Page 6 - October 2015 Green Builder Magazine

FIELD REPORT

4

News About Sustainability Issues and Green Products

www.greenbuildermedia.com 10.2015 New Vision for an Old Mall SAND HILL PROPERTY

Sand Hill Property unveils a plan to transform a dead mall in Silicon

TValley into a vibrant multi-use community.
HE HILLS AT Vallco, if built, will revitalize
the Vallco Shopping Mall, which was built in
Cupertino, Calif. in the 1970s. The ambitious
project will consist of two interconnected
town squares, with shops, restaurants, office
space and 800 housing units. The housing
will be a mix of affordable, senior and market-rate units.
But the most stunning feature of the proposed design is the
30 acres of community green space, a large part of which
doubles as roofing for various structures. The green space
will include vineyards, gardens and orchards, play areas for
children, wildlife habitat and nearly four miles of walking
trails. The project is set to earn LEED Platinum certification
and will, and will incorporate extensive water recycling and thousands of Cupertino residents.
rainwater capture. The design was based on responses from www.thehillsatvallco.com

BIODIESEL BREAKTHROUGH
Researchers have developed a method for converting a waste
byproduct into more biodiesel, increasing overall yields.
A CCORDING TO THE EPA, replacing fossil diesel with biodiesel reduces emissions
of harmful air pollutants, including fine particulates and carbon dioxide. Biodiesel
is made from recycled or virgin vegetable oils and/or animal fats reacted with
an alcohol. Often, the alcohol is methanol, which is often fossil based, and the
production process creates crude glycerol as a waste byproduct. Purifying this glycerol

into a usable product is usually too costly to justify, but researchers from the UK’s Cardiff

Catalysis Institute have developed a method that converts the waste glycerol back into

methanol, by combining it with water and a simple catalyst. The methanol can then be

used to make additional biodiesel, increasing overall yields.

SCOTT BAUER, USDA “Biodiesel manufacture is a growing part of the EU fuel pool, with statutory amounts

being required to be added to diesel that is derived from fossil fuels,” said Professor Graham

Hutchings, director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute and lead author of the study, in a press

release. “We’ve provided unprecedented chemistry that highlights the potential to manufacture

biodiesel in a much more environmentally friendly, and potentially cheaper, way.”

Bean Powered. Soybeans are one The results were published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

common vegetable source for biodiesel. Source: http://bit.ly/1iffoFX