Columbia U. is new pilot site for the program that will save American cities

Have you seen anything about the US Green Building Council’s new LEED – Neighborhood Development standards?? If you haven’t, you should, cuz this stuff is exciting.

Columbia University’s proposed Manhattanville expansion was chosen for a new “smart growth” pilot program under LEED-ND standards. This is hot! Use the money and connections of the university system to help develop a program that will make our cities functional again.

A few reasons why LEED-ND standards are so cool:

considers impacts on physical and mental health, social capital, injuries, physical fitness, and special populations like children and low income communities

places buildings in context

makes it harder for stupid buildings like casinos and prisons

YOU can get involved! – Join the Corresponding Committee

About Mattie

Mattie is a member of the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition's Steering Committee, an organization he founded at Power Shift 07. He is proud to support a growing statewide network of student groups working for a clean, safe, and just future for all. Mattie originally got involved as a Syracuse University student who saw a pressing need for climate action, later as an Energy Justice Network intern who began to realize the human impacts of coal, and finally as an OSEC organizer committed to building an economy and climate worth fighting for. He also has a degree in women's studies and sociology, is a founding member of the Mountain Justice Spring Break Planning Collective and an intentional community in Columbus, and is the convener of the Energy Action Coalition's Anti-Oppression working group.