Climate Change & The Built Environment

Global Warming & Cities 

The biggest challenges we face today when addressing man-made climate change is how complex our social order has become.

 Our modern economy is the driver of the current climate crisis. It is easy to say

"we need to redesign everything" 

but, what exactly does that mean?  

Every new industrial process introduced will have a ripple effect throughout our current social order. As new technologies are unveiled, older technologies will fade into history. It is up to us as scientists, artists, builders, and engineers to design new systems that are more robust, co-creative, and open to change. 

 In the wake of climate change and projected sea-level rise it would be wise for us to become more proactive towards the immediate push to decarbonize our global economy, invest in the systems that work to sequester atmospheric co2, and mostly to develop a strategic plan of action for the rapid de-industrialization of our coastal cities, towns, and communities, for the remediation and restoration of the vital natural infrastructure needed to help protect our lowland communities like wetlands, estuaries, flood planes. 

See: Sponge Cities

Circular Cities 2030 / EXPO 2030

offers us the time-line for immediate action. it is not so-far-off into the future that we loose sight of our goals. It is close enough to the present that as active participants we will get to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

But, most importantly, our children who  have taken to the streets in protest will have every opportunity they need to join in on this process—Rewildingour world will require the attention of all Earth citizens.

Let's throw a party and clean up this mess.

References: The Impact of Climate on Cities 

This is where the fun begins!

To be continued: 

Sixth Mass Extinction

How can industry transform mission statements into remission statements?

One of the greatest challenges we face today  is in our ability to adapt to our changing world. If human economic behavior is driving the sixth mass extinction how can we as a global species transform our global economy into one that can and will work towards the regeneration our home environment. When it comes to climate adaptation, one of the biggest disruptions needed is in supply-chain and the global shipping and  logistics industry. Through the art of digital transformation, our current local and global supply chains will naturally evolve into circular supply webs—industrial symbiosis— localizing the means of production for almost every-thing. 

It is forecast that the circular economy when paired with a  global green new deal could become the foundation on which we can "honestly" begin to cultivate our ability as a species to respond to this extinction event with acts of remission.

We have a lot of work to do! 

Let's throw a party to regenerate life on Earth!

This is where the fun begins!

To be continued

Reference: WWF Living Planet Report

The Global Green New Deal

One of the saddest truths there is to learn while researching anthropogenic climate  change is that "we the people" lost our clean energy option mainly because  alcohol (ethanol) got us drunk, and HEMP (Cannabis) got us high.  It was taxation, over regulation, and the moral mismanagement of  prohibition that allowed fossil fuel the upper edge in the 20th century. 

There is no better example in history than that of the  "Sin Tax" during the civil war, where by the end of the war the United States had imposed a $2.00/gal tax on alcohol (ethanol) to help pay for the war, while Kerosene, a new product, was taxed at $0.10 cents/gal. With the passing of one simple act farmers could no-longer "legally" distill agricultural waste into ethanol (fuel) for use on their farms, for free.

The foundational technologies for decentralized energy grids in the 20th century didn't stand a chance in this "New  World" unfolding. Now tragically, after a 100 years of burning fossil fuel to power industry we have created the perfect storm for our northern forests when industrial processes are paired with Hydro-Power. 

Through the destruction of anadromous fish runs and surrounding habitats we have effectively depleted the northern hemisphere's boreal and temperate forests of one their most important natural nitrogen/nutrient exchanges: 

Salmon to Forest Nutrient Cycling.

Our forests are sick and dying.

Our global energy transition is one of our biggest challenges we face today.  

The Circular City Design Challenge for a global green new deal is to promote a clean and renewable energy revolution that works to develop and maintain diverse "decentralized" micro-grid systems that provide localized resiliency in the advent of sever weather events and/or other natural disasters, and resulting outages. 

This is where the fun begins!

To be continued

Decarbonizing the Build Environment

AGRICULTURE & INDUSTRY

Bio-based Circular Feed-Stocks are the foundation for (Bio)Regional Circular Economies. They are the first link of the supply chain, defined as renewable, regenerative, and regional.

Circular Feed-Stocks are the organic bio-based materials used throughout the industrial design process.

A Global Circular Economy is the Design Challenge for the 21st Century. 

Cities need local solutions to offset their global footprint. 

This is where the fun begins!

To be continued:

Wait? What happened to my personal vehicle? 

The Future of Transportation in our urban areas and city centers will be Electric, Autonomous & Shared.

Gone are the days when we will be required to transport thousands of pounds of resources just to get us from here to there on a whim. 

As lovers of the bicycle, this is one of our favorite disruptions. We can't wait for the day when we begin building parks over parking lots, incorporating pedestrian and bike paths everywhere. 

We need to de-pave our built environment as much as possible. 

We need green infrastructure. 

We to de-industrialize our coastal cities, towns, and communities. 

This is a Utopian High-Tech Enterprise after all:

See: The future of Transportation

This is where the fun begins!

To be continued:

Feeding the World in the 21st Century: 

Urban agriculture, urban farming, or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around urban areas. Urban agriculture can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agroforestry, urban beekeeping, and horticulture.  

Steps Local Communities can take towards localizing food production:  

• allow urban farms and community gardens throughout our cities.
• Allow residents to sell food grown on their property. 
• Recognize farmers markets and allow them to flourish where ever there is public demand. 
• Allow dedicated food production in rooftop greenhouses.   

Vertical Farming? Yes. Please!

This is where the fun begins!

University of Washington

The Circular City + Living Systems