Finally, the third and most comprehensive design, called Green Canopy, includes all the traffic calming, planting and pedestrian bridges of the first two and adds a giant plant-covered canopy over the entire trench to cut down on noise and reduce pollution. The steel angle-and-beam structure canopy was designed with the help of Kiss+Cathcart Architects. Additionally, solar panels would cover the canopy to generate renewable energy and space would be created for new shops or restaurants at bridge crossings.
Costs for the proposals vary from $10.7 million up to $82.7 million depending on the concept chosen and additional features. Funding for the project has not been allocated nor have any decisions been made.
Via A/N Blog
Images © Starr Whitehouse
This is a perfect example of how we can integrate distributed renewables into the built environment… In Colorado we now have the Community Solar Gardens Act, which allows for shared ownership of solar energy. This would work well with the sort of design shown here.