As the world awakens to the emergency of climate change, we must begin to look at every facet of life to see things that are right in front of us, but unobvious. CO2 and other greenhouse gases have clearly and undeniably changed our climate forever. A rise in temperatures and sea level are guaranteed at this point. The question is not if, but when.

Americans in particular have enjoyed sprawling communities far from the workplace for the better part of 50 years. We have become used to large houses on quiet streets, far from the action and noise of the city. And we have become used to longer commutes, 25% longer than a few decades ago with some over 60 minutes in each direction. Wasting the little time we have and belching CO2 the whole way there…and back.

Recently, there has been a move back to cities, in high quality multifamily and mixed use communities, especially by the younger generation. They enjoy the activities, proximity to entertainment, and easy maintenance this style of living bring. And it turns out that this alone could reduce CO2 by 30% or more, very rapidly. High quality multifamily projects in urban environments help in several dramatic ways. To start, most people who live there also work close by. They take public transportation daily or walk or ride a bike. Taking millions of cars off the road every day.

The dwellings are beautiful and upscale but significantly smaller than a single free standing house. They are built tighter, with more insulation, and the heating can be very efficient with most heat loss occurring into an adjacent unit (this sharing some energy). The CO2 generated due to the heating and cooling of condo's can be 70% less than a single family home. The amount of lawn to water is close to zero (saving CO2 from pumping the water to the home and also saving precious clean water). And the amount of materials used to build a condo versus a single family home can be 30% to 50% less, saving in CO2 from manufacturing these items (a major source of CO2 actually) as well as the transportation to the jobsite and installation time and energy.

Without questions, one of the best moves a person can make to have a major impact on the environment is to purchase a condo or townhome in an urban setting. If everyone in the US lived in this way, we could cut carbon emissions by 1B metric tons or more. That is about what Italy and the UK generate as a whole combined.

But today, the number one complaint of occupants is noise. And it is this noise that keeps people from moving into urban environments, and thus continuing to generate more CO2. Noise from the street, noise from neighbors, noise when you are trying to sleep.

According to a 2007 report by the World Health Organization, excessive noise in everyday life is not only responsible for unhappiness, poor learning, poor concentration, stress, poor sleep and overall crankiness…but it is also responsible for deaths. Yes, you read it correctly, deaths. How many deaths? According to the report, 3% of heart attack deaths can be attributed to noise in everyday life. The stress and sleep deprivation caused by everyday noise in urban environments is responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths annually. That is a wake up call.

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