by Ganesh Nayak, AIA / COTE Leadership Group Member
The COTE Open Forum at the A’23 Conference on Architecture at San Francisco, “Realizing Climate Action and Climate Justice” tried to explore how architects are tackling topics of Climate Action and Climate Justice, and how we are working with communities to create climate-responsive design that addresses health and equity. As always, the Open Forum draws on the collective wisdom of the COTE community, providing a feedback loop to inform its work.
Lindsay Baker, CEO of the International Living Future Institute, anchored the presentations preceding the break-out discussions. Some salient points: we are at a conjuncture where a combination of forces are shaping the moment - the needs for buildings and spaces are changing fast, ESG reporting is ‘in’, and the pandemic has changed our priorities. The rate of transformation of buildings has to quicken; the pace of renovation should increase. Advocacy should keep championing policy change. Finally, we must act like a movement - to listen to and align with other voices, constantly advocate, train others and create capacity, and show up for the community.
COTE’s Climate Action-Climate Justice subcommittee was formed last year, and has several key focus areas of work this year. The initial effort this year was to provide feedback on two key AIA initiatives through the CA-CJ lens: the Framework for Design Excellence, and the Equitable Communities measure in the COTE Top Ten Awards criteria. A key development between last and this year’s Open Forum was the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant climate action bill that has been passed, and will likely remain so for a generation. Another focus of the subcommittee is the review of the CA-CJ provisions in the IRA in the context of our work. The goal is to ‘chronicle’ these findings in the form of an AIAU course or webinar, elevating process stories in keeping with one of COTE’s missions and goals.
The terms "climate action" and "climate justice" have different meanings and uses. The working definition that COTE arrived at last year in the context of our work was: “engagement, advocacy, planning, and design that draws down emissions; builds resilience and capacity; supports human, cultural, and ecological health; and protects all communities in the context of climate change”. The definition was one of the topics of discussion at the break-out groups at the Climate Action-Climate Justice tables. We need to be reminded of the definition of vulnerable groups when addressing climate justice. The 2016 Climate and Health Assessment identifies the following vulnerable groups: “those with low income, some communities of color, immigrant groups (including those with limited English proficiency), indigenous peoples, children and pregnant women, older adults, vulnerable occupational groups, people with disabilities, and persons with preexisting conditions of chronic medical conditions.”
Other break-out groups discussed the AIA 2030 Commitment, Advocacy, Resilience and Adaptation, the Framework for Design Excellence, the Inflation Reduction Act, and COTE Chapters. We are still collecting and summarizing the feedback. Some key questions and comments arising from the discussions:
Climate Action-Climate Justice discussions:
- Need to be truthful and sensitive to end-user goals
- Climate Justice: pursue those on the edge or the marginalized to join the process
- Train architects to better engage with communities
- Community-based organizations as co-decision makers
- Consider the full-stream impacts of our design decisions!
- What is the AEC professionals’ equivalent of “reparations” for climate impacts?
- Can we green the grid without harming already stressed communities?
- Need to make sure we have the right fees to cover deep and meaningful community engagement.
- Climate Justice extends beyond the borders of the US
Framework for Design Excellence discussions:
- We teach it explicitly in some studio courses. We use it to guide studios and other courses.
- Use as a compare and contrast with LEED, ILFI, and other frameworks
- We’re trying to put it in our metric database. Work in progress.
- Charettes to craft design stories or define goals
- Integrating into practice is challenging when already established
- We ask about it as part of the 2030 annual reporting
Advocacy discussions:
- (Place) Architects on Environmental Commissions (in the mode of Citizen Architect)
- Alignment of position statements at National, State, and Local levels
- (Institute) Training + Talking Points for all chapters
- Align voices of AIA to inform policies
- Use cases of successful advocacy efforts
There were a great number of thought-provoking (and provocative!) comments which need to be mulled over as we "act like a movement," as Lindsay Baker said, and show up for the communities we build in.