Evaluating the impact of DC's 1910 Height Act from a sustainability and environmental perspective.

1. REACHING FOR THE SKY
How DC’s Building Height Limits
Affect Sustainability
Anupam Chakravarty
CCTP-817

2. Why the 1910 Height Act?
• Related to height of monument and
Capitol dome?
Nope.
• Prompted by The Cairo (Dupont Circle)

3. Why the 1910 Height Act?
• Related to street width: 110 -
130 ft
90 ft
• Reinforced by zoning & land use laws
• Impacted by surrounding structures

4. In Favor of Height Limits
Aesthetic and cultural arguments are
restructured into environmental ones
I. DC’s Walkability
• Light, airy quality

5. In Favor of Height Limits
II. Urban Heat Island Effect
• Skyscrapers trap heat & sunlight
• Blocking natural breezes
• Keeping our cool
Potential Impacts
• Greater energy expenditure
• Detrimental to vegetation growth

6. In Favor of Height Limits
III. Scaling Back DC’s Growth
• Caps the District’s population density
But is this actually better for the environment?

7. Against Height Limits
I. Curbing the Unsustainable Urban Sprawl
• Socioeconomic consequences
(see also: gentrification)
• Forcing growth horizontally into ill-equipped
areas

8. Against Height Limits
I. Curbing the Unsustainable Urban Sprawl
• Decreasing each person’s carbon footprint
(reliance on cars and roads)
LEED System Credits
• Development Density
• Community Connectivity

9. Against Height Limits
I. Curbing the Unsustainable Urban Sprawl
• Sprawl puts open spaces and vegetation at
risk
• Impacts air quality, exacerbates heat trap

10. Against Height Limits
II. Attracting Architectural Innovation
• Combating the urban heat island effect
• Integrating renewable energy
• Working with US Green Building Council &
LEED System directives

11. Accounting for Delays
• Improvements to electrical grid
• Improvements to mass transit
• Promoting a mass transit mindset
• Protecting DC’s history and culture
• Ensnared in federal regulations
Congress… ::groan::

12. Skyward is the
right direction
for the District.