Lloyd Alter
@lloydalter.bsky.social
Author of"The Story of Upfront Carbon," reformed architect and developer, teacher of sustainable design at Toronto Metropolitan University. https://lloydalter.substack.com
This guy could convince me to visit the US again. Too bad they don't make bourbon or orange juice in NYC, I would buy it.
Mamdani: I have been told that this is the occasion to reset expectations, that I should use this opportunity to encourage the people of New York to ask for little and expect even less. I will do no such thing. The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.
January 1, 2026 at 9:25 PM
This guy could convince me to visit the US again. Too bad they don't make bourbon or orange juice in NYC, I would buy it.
A new timber tower in Toronto pushes a lot of my buttons beyond just being made of wood. I wrote about it:
Feature: Panelized, Prefabricated, and Passivhaus Construction - Wood Design & Building 2025 | Volume 24, Issue 100
cwc.maglr.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:24 PM
A new timber tower in Toronto pushes a lot of my buttons beyond just being made of wood. I wrote about it:
I went to Japan to look at modern architecture, and was a bit confused by “Chochikukyo,” a house built in 1928 near Kyoto. In fact, it is a remarkable bridge between traditional and modern. lloydalter.substack.com/p/chochikuky...
Chochikukyo is a "happy coexistence of East and West"
It looks like a traditional Japanese house, but is full of modern Western features.
lloydalter.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I went to Japan to look at modern architecture, and was a bit confused by “Chochikukyo,” a house built in 1928 near Kyoto. In fact, it is a remarkable bridge between traditional and modern. lloydalter.substack.com/p/chochikuky...
My late dad lived on Concord a few doors north of this store. He was big, and complained (about buying candy here 90 years ago) “this is the store that made me the man I am today.” Corner stores have been part of the fabric of Toronto forever, and it is about time they were made legal!
December 29, 2025 at 9:44 PM
My late dad lived on Concord a few doors north of this store. He was big, and complained (about buying candy here 90 years ago) “this is the store that made me the man I am today.” Corner stores have been part of the fabric of Toronto forever, and it is about time they were made legal!
My site is called "carbon upfront," but none of my most popular posts have anything to do with the subject, likely because smarter people than me are doing real work on embodied carbon instead of just talking about it. In 2026, I am going to concentrate more on sufficiency vs abundance.
What I learned from my top ten posts of 2025
This site is called "carbon upfront," but none of my most popular posts have anything to do with the subject. Also: a look at my plans for 2026.
lloydalter.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 12:15 PM
My site is called "carbon upfront," but none of my most popular posts have anything to do with the subject, likely because smarter people than me are doing real work on embodied carbon instead of just talking about it. In 2026, I am going to concentrate more on sufficiency vs abundance.
I have been writing about the 1926 Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Grete Lihotzky for years, but Ken Tadashi Oshima found a wonderful silent movie that shows it in action and compares it to the standard apartment kitchen of the time. Enjoy: lloydalter.substack.com/p/the-frankf...
The Frankfurt Kitchen comes alive in a silent movie
A find from the Living Modernity exhibition is worth watching today.
lloydalter.substack.com
December 26, 2025 at 12:51 PM
I have been writing about the 1926 Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Grete Lihotzky for years, but Ken Tadashi Oshima found a wonderful silent movie that shows it in action and compares it to the standard apartment kitchen of the time. Enjoy: lloydalter.substack.com/p/the-frankf...
This is outrageous, Doug Ford rips out Ontario’s speed cameras and then uses taxpayers money to run ads about nonexistent police, useless signs and speed bumps. He takes from us and then rubs it in our face.
December 26, 2025 at 12:34 PM
This is outrageous, Doug Ford rips out Ontario’s speed cameras and then uses taxpayers money to run ads about nonexistent police, useless signs and speed bumps. He takes from us and then rubs it in our face.
Japan really is, as @shawnmicallef.bsky.social called it, "a public pee paradise." There are public toilets everywhere, mostly spotless and with toasty warm bidet toilet seats. Public toilets are as essential a need as streetlights, and in Japan are almost as common.
Touring the toilets of Tokyo
When it comes to the need to go, Japan is a very different world.
lloydalter.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Japan really is, as @shawnmicallef.bsky.social called it, "a public pee paradise." There are public toilets everywhere, mostly spotless and with toasty warm bidet toilet seats. Public toilets are as essential a need as streetlights, and in Japan are almost as common.
I am back from a wonderful @docomomous.bsky.social tour of modern buildings in Japan led by Ken Tadashi Oshima. I expected a lot of concrete, Kenzo Tange and Tadao Ando, but my favourite visits were to the houses, bridging traditional and western design.
The Inoue Residence is a mix of Japanese and Western design
The “Father of Modern Architecture” in Japan had a foot in both worlds.
lloydalter.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I am back from a wonderful @docomomous.bsky.social tour of modern buildings in Japan led by Ken Tadashi Oshima. I expected a lot of concrete, Kenzo Tange and Tadao Ando, but my favourite visits were to the houses, bridging traditional and western design.
After seeing a marvellous manhole cover in Tokyo's Ueno Park, I spent some time looking down- this is quite an art form.
December 20, 2025 at 3:37 PM
After seeing a marvellous manhole cover in Tokyo's Ueno Park, I spent some time looking down- this is quite an art form.
I arrive home from vacation to the perfect Toronto headline: Police search hospital but don’t notice dead body in illegally parked car right in front of Emergency. What do you have to do to be noticed by Toronto Police?
December 20, 2025 at 9:29 AM
I arrive home from vacation to the perfect Toronto headline: Police search hospital but don’t notice dead body in illegally parked car right in front of Emergency. What do you have to do to be noticed by Toronto Police?
Kyoto conference centre 1966 is a brutalist wonderland
December 11, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Kyoto conference centre 1966 is a brutalist wonderland
Not exactly a plethora of Christmas trees here. I like the fancy wood base in our hotel in Hiroshima @shawnmicallef.bsky.social
December 7, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Not exactly a plethora of Christmas trees here. I like the fancy wood base in our hotel in Hiroshima @shawnmicallef.bsky.social
Hey @shawnmicallef.bsky.social very nice mall trees in Tokyo, last night you couldn’t get near it, so many people were taking photos and selfies.
December 6, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Hey @shawnmicallef.bsky.social very nice mall trees in Tokyo, last night you couldn’t get near it, so many people were taking photos and selfies.
I want a woody wagon!
Sean Duffy on slashing fuel economy standards: "This rule will actually allow you to bring back the 1970s station wagon. Maybe a little wood paneling on the side. We can bring back choice to consumers."
December 4, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I want a woody wagon!
US Energy Secretary Wright has a plan to increase the electricity supply: Unleash 35 gigawatts of power from backup and emergency generators. He's apparently not concerned about the PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, or 28,000 tonnes of CO2 released every hour. lloydalter.substack.com/p/usa-might-...
USA might unleash 35 gigawatts of diesel powered electricity
Get ready to breathe a lot more PM2.5, and 28,000 tonnes of CO2 every hour.
lloydalter.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:17 PM
US Energy Secretary Wright has a plan to increase the electricity supply: Unleash 35 gigawatts of power from backup and emergency generators. He's apparently not concerned about the PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, or 28,000 tonnes of CO2 released every hour. lloydalter.substack.com/p/usa-might-...
Oh dear, my dental floss has passed its expiry date. What will happen if I use it? What possible reason could there be for an expiry date on a piece of string?
December 1, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Oh dear, my dental floss has passed its expiry date. What will happen if I use it? What possible reason could there be for an expiry date on a piece of string?
This is me
Local man who gets running gear on and then sits on couch for the morning drinking coffee surprised at the lack of results.
December 1, 2025 at 12:47 PM
This is me
Many older people want to “age in place” and some think autonomous cars, delivery apps and smart tech will make it possible. I think we should be concentrating on building walkable communities, libraries, and good neighbours. lloydalter.substack.com/p/older-peop...
Older people are spending more time on their phones than the kids are
Some think this is a good thing as we enter into an "app-based retirement." I am not so sure.
lloydalter.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Many older people want to “age in place” and some think autonomous cars, delivery apps and smart tech will make it possible. I think we should be concentrating on building walkable communities, libraries, and good neighbours. lloydalter.substack.com/p/older-peop...
It's Black Friday, but I am waiting for Small Business Saturday, and supporting those businesses that keep our main streets alive and vibrant, that create jobs for our kids in our communities, and this year, keep our loonies in Canada instead of shipping them south.
This Small Business Saturday, reoccupy Main Street and shop local
This year is different, particularly for Canadians who want to avoid American products and services.
lloydalter.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM
It's Black Friday, but I am waiting for Small Business Saturday, and supporting those businesses that keep our main streets alive and vibrant, that create jobs for our kids in our communities, and this year, keep our loonies in Canada instead of shipping them south.
Doug Ford has blood on his hands after only 13 days
Pedestrian struck by motorist on Parkside a block from the speed camera that vigilantes kept tearing down that caused ford to remove them from all Ontario. Drive as you wish Ontario. Nobody matters. This is what you voted for.
November 28, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Doug Ford has blood on his hands after only 13 days
Reposted by Lloyd Alter
Say what you will about the Conservatives, but at least they would have stabbed you in the front.
November 27, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Say what you will about the Conservatives, but at least they would have stabbed you in the front.
Wave of backlash indeed!
November 27, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Wave of backlash indeed!
Mark Carney’s disgraceful sellout of every one of us who voted for a climate leader instead of an arsonist includes: “working with oil sands companies to strike a deal by April on implementing the Pathways project, which focuses on carbon capture and storage.” Pathways is a greenwashing scam
No, the Canadian oil sands are not making "clear strides to net-zero."
The companies are running all these big ads making promises, without explaining what they are. It is all a fantasy.
lloydalter.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Mark Carney’s disgraceful sellout of every one of us who voted for a climate leader instead of an arsonist includes: “working with oil sands companies to strike a deal by April on implementing the Pathways project, which focuses on carbon capture and storage.” Pathways is a greenwashing scam
I lent him my vote for this? I have lender’s remorse and won’t be fooled again.
November 27, 2025 at 5:41 PM
I lent him my vote for this? I have lender’s remorse and won’t be fooled again.