unconscious response to visual stimuli. In a study of 30 students, researchers found the students universally looked at the entrance and windows on a traditional building first, ignoring the blank areas such as walls and streets. The eyes then fixated briefly on the edges. Finally they just looked at the sky because the image simply caused too much cognitive stress. The eyes also did fixate on red, followed by orange and green, with blue getting the least attention, until they focused on the sky.
The eye tracking software showed that communities which have homes close to the street and sidewalks all encourage walking. If a pedestrian can see a sequence, one, two, three, or four homes in a row, they are more likely to want to walk down that row. The researchers know this because they could see the students unconsciously looking at all the facades of homes as they passed by.
Research Results
In contrast, an image of a row of parking garages or buildings with no clear doors or windows, caused students to scan for windows, quickly give up, and look at the sky. The boring sections had far less visual intensity, and it was a less walkable environment because of the boring architecture. Trees, flags, other people and columns succeed in grabbing attention, which has been known for millennia even before eye-tracking software. Flags predate permanent settlements, and the ancient Greeks and Romans used columns in their architecture to grab attention from people walking in their cities.
Why does all this matter? Researchers argue that environments that are easier to fixate on cause less cognitive stress. Megan Oliver, an urbanist based in Baltimore, Maryland, and founder of Hello Happy Design, said that this research is critical, because there is a “mental health crisis” in the U.S., particularly in the cities.
People are constantly responding to the built environment and in turn are trying to shape the natural environment in order to reduce the impact of environmental stressors. The stressors are created by blank glass or concrete building facades, crowds, noise, and air pollution, etc. These stressors combine to make people anxious, sick, and unhappy.
Happy Places
Happy places are designed to encourage positive social behavior. This is because people need social connections in order to thrive. Happy places help create and enhance social relationships, including a sense of belonging and identity. Happy places build trust, which helps pull communities through challenges. Communities with pro-social behavior are also more inclusive and participatory and therefore better at shaping the built environment to meet their needs. The ethos in these communities is to change people's emotions by changing the city. These communities shape their spaces, creating shared identity through gardens, public art, and other improvements that help reduce stress. Happy places then go beyond places we inhabit and become extensions of ourselves. These places enable us to bond with the environment around us.
Safe and Beautiful Spaces
A related conversation occurred at the Congress for New Urbanism’s 2021 Virtual Gathering. Participants argued that humans are always looking for safe spaces. We think about survival every minute of the day. But beauty is equally important. We have an intuitive response that creates a sense of pleasure. The problem is that people's survival instinct is about five-to-seven times stronger than the pleasure instinct, so anything in the built environment that is a stressor overwhelms the ability to experience beauty. So, designers should focus on making their projects allow a human to create a deep relaxation so that pleasure can be experienced.
Trillions of dollars need to be spent in cities around the globe on intimate people friendly networks that are comfortable to humans. Furthermore, all urban spaces should be connected to other people and friendly networks. Urban designers, arborists, architects, and landscape architects should use human scale dimensions, apply pattern languages, and make the boundaries of buildings and spaces permeable. Designers should be “applying mathematical symmetries” at multiple scales. The trees, the urban landscape architectural and ornamental scale should all be aligned. The measure of success will be the flow and happiness of people. Urban space designers and arborists should try to encourage a happy environment.
Source
Proof that People Need Trees Edited by Len Phillips
People living in dense cities are often unhappy because the built environments fail to put people at ease and make them feel safe. The rates of depression among city dwellers are 40% higher and anxiety is 20% higher than people living with green surroundings. On top of this, COVID19 has caused many people to stay at home and they have become very stressed, bored and unhappy.
Professional Responsibility
Arborists, planners, architects, and landscape architects have a responsibility to design a built environment that increases the well-being of all people. Well-defined corridors and streets are necessary to encourage walking in parks and among beautiful trees around the city. However, many of these outdoor urban environments are neglected and in need of improvement.
In response to this many cities are starting to spend resources to improve their public open spaces. As we now understand, humans are drawn to landscapes that provide a refuge, a sense of safety, and a view of the entire scene, which supports that sense of safety and happiness. Visual storytelling is also important in landscapes, whether they are gardens, parks, or streetscapes. Humans are drawn to landscapes that provide clear and interesting sequences. Researchers are beginning to study why and how residents use a landscape.
Research
Through eye-tracking software, researchers were able to track a person's eye movement to determine what is seen and to learn what a mind is looking at in an unconscious level. This visual attention software can map the path that a persons’ eyes take across an image. It can detect where the eyes fixate in order to experience an unconscious response to visual stimuli. In a study of 30 students, researchers found the students universally looked at the entrance and windows on a traditional building first, ignoring the blank areas such as walls and streets. The eyes then fixated briefly on the edges. Finally they just looked at the sky because the image simply caused too much cognitive stress. The eyes also did fixate on red, followed by orange and green, with blue getting the least attention, until they focused on the sky.
The eye tracking software showed that communities which have homes close to the street and sidewalks all encourage walking. If a pedestrian can see a sequence, one, two, three, or four homes in a row, they are more likely to want to walk down that row. The researchers know this because they could see the students unconsciously looking at all the facades of homes as they passed by.
Research Results
In contrast, an image of a row of parking garages or buildings with no clear doors or windows, caused students to scan for windows, quickly give up, and look at the sky. The boring sections had far less visual intensity, and it was a less walkable environment because of the boring architecture. Trees, flags, other people and columns succeed in grabbing attention, which has been known for millennia even before eye-tracking software. Flags predate permanent settlements, and the ancient Greeks and Romans used columns in their architecture to grab attention from people walking in their cities.
Why does all this matter? Researchers argue that environments that are easier to fixate on cause less cognitive stress. Megan Oliver, an urbanist based in Baltimore, Maryland, and founder of Hello Happy Design, said that this research is critical, because there is a “mental health crisis” in the U.S., particularly in the cities.
People are constantly responding to the built environment and in turn are trying to shape the natural environment in order to reduce the impact of environmental stressors. The stressors are created by blank glass or concrete building facades, crowds, noise, and air pollution, etc. These stressors combine to make people anxious, sick, and unhappy.
Happy Places
Happy places are designed to encourage positive social behavior. This is because people need social connections in order to thrive. Happy places help create and enhance social relationships, including a sense of belonging and identity. Happy places build trust, which helps pull communities through challenges. Communities with pro-social behavior are also more inclusive and participatory and therefore better at shaping the built environment to meet their needs. The ethos in these communities is to change people's emotions by changing the city. These communities shape their spaces, creating shared identity through gardens, public art, and other improvements that help reduce stress. Happy places then go beyond places we inhabit and become extensions of ourselves. These places enable us to bond with the environment around us.
Safe and Beautiful Spaces
A related conversation occurred at the Congress for New Urbanism’s 2021 Virtual Gathering. Participants argued that humans are always looking for safe spaces. We think about survival every minute of the day. But beauty is equally important. We have an intuitive response that creates a sense of pleasure. The problem is that people's survival instinct is about five-to-seven times stronger than the pleasure instinct, so anything in the built environment that is a stressor overwhelms the ability to experience beauty. So, designers should focus on making their projects allow a human to create a deep relaxation so that pleasure can be experienced.
Trillions of dollars need to be spent in cities around the globe on intimate people friendly networks that are comfortable to humans. Furthermore, all urban spaces should be connected to other people and friendly networks. Urban designers, arborists, architects, and landscape architects should use human scale dimensions, apply pattern languages, and make the boundaries of buildings and spaces permeable. Designers should be “applying mathematical symmetries” at multiple scales. The trees, the urban landscape architectural and ornamental scale should all be aligned. The measure of success will be the flow and happiness of people. Urban space designers and arborists should try to encourage a happy environment.
Source
- Green, Jared, “The Built Environment Impacts Our Health and Happiness”, The Dirt, 06/07/2021.
Do Your Part to Fight Climate Change
By Len Phillips
As arborists and landscape architects, the most important thing you can do to fight climate change is to plant as many trees as possible. As you begin making plans for spring planting, your efforts should follow your tree planting master plan. The master plan is a comprehensive review of the area of your responsibility, the property or the city. The purpose of the review is to be sure the benefits from the trees are maximized as you select locations for new trees.
However, if you do not have a master plan, you can still focus on the selection and installation of trees for this spring.
Big shade trees deserve credit for cooling our cities while delivering many environmental and health benefits. Some reasons to plant big trees begin with the most obvious.
Big shade trees:
For more information on planning to install trees, see our article Planning to Install Trees
Heat Tolerant Trees
Because you should be selecting trees for the long term, look for tree species that are heat tolerant so they are able to thrive while dealing with warming temperatures. The heat tolerance is based on a general comparison to other trees. The trees selected should be species of trees that will tolerate heat as far south as the Hardiness Zone 9 of southern Florida.
Don't be afraid to plant very small trees in protected locations. Most seedlings will be full grown in 30 years and that is when some scientists project global warming may begin to become hazardous to human life.
Also don't be afraid to try new cultivars. Every year the nursery industry is busy creating new introductions that have been selected for their heat tolerance in addition to other desirable features. For a list of heat tolerant trees, see our article The Best Solution to Global Warming.
Installing Bare Root Trees
A bare root (BR) tree, once installed at a new location, will establish and grow at double the rate of a balled and burlapped (B&B) tree and a containerized tree. However, BR trees require special care in order to ensure survival and rapid recovery from transplant shock. The major caution with a BR tree is that because it has no soil with it, the tree must be installed as quickly as possible after leaving the nursery. The tree roots must ALWAYS be in the shade and soaking wet, even while the hole is being dug. If most of the tiny root hairs survive the transplanting process, the tree will continue its rapid growth as if it was still in the nursery.
Another plus for bare root trees is their cost. They are one-half the cost of the same species and size tree being sold B&B. In addition, it immediately adapts to the soil at its new home so transplant shock recovery is minimal. For more information on this subject, see our article Planting Trees at a Bargain Rate.
Tree Staking
Once the tree has been selected and the tree pit has been dug, the tree should be set in the bottom of the pit and the roots covered with a thin layer of soil. At this point there are new guidelines. The tree should be stabilized by the roots instead of guywires attached to the tree or tall stakes that prevent tree movement five feet (1-½ m) or so, above the ground. The old guywires were often forgotten and left in the tree beyond the establishment period. The wires then resulted in harming the tree by girdling or becoming a breaking point for the top of the tree.
Tree stabilization is a method by which the roots of a tree are firmly attached to the bottom of the installation pit with a tree stabilizer that is installed at the end of the planting process. The device is installed in a manner which prevents the tree roots from moving so the tree flare can develop in a normal manner instead of halfway up the tree where it was tied to the stakes. For more information on this subject, see our article Change Your Tree Staking Detail. This article also discusses purchasing trees by quotes instead of bidding. Quotes can double the number of trees your budget can afford.
Watering New Trees
When a tree is installed, the hole should be filled with water halfway through the installation process and again when it is completely planted. The saucer should be filled two more times within 24 hours after installation. Even if it is raining, a thorough watering will eliminate trapped air pockets in the soil and reduce transplant shock. After installation, a thorough watering once a week is necessary until the end of the first growing season. On extremely hot or windy days, a very fine misting of the leaves may be necessary several times a day. Watering may also be necessary during periods of drought for a few years after installation. Mulching trees with a 1 – 3 inch (2.5 – 8 cm) thick layer of woodchips or other mulch is recommended as it helps reduce evaporation and conserves water in the soil. Large bags that drip water for several days are also a labor saver. For more information, see our article Watering Trees after Installation.
Mulch New Trees
The use of organic mulches in the landscape is intended to duplicate the leaves and needles in the forest where they are deposited annually on the forest floor. Composted leaves act to insulate the soil in winter and they are the mechanism by which carbon and mineral nutrients are recycled into the soil for use by the growing tree.
Mulch can be anything that will facilitate the survival of microorganisms, conserve soil moisture and reduce weed growth in competition with the tree. Mulch can be any locally available product that will simulate the conditions on the forest floor. Though there is no single best mulch, except leaves from the forest trees, organic mulches are better for the tree and the ecology of soil. Mulch from coniferous plants are best for placement over the roots of conifers and hardwood mulch is considered the best for around hardwood trees. For more information, see our article Mulching Trees.
By Len Phillips
As arborists and landscape architects, the most important thing you can do to fight climate change is to plant as many trees as possible. As you begin making plans for spring planting, your efforts should follow your tree planting master plan. The master plan is a comprehensive review of the area of your responsibility, the property or the city. The purpose of the review is to be sure the benefits from the trees are maximized as you select locations for new trees.
However, if you do not have a master plan, you can still focus on the selection and installation of trees for this spring.
Big shade trees deserve credit for cooling our cities while delivering many environmental and health benefits. Some reasons to plant big trees begin with the most obvious.
Big shade trees:
- reduce energy costs via direct shading of buildings and pavement and reducing temperatures via evapotranspiration,
- help to manage stormwater at the installation site and reduce runoff,
- convert carbon dioxide to oxygen and scrub the air of harmful particulates,
- provide essential health benefits to people,
- increase property values.
For more information on planning to install trees, see our article Planning to Install Trees
Heat Tolerant Trees
Because you should be selecting trees for the long term, look for tree species that are heat tolerant so they are able to thrive while dealing with warming temperatures. The heat tolerance is based on a general comparison to other trees. The trees selected should be species of trees that will tolerate heat as far south as the Hardiness Zone 9 of southern Florida.
Don't be afraid to plant very small trees in protected locations. Most seedlings will be full grown in 30 years and that is when some scientists project global warming may begin to become hazardous to human life.
Also don't be afraid to try new cultivars. Every year the nursery industry is busy creating new introductions that have been selected for their heat tolerance in addition to other desirable features. For a list of heat tolerant trees, see our article The Best Solution to Global Warming.
Installing Bare Root Trees
A bare root (BR) tree, once installed at a new location, will establish and grow at double the rate of a balled and burlapped (B&B) tree and a containerized tree. However, BR trees require special care in order to ensure survival and rapid recovery from transplant shock. The major caution with a BR tree is that because it has no soil with it, the tree must be installed as quickly as possible after leaving the nursery. The tree roots must ALWAYS be in the shade and soaking wet, even while the hole is being dug. If most of the tiny root hairs survive the transplanting process, the tree will continue its rapid growth as if it was still in the nursery.
Another plus for bare root trees is their cost. They are one-half the cost of the same species and size tree being sold B&B. In addition, it immediately adapts to the soil at its new home so transplant shock recovery is minimal. For more information on this subject, see our article Planting Trees at a Bargain Rate.
Tree Staking
Once the tree has been selected and the tree pit has been dug, the tree should be set in the bottom of the pit and the roots covered with a thin layer of soil. At this point there are new guidelines. The tree should be stabilized by the roots instead of guywires attached to the tree or tall stakes that prevent tree movement five feet (1-½ m) or so, above the ground. The old guywires were often forgotten and left in the tree beyond the establishment period. The wires then resulted in harming the tree by girdling or becoming a breaking point for the top of the tree.
Tree stabilization is a method by which the roots of a tree are firmly attached to the bottom of the installation pit with a tree stabilizer that is installed at the end of the planting process. The device is installed in a manner which prevents the tree roots from moving so the tree flare can develop in a normal manner instead of halfway up the tree where it was tied to the stakes. For more information on this subject, see our article Change Your Tree Staking Detail. This article also discusses purchasing trees by quotes instead of bidding. Quotes can double the number of trees your budget can afford.
Watering New Trees
When a tree is installed, the hole should be filled with water halfway through the installation process and again when it is completely planted. The saucer should be filled two more times within 24 hours after installation. Even if it is raining, a thorough watering will eliminate trapped air pockets in the soil and reduce transplant shock. After installation, a thorough watering once a week is necessary until the end of the first growing season. On extremely hot or windy days, a very fine misting of the leaves may be necessary several times a day. Watering may also be necessary during periods of drought for a few years after installation. Mulching trees with a 1 – 3 inch (2.5 – 8 cm) thick layer of woodchips or other mulch is recommended as it helps reduce evaporation and conserves water in the soil. Large bags that drip water for several days are also a labor saver. For more information, see our article Watering Trees after Installation.
Mulch New Trees
The use of organic mulches in the landscape is intended to duplicate the leaves and needles in the forest where they are deposited annually on the forest floor. Composted leaves act to insulate the soil in winter and they are the mechanism by which carbon and mineral nutrients are recycled into the soil for use by the growing tree.
Mulch can be anything that will facilitate the survival of microorganisms, conserve soil moisture and reduce weed growth in competition with the tree. Mulch can be any locally available product that will simulate the conditions on the forest floor. Though there is no single best mulch, except leaves from the forest trees, organic mulches are better for the tree and the ecology of soil. Mulch from coniferous plants are best for placement over the roots of conifers and hardwood mulch is considered the best for around hardwood trees. For more information, see our article Mulching Trees.
The Fight Against Global Warming in Madrid
Edited by Len Phillips
Madrid is the most populated city in the country of Spain. The city is elegant with boulevards and expansive, manicured parks. It is also the capital city of Spain, the seat of government and the residence of the Spanish monarch. Madrid is the political, economic and cultural center of the country and lies on the River Manzanares. It is also renowned for its rich repositories of European art, including the Prado Museum’s works by Goya, Velázquez and other Spanish masters. The city itself has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7million people. While Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighborhoods and streets.
Trees and Green Spaces
Madrid is the European city with the highest number of trees and green surface areas per inhabitant and it has the second highest number of street trees in the world, with 248,000 trees, only exceeded by Tokyo. All Madrid's citizens have access to a green area within a 15-minute walk. Since 1997, green areas have increased by 16%. At present, 8.2% of Madrid's land area is considered green. This is equal to 172 sq ft (16 sq m) of green area per inhabitant, far exceeding the 108 sq ft (10 sq m) per inhabitant recommended by the World Health Organization.
Most of the important parks in Madrid are related to areas originally belonging to the royal family. They include El Pardo, Soto de Viñuelas, Casa de Campo, El Buen Retiro, la Florida, Príncipe Pío hill, and the Queen's Casino. Another main source for the "green" areas are the properties owned by the municipality.
Automobile Restrictions
In 2016 it was announced that Madrid will stop the use of all diesel powered cars and trucks within the city. Cars (except for hybrid and electric vehicles belonging to residents and guests) have been banned in the Madrid Central low-emission zone since 2018. Pollution in the area dropped right after this ban went into effect.
The Green Wall
To further combat climate change and pollution, Madrid is building a “green wall” around the city. A 46 mile (75 kilometer) long urban forest with nearly half a million newly installed trees are being used to create this “green wall”. The purpose is to improve the air quality in the whole city, according to City's councilor for the environment and urban development. The plan is to fight the “urban heat island” that is happening inside the city. The trees are intended to absorb the greenhouse emissions generated by the city and connect all the existing forest masses that already exist around the city. The project will also make use of derelict sites lying between roads and buildings to help absorb 175,000 US tons (158,800 metric tons) of carbon dioxide per year.
When finished, Madrid's 'green wall' will be a forest of indigenous trees that can absorb carbon dioxide and also absorb the heat generated by human activity. Temperatures under the shade of these trees are at least 2 degrees lower than the rest of the city. (Other cities have reported as much as 40 degrees cooler in the shade of its city trees).
Madrid's urban forest is part of a comprehensive approach aiming to make the city more environmentally friendly, beyond just restricting private car use in the urban center. It has to be a global strategy. It's not only about cars, but also about a pedestrian strategy. The creation of environmental corridors is necessary in every district to engage citizens in this new green culture. It is essential for every city to face urban heat islands in the near future even in the best conditions.
With desertification reaching the doorstep of southern Europe, Spain's urban forest is intended to be both a mitigation and adaptation measure to deal with climate change. It is not a park because the requirements were that it would use very little water, the planting would be of indigenous trees and the low maintenance would require tough trees. Because at the end of the day an infrastructure this big needs to be preserved with a minimum effort so it can be sustainable over time.
Madrid and most other cities around the world consume two-thirds of the global energy supply and generate three-quarters of the world's greenhouse emissions. By restricting traffic and promoting cycling and public transportation in combination with planting more trees and looking for sustainable sources of energy, Madrid has already started their transformation. They will still be affected by climate change, but they will also be an essential part of the solution.
Source
The test that follows contains 30 questions. Before taking the test be sure you have read the article carefully. The passing grade is 80% on the entire test.
LA CES will award 1.0 PDH (HSW) credit for a passing grade. North Carolina Board of LA and New Jersey Board of Architects will award 1.0 credits for a passing grade.
The cost for taking this test is $20 per credit. If you purchase an annual subscription for 12 credits, the cost per credit is reduced by 50% (see Annual Subscription link below). We will report your passing test score to LA CES. If you are also ISA* certified we will report your passing score to ISA for no additional cost. Please be sure to add your ISA Certification number when you sign in. Tests with passing scores may be submitted only once to each organization.
*ISA has approved this course for .5 CEUs per section for a total of 1.5 CEUs.
To take the test by the pay per test option, click on the 'Pay Now' button below where you can send payment securely with your credit card or Pay Pal account. After your payment is submitted, click on ‘Return to Merchant' / gibneyCE.com. That will take you to the test sign in page followed by the test. If you are an ISA and/or CLARB member, please be sure to include your certification/member number(s) along with your LA license and ASLA numbers.
To take the test as an annual subscriber with reduced rates, click on Password and enter your test password which will take you to the test sign in page. If you would like to become a subscriber see our Annual Subscription page for details.
When you have finished answering all questions you will be prompted to click ‘next’ to send your answers to gibneyCE.com. You can then click ‘next’ to view your test summary. A test review of your answers is available upon request. You can spend as much time as you would like to take the test but it is important not to leave the test site until you have answered all the questions and see the 'sending your answers' response.
Test re-takes are allowed, however you will have to pay for the retake if you are using the pay per test option.
All passing test scores are sent from gibneyCE.com to your organization(s) at the end of every month and they will appear on your certification record 4 to 6 weeks after that.
LA CES maintains a record of earned PDH credits on their website http://laces.asla.org/
ISA maintains a record of earned CEU credits on their website http://www.isa-arbor.com/
Edited by Len Phillips
Madrid is the most populated city in the country of Spain. The city is elegant with boulevards and expansive, manicured parks. It is also the capital city of Spain, the seat of government and the residence of the Spanish monarch. Madrid is the political, economic and cultural center of the country and lies on the River Manzanares. It is also renowned for its rich repositories of European art, including the Prado Museum’s works by Goya, Velázquez and other Spanish masters. The city itself has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7million people. While Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighborhoods and streets.
Trees and Green Spaces
Madrid is the European city with the highest number of trees and green surface areas per inhabitant and it has the second highest number of street trees in the world, with 248,000 trees, only exceeded by Tokyo. All Madrid's citizens have access to a green area within a 15-minute walk. Since 1997, green areas have increased by 16%. At present, 8.2% of Madrid's land area is considered green. This is equal to 172 sq ft (16 sq m) of green area per inhabitant, far exceeding the 108 sq ft (10 sq m) per inhabitant recommended by the World Health Organization.
Most of the important parks in Madrid are related to areas originally belonging to the royal family. They include El Pardo, Soto de Viñuelas, Casa de Campo, El Buen Retiro, la Florida, Príncipe Pío hill, and the Queen's Casino. Another main source for the "green" areas are the properties owned by the municipality.
Automobile Restrictions
In 2016 it was announced that Madrid will stop the use of all diesel powered cars and trucks within the city. Cars (except for hybrid and electric vehicles belonging to residents and guests) have been banned in the Madrid Central low-emission zone since 2018. Pollution in the area dropped right after this ban went into effect.
The Green Wall
To further combat climate change and pollution, Madrid is building a “green wall” around the city. A 46 mile (75 kilometer) long urban forest with nearly half a million newly installed trees are being used to create this “green wall”. The purpose is to improve the air quality in the whole city, according to City's councilor for the environment and urban development. The plan is to fight the “urban heat island” that is happening inside the city. The trees are intended to absorb the greenhouse emissions generated by the city and connect all the existing forest masses that already exist around the city. The project will also make use of derelict sites lying between roads and buildings to help absorb 175,000 US tons (158,800 metric tons) of carbon dioxide per year.
When finished, Madrid's 'green wall' will be a forest of indigenous trees that can absorb carbon dioxide and also absorb the heat generated by human activity. Temperatures under the shade of these trees are at least 2 degrees lower than the rest of the city. (Other cities have reported as much as 40 degrees cooler in the shade of its city trees).
Madrid's urban forest is part of a comprehensive approach aiming to make the city more environmentally friendly, beyond just restricting private car use in the urban center. It has to be a global strategy. It's not only about cars, but also about a pedestrian strategy. The creation of environmental corridors is necessary in every district to engage citizens in this new green culture. It is essential for every city to face urban heat islands in the near future even in the best conditions.
With desertification reaching the doorstep of southern Europe, Spain's urban forest is intended to be both a mitigation and adaptation measure to deal with climate change. It is not a park because the requirements were that it would use very little water, the planting would be of indigenous trees and the low maintenance would require tough trees. Because at the end of the day an infrastructure this big needs to be preserved with a minimum effort so it can be sustainable over time.
Madrid and most other cities around the world consume two-thirds of the global energy supply and generate three-quarters of the world's greenhouse emissions. By restricting traffic and promoting cycling and public transportation in combination with planting more trees and looking for sustainable sources of energy, Madrid has already started their transformation. They will still be affected by climate change, but they will also be an essential part of the solution.
Source
- Jaime Velázquez, EuroGreen News, July 19, 2021.
The test that follows contains 30 questions. Before taking the test be sure you have read the article carefully. The passing grade is 80% on the entire test.
LA CES will award 1.0 PDH (HSW) credit for a passing grade. North Carolina Board of LA and New Jersey Board of Architects will award 1.0 credits for a passing grade.
The cost for taking this test is $20 per credit. If you purchase an annual subscription for 12 credits, the cost per credit is reduced by 50% (see Annual Subscription link below). We will report your passing test score to LA CES. If you are also ISA* certified we will report your passing score to ISA for no additional cost. Please be sure to add your ISA Certification number when you sign in. Tests with passing scores may be submitted only once to each organization.
*ISA has approved this course for .5 CEUs per section for a total of 1.5 CEUs.
To take the test by the pay per test option, click on the 'Pay Now' button below where you can send payment securely with your credit card or Pay Pal account. After your payment is submitted, click on ‘Return to Merchant' / gibneyCE.com. That will take you to the test sign in page followed by the test. If you are an ISA and/or CLARB member, please be sure to include your certification/member number(s) along with your LA license and ASLA numbers.
To take the test as an annual subscriber with reduced rates, click on Password and enter your test password which will take you to the test sign in page. If you would like to become a subscriber see our Annual Subscription page for details.
When you have finished answering all questions you will be prompted to click ‘next’ to send your answers to gibneyCE.com. You can then click ‘next’ to view your test summary. A test review of your answers is available upon request. You can spend as much time as you would like to take the test but it is important not to leave the test site until you have answered all the questions and see the 'sending your answers' response.
Test re-takes are allowed, however you will have to pay for the retake if you are using the pay per test option.
All passing test scores are sent from gibneyCE.com to your organization(s) at the end of every month and they will appear on your certification record 4 to 6 weeks after that.
LA CES maintains a record of earned PDH credits on their website http://laces.asla.org/
ISA maintains a record of earned CEU credits on their website http://www.isa-arbor.com/