Walking from UP express at Bloor to the Dundas subway station I had to dodge 3 people staring at phones. On Dundas a guy just stopped in his tracks to look at his phone and I ran into his back. I did not see this in Ireland. It is insane here.

Shot from 4 seats away from the big windows in a 787, it is good to be home! Lots to write about the @passivhaustrust.bsky.social conference in Belfast for @phplus.bsky.social

I saw my first Mercedes Econic garbage truck in Newcastle the other day and was so excited! This is the kind of vehicle we should be demanding in Canada to stop the killing of pedestrians and cyclists. Canada has hewed to the USA safety standards, but now is the time to go our own way.

We used to have a science museum in Toronto in a spectacular building albeit not quite up to Edinburgh. Doug Ford starved and then killed it. For me, this is his most unforgivable crime.

In which I revisit Ove Arup ‘s 1963 Kingsgate Bridge in Durham, the most elegant and minimalist concrete structure I have ever seen. It is actually two delicate and balanced structures which were pivoted to meet in the middle. lloydalter.substack.com/p/ove-arups-...

Toronto could learn something from police cars in Durham, UK. Many are small and economical instead of big SUVs. Toronto police tell pedestrians to dress up like Durham police dress up their cars- bright and easy to see. Oh, and the yellow stripe? It designates a parking area labelled ”police.”

Six years ago I wrote about John Kinsley ‘s house in Portobello Edinburgh and was thrilled to visit it on this trip. It is a remarkable project, mass timber, multifamily, flexible, baugruppen, knitted into the existing fabric, and a model for other architects.

Poor NPR. First, the President goes after them; now it's pedestrians and cyclists complaining about a silly article promoting "defensive walking" when there is a growing cohort of aging people who can't swivel their heads or jump out of the way of SUVs.

My talk for the SEDA conference in Edinburgh next week looks at how sufficiency, or "a life of frugal abundance," is key to matching demand to the supply of usable energy. A sneak preview: lloydalter.substack.com/p/sufficienc...

I have been trying to move away from Microsoft and Google, but kept using PowerPoint because Designer was really good at resizing images. Now "Designer is now part of Copilot" and it is completely useless. Goodbye Microsoft!

I am flying to Edinburgh next week to talk about sufficiency, which I acknowledge is a contradiction in terms. However, preparing the talk has taken my thinking in some new directions, and I think it will be worthwhile. lloydalter.substack.com/p/seda-confe...

Today, Mayor of Mob Town and the mob's best fluffer, DelDuca, stood with Ford in Mob Town to rail against speed cameras. Speed cameras he brought in, as Minister of Transportation, where he also oversaw the wholesale transfer of Metrolinx to the mob.

Another benefit of #passivehouse #passsivhaus

I previously asked why Doug Ford is trying to kill us with five examples; now I have to add banning speed cameras. I suppose they slow down the drive to the Therme spa. lloydalter.substack.com/p/why-is-dou...

Ban cameras. Increase speed limits. Remove Bike lanes. Close emergency departments. Put beer in corner stores. Let's count the ways Doug Ford is trying to kill us.

For about 15 years, we have been talking about the possible problem of pedestrians walking in front of self-driving cars or robotaxis, and now that Waymo robotaxis are here, the problem is real rather than hypothetical. The last 100 years show that the cars always win.

Big shout out for @scotecodesign.bsky.social whose annual conference is on next weekend in Edinburgh. The theme this year is #Sufficiency with fantastic speakers including @katherinetrebeck.bsky.social + @lloydalter.bsky.social > tickets available for in-person + online

I was disturbed by a recent @theglobeandmail.com article about giant "dream homes." We have to begin to think about what is a socially acceptable level of carbon emissions, and to try to close what Thomas Piketty called the “carbon inequality gap.” lloydalter.substack.com/p/how-much-h...

Every kitchen trend I hate in one monster home north of Toronto- an island as big as a continent, and where is the fridge? Oh, wait, behind this kitchen there is another, the real one, a one-sided galley with not enough counter space and a single sink.

This is the only good content on the internet today.

@theglobeandmail.com has homeless encampments on the front page and inside, dream homes with “a wing dedicated to my wardrobe, It wouldn’t just be a closet. It would feel like a full-on department store with a beautiful display of every category in a woman’s wardrobe, with sitting areas.” Appalling

It's easy to be a pessimist about the energy transition, especially when you read news from the USA or Alberta. However, in the space of a few weeks, I read three optimistic views which show how the transition to an electric world running on sunshine is happening now and is unstoppable.

A new study finds that switching to Daylight Saving Time and back every year increases the risk of strokes and obesity, and suggests we should stay on Standard Time all year. But I think the distribution of strokes and obesity in each time zone tells another story.

Mayor Del Duca on why he cancelled speed cameras: "We really need to focus on letting our residents know that we have their back and that we are working for them and that we aren’t going to go out on a limb to do something that really diminishes their trust and our ability to listen to them."

It all suddenly makes sense.

@juliedzerowicz.bsky.social I voted for you after 40 years of voting NDP, what do you have to say about this?

Being Canadian, I didn't even know who this guy was, but I have learned enough to question why a single Liberal MP would be doing this. And I actually voted Liberal for the first time in the last election. I am questioning my judgement, and Mark Carney's.

When I was a kid, I was inspired by the Monsanto Plastics Home of the Future. It's gone, but a new report from Habitable demonstrates how our homes are still encasing us in plastic; it is just not as obvious. lloydalter.substack.com/p/plastics-b...

There's an abundance fantasist on Twitter who says trains are dead, we will all be flying supersonic on electrofuels and driving 100 MPH in AVs. But I am rather fond of 19th-century tech like bikes and trains.

Earlier this year, I asked, "Why is Doug Ford trying to kill us?" Now he is at it again. Because nothing, nothing in Ontario should be allowed to slow down drivers.

I read that “the electric power used to make your tank of gasoline EXCEEDS the electric power needed to charge an eVehicle of equivalent range.” I wondered, could this be true? In fact, it isn't. It is an error made by Elon Musk in 2011. Refining does take a lot of kWh, but it's not electricity.

Everyone complains about their government but I called #311 about the tree in our front yard this morning, they answered the phone in like 30 seconds, were cheerful and efficient, and by this afternoon they had been by to check out. Great people, as is councillor @alejandrabravo.bsky.social

Colour me impressed. www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art...

It's depressing, being a writer about environmental issues; I often feel we are getting nowhere. I spent the summer thinking about what I'd write about this year that might make a difference.

I love PPE performance art: explain why anyone needs a hard hat to turn some soil with a shovel. Do you wear one when you work in a garden?

A recently signed "United States-European Union framework on an agreement on reciprocal, fair and balanced trade" includes European recognition of American standards. "The European Union has waved the white flag on road safety." The EU gave away the store here to placate Trump.

Forget air conditioning; Henning Larsen introduces KlimaKover, a people conditioning system that works on the principle of radiant cooling.

Toronto could use more of this. There are plenty of back lanes where it could work.

It's Labour Day, and that's how everyone should spell it, because of its origin in Toronto, Canada, where an American union leader watched a parade celebrating the Toronto Printer's Union's victory over George Brown of the Globe Newspaper—also, some other archival posts for holiday reading.

Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton says if you want a good job, "train to be a plumber." Meanwhile, Mark Carney says AI is "the key to unlocking higher-paying jobs and new prosperity." I wonder why we are not training more people to work with their hands, hearts and minds.

"In an April 2024 maintenance newsletter, Lockheed Martin warned that F-35 sensors could glitch in extreme cold weather, making it “difficult for the pilot to maintain control of the aircraft”. -perfect plane for Canada.

Whenever I write about mass timber construction, someone always complains, "Think of the forests!" But as much wood is used by a single company to make charcoal for steel as is used by the entire mass timber industry. Compared to what is burned, Mass Timber is a rounding error.

Toronto doesn't have a police helicopter, but Doug Ford is giving us one to go after car thefts and carjacking. S-G says, " almost 87 per cent of Torontonians thought that we should have a helicopter.” But if you read @brianmerchant.bsky.social , we really, really should fight this.

Another very good reason for Canada to dump the F35- follow the money right into Trump and Lutnick’s pockets

On August 24, 1869, Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York, received the first US patent for a waffle iron. Every year, in his honour, I roll out my post on waffle slabs, a celebration of doing more with less. lloydalter.substack.com/p/happy-nati...

Is an energy transition to renewables really happening, or is it all additive, where we are using as much coal and wood as we ever did? A look at a new book that questions the conventional wisdom. lloydalter.substack.com/p/in-a-world...

Everyone complains about Zuckerberg and Bezos, but come the revolution, this guy has got to be up there with them

I was disappointed but not surprised by the failure of the plastics treaty talks last week. Every COP meeting since the Paris Agreement has failed for the same reason: the petro-states will never cut production. Screw them; we have to take personal responsibility and action now.

To nobody's surprise, the negotiations for a treaty to reduce plastic pollution collapsed because the petrostates don't want to reduce plastic pollution; they want to make more. We have all seen this movie before. lloydalter.substack.com/p/plastics-t...

“energy and water guzzling plagiarism extruder” I like that definition a lot.