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architectnews · 4 years

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US Architecture News: American Buildings

US Architecture News 2020, American Building Developments, Real Estate USA, Property Design

US Architecture News

Contemporary American Architectural Developments: Built Environment United States of America

post updated Nov 3, 2020

USA Architectural News

US Building News

Nov 1, 2020 Dry Creek Poolhouse in Geyserville, Sonoma

Oct 28, 2020 Mountain Wood House, Woodside

Oct 27, 2020 Pierce Brosnan’s House, Malibu Beach

Oct 26, 2020 Commonwealth Pier , Seaport World Trade Center, Boston, Massachusetts Design Architect: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects image © Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects Commonwealth Pier Boston Construction has begun on the redesign of Boston’s Seaport World Trade Center, an expansive mixed-use development on historic Commonwealth Pier in the city’s Seaport District. Designed by Dansh architecture office Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the adaptive reuse project will introduce new ways to explore and engage with the waterfront.

Sep 24, 2020 Horizon Neighbourhood, Powder Mountain

Sep 21, 2020 Sky House, Flatiron Miami Property

Sep 21, 2020 Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Dakota

Sep 6, 2020 Chandler Ullmann Hall, Lehigh University

Sep 3, 2020 Student Union at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Sep 2, 2020 Puglisi Hall at University of Delaware, Newark

Sep 1, 2020 Southerleigh Fine Food and Brewery

Sep 1, 2020 Loft Apartment in Charlottesville, Virginia

Sep 1, 2020 The Ranch in Orlando, Florida

Aug 27, 2020 Hillside House near South Congress Ave, Austin

June 18, 2020 Westport Library Building in Connecticut

June 16, 2020 Stockman Bank Missoula Downtown, Montana

June 12, 2020 Box Factory in Jackson, California

May 31, 2020 Hancher Auditorium Iowa City Building

May 23, 2020 WHOOP Headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts

May 22, 2020 Waubonsee Community College Fieldhouse

May 19, 2020 Bryant Elementary School in Helena, Montana

May 18, 2020 Hotel and Private Club in Hollywood, California

April 28, 2020 Topfer Theatre at ZACH in Austin, Texas

April 27, 2020 Tippet Rise Art Center in Fishtail, Montana

April 23, 2020 St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum

April 22, 2020 Bennington College Commons Building, Vermont

April 22, 2020 Bigfork High School Renovation & Expansion

Feb 12, 2020 The Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas Design: Architecture Research Office photo © Architecture Research Office The Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas One of the world’s most celebrated sacred spaces is due to reopen in June 2020, after undergoing a comprehensive restoration as part of the first phase of Opening Spaces, a $30-million master plan for its campus.

Feb 12, 2020 Modern Lodge on Weatherby Lake, North Kansas City

Feb 6, 2020 Telegraph Tower in Oakland, Northern California

US Architecture News 2019

Oct 25, 2019 The Heights School Building in Arlington

Oct 25, 2019 Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia

Oct 24, 2019 Hay Barn, Santa Cruz, California, USA Design: Fernau + Hartman Architects photography © Cesar Rubio Hay Barn in Santa Cruz, California University Perched on a shelf at the entrance to UC Santa Cruz, this American house greets visitors on their way to central campus, as they pass through the former ranch headquarters of the Cowell Lime Works.

Oct 23, 2019 Big Pine House in Mazama, Washington

Oct 16, 2019 Nims Bezaitis Residence in Portland, Oregon

Oct 15, 2019 Everett Grand Avenue Pedestrian Bridge in Washington

US Architecture News 2018

Sep 28, 2018 Lee’s Summit School District R-7 – Missouri Innovation Campus, Missouri Design: Gould Evans ; Associate Architects: DLR Group image courtesy of Chicago Athenaeum New Missouri Building

May 15, 2018 Kanye West Starts Architecture Studio

Controversial US Rapper Kanye West has announced he is starting an architecture firm, Yeezy Home, reports The Guardian.

The rapper posted on Twitter: “We’re starting a Yeezy architecture arm called Yeezy home. We’re looking for architects and industrial designers who want to make the world better”.

photo by Daniel Cruz Valle – Kanye West Central Hall, CC BY 2.0, https://ift.tt/2k0yaUX

Yeezy is West’s company, which currently gives its name to West’s clothing designs and a range of trainers made in collaboration with Adidas. In April he tweeted: “Yeezy is no longer a fashion company we should be referred to as apparel or clothing or simply Yeezy.”

“I hang around architects mostly, people that wanna make things as dope as possible … This is the reason why I’m working with five architects at a time.”

Kanye West Architecture Studio – Yeezy Home article in The Guardian

Feb 4, 2018 Housing Northwest Arkansas Initiative at Fay Jones School The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas announced In December that it would launch Housing Northwest Arkansas—an initiative supported by a $250,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation that aims to address the region’s lack of affordable, attainable housing, at all income levels. “The steady growth of Northwest Arkansas, as with many cities and regions across the nation, compels focused attention on new visions of housing design for the region,” said Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School.

More US Architecture News online soon

US Architecture News 2017

Aug 1, 2017 Solar-powered US Border Wall with Mexico

President Trump has come up with a new idea for covering the costs of a proposed border wall between the United States and Mexico: build it with solar panels.

At a White House meeting Tuesday, Donald Trump floated the concept of “beautiful structures,” 40 to 50 feet high, that generate clean electricity from the sun — and would help cover the cost of the project, according to comments reported by Axios.

solar-powered Border Wall between USA and Mexico: image courtesy of Gleason Partners

The U.S. border with Mexico is almost 2,000 miles long. Donald Trump has said his wall will cover 1,000 miles, with natural obstacles doing the rest of the work.

Gleason Partners submitted a proposal to build a solar border wall, generating two megawatts of electricity per mile, at a cost of about $7.5 million per mile.

Fixing the panels vertically could lead to an efficiency loss of around 50%, the analysis says, with the angle at which the sun would hit the wall losing an additional 10% in efficiency.

However less than 2% of the U.S. population live within 40 miles of the US – Mexico border.

source: US Border Wall with Mexico

Jul 24, 2017 American Architecture Prize Firm of The Year Deadline

Extended Early Bird deadline: enter before July 31, 2017 across the categories of architecture, interior design, landscaping and urban design to save on entry fees. The AAP is open to submissions on a global level, accepting entries from architects and designers all around the world.

Apr 23, 2017 The American Architecture Prize Deadline

Regular Deadline: April 30, 2017

Recognizing the excellence of architecture firms around the globe.

There are two weeks left until the Regular Deadline to enter the AAP Firm of the Year 2017!

The AAP Firm of the Year Award recognizes the excellence of inspiring and innovative architecture, interior, and landscape design firms around the globe. The Firm of the Year Award honors the total body of work of small, medium, and large companies in their own unique categories based on firm size and area of expertise.

American Architecture Prize Firm of The Year

Apr 7, 2017 American Architecture Awards Winners in 2017

photograph © Paul Warchol

American Architecture Awards News

Seventy-nine shortlisted buildings have won the prestigious 2017 American Architecture Awards ® for the best new buildings designed and constructed by American architects in the U.S. and abroad and by international architects for buildings designed and built in the United States.

The American Architecture Awards are the nation’s highest public awards given by a non-commercial, non-trade affiliated, public arts, culture and educational institution.

Mar 29, 2017 The American Architecture Prize

The American Architecture Prize Extended Early Bird deadline is approaching on March 31st.

If you don’t have enough time to create your entry in the next few days, here is a tip: You could pay for your entry now and upload the PDF later. This way, you can take advantage of the discounted price now, and do the work a little later. Just leave the “Upload PDF” page blank, and proceed to make your payment.

The AAP offers a graphic designer service for Firm of the Year entrants for a limited period of time. A designer will help you create your submission document, at no charge to you. Please email [email protected] or visit the AAP website for more information.

AAP – The American Architecture Prize 550 N Larchmont Blvd, Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90004 USA

Website: The American Architecture Prize

Mar 12, 2017

US Building News

US Architects React to Border Wall RFP

With President Donald Trump taking further executive action to build the controversial wall across the Mexican-American border, protesters are beginning to rally and speak out.

At Yale University, specifically, students are displaying an anti-Trump message on campus.

The phrase “We won’t build your wall” is written on large windows at the school of architecture.

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, the American Institute of Architects issued an incendiary statement of congratulations and support for the yet-unknown infrastructure agenda of the Trump administration, state Yale School of Architecture professor Peggy Deamer and students David Langdon and Melinda Agron in an op-ed piece in the Architectural Record.

The architecture community loudly and publicly denounced what they saw as a “greedy and spineless compromise” of professional responsibilities, and #NotMyAIA began trending on Twitter. Within days, AIA CEO Robert Ivy rescinded the organization’s statement and apologized.

(Also, see our post from Feb 6 + 5, 2017 further down this page – ‘Major Architects Object to President Trump’s Travel Ban’)

Two weeks ago President Trump issued a preliminary RFP—request for proposals—for design prototypes of the long-promised border wall. In the days that followed, dozens of prominent architecture and engineering firms threw their hats in for a chance at the multi-billion-dollar project.

The concerns that architects voiced in November 2016 of professional collusion with the administration’s partisan agenda proved dishearteningly prescient and well-founded.

The Architecture Lobby—a forward-thinking alternative to the AIA organized in 2013 by a collective of students, practitioners, and academics—has proposed that March 10, the day the first round of border wall proposals are due, cannot witness business as usual.

Article in full: US Architects React to Border Wall RFP

Feb 20, 2017 Svigals+Partners Merges with Lynn Brotman Interior Design Sandy Hook School building, Connecticut: photo Courtesy Svigals+Partners

New Haven, Conn.–based architecture firm Svigals+Partners has announced a merger with Lynn Brotman Interior Design in an effort to make “interior design a seamlessly integrated aspect of current and future projects”. Previously, the two architectural firms collaborated on the recently completed Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Conn.

images Courtesy Svigals+Partners

“Our collaborations with Svigals+Partners have always been the most rewarding,” Brotman said in the release. “We look forward to working even more closely with these amazing architects and designers, to create spaces that help people to be the best they can be.”

Lynn Brotman will join as an associate principal.

Feb 14, 2017 Four Midcentury Landmarks Revitalised

The Hall of Science, Queens Richards Medical Research Laboratories, Pennsylvania Greeley Memorial Laboratory, Yale University Manton Research Center, Massachusetts

The Hall of Science, in Queens, New York, is one example of the sculptural exuberance of many midcentury buildings. Designed by Harrison and Abramovitz Architects for the 1964 World’s Fair, it was conceived as a permanent museum devoted to science and technology. An eggcrate-like reinforced-concrete wall undulates and bends to define a nearly 90-foot-tall volume, reports the Architectural Record. Todd Schliemann, a partner at New York–based Ennead, who completed the hall’s restoration in 2015, describes its interior as abstract and almost scaleless, like outer space.

The Hall of Science, in Queens, New York: photo © Jeff Goldberg / ESTO

Not all midcentury buildings exhibit the same kind of adventurous and organic forms found at the Hall of Science. Instead, another significant work from this period—Louis Kahn’s Richards Medical Research Laboratories (1961) at the University of Pennsylvania—demonstrates a commitment to order and rigor articulated in brick, concrete, and glass. The building was recently designated a National Historic Landmark.

Many scholars have noted that Kahn’s model for this open working environment may well have been the architecture studio, says David Fixler, a principal in the Boston office of EYP Architecture & Engineering. His firm created the preservation standards for Richards and performed the first phase of the still-ongoing project. (The Philadelphia office of Atkin Olshin Schade Architects won a competitive bid for the subsequent phases.)

Christopher Williams, a New Haven, Connecticut–based architect, faced many of the same problems as the Richards team in his recent renovation of Greeley Memorial Laboratory, a 24,000-square-foot research facility designed by Paul Rudolph for Yale University’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Since its completion in 1959, Greeley had suffered a number of unsympathetic alterations.

Pietro Belluschi’s Manton Research Center (1973) is located on the campus of the Clark Art Institute, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. This granite-clad library and study facility has a somewhat blocky exterior, Manton was “well-conceived,” says the architect for the just-completed renovation, Annabelle Selldorf, principal of Selldorf Architects in New York (acting with Gensler).

Article in full: US Midcentury Buildings News

Feb 6 + 5, 2017 Major Architects Object to President Trump’s Travel Ban

Three architecture firms have released responses to President Donald Trump’s executive order “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” issued on Friday, reports https://ift.tt/10WVIg7.

Studio Libeskind, founded by Daniel Libeskind, AIA, and based in New York and Zürich, and Steven Holl, FAIA, both issued statements earlier this week criticizing the ban.

American-Norwegian firm Snøhetta also criticized Donald Trump’s executive order.

“Our office of 44 people based in NYC & Beijing has a staff representing over 18 different languages. We are dedicated to an architecture of openness encouraging human potential.

This action, by the loser of our citizens’ popular vote, actively works against the diversity and dialogue essential to this mission and violates the United States Constitution. This president who repeatedly tells lies, fights human potential for good and defies the constitution must be impeached.

We have now worked on five continents pursuing our mission (currently working on our first African project, a library for a new campus in Malawi, which is deeply rooted in our core principles). Today, more than ever, we need to pursue our values; green architecture for the environment of future generations, formation of social space, and realization of new spatial energies.

– Steven Holl

“The Trump travel ban is an affront to our freedom and core values,” he said. “It affects our employees, colleagues and collaborators.”

– Daniel Libeskind

Also US School of Architecture have reacted:

Harvard Graduate School of Design:

“Let me be clear that the intolerance and prejudice signaled by this action cut against the core values that the GSD stands for. Its spirit runs counter to our collective commitment to inclusion and to cultivating a diversity of people, ideas, and perspectives, the necessary ingredients of healthy and productive discourse and responsible citizenship.”

– Dean Mohsen Mostafavi, an Iranian-American

UCLA School of Art & Architecture:

“The Dean’s office condemns in the strongest possible terms the executive order around visas and immigration released by the President this past weekend.” – David Roussève, Interim Dean

The Southern California Institute of Architecture and Taubman College, University of Michigan also release statements:

https://ift.tt/2kqgdOH

Jan 28, 2017 Assemblywoman seeks to bar border wall companies from doing business in New York

With Donald Trump taking executive actions to make good on his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, one New York legislator has proposed a pushback, reports Metro.

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, who represents eastern Queens, introduced a bill on Thursday that would ban the state from doing business with companies involved in building the border wall.

Under the bill, the state would track businesses involved with the wall and prevent them from obtaining in-state contracts or assets. New York currently has similar restrictions on companies that boycott Israel or do business in Iran.

Article in full: New York Border Wall Reaction

Related article on e-architect:

Nov 30, 2016 US / Mexico Border Solutions Design: Twelve students at UT Austin in parallel with two classes at Universidad Autonoma Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico

Since the start of the current presidential campaign, immigration has been a central issue. President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal of building a wall between Mexico and the United States, and his call to deport undocumented immigrants, has turned the country’s attention to the complex issues surrounding our southern border.

image courtesy of UT Austin

US / Mexico Border Solutions

Jan 27, 2017 Harry Macklowe on New York Real Estate

Harry Macklowe, the real estate titan is “riding the wave of successful sales” at 432 Park Avenue — said to be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere — and forging ahead with new projects, reports the New York Times.

Sales began this month for a residential condominium in Midtown and he plans to convert One Wall Street, an Art Deco office building, to residential.

At 80, Mr. Macklowe has had a career spanning almost six decades, marked by extreme highs and lows.

Yet each time, he has pulled off a resurrection. At his latest comeback, the 432 Park Avenue Building, which Macklowe Properties developed with CIM Group, a penthouse sold in September for $87.66 million. The tower proved that Mr. Macklowe continues to be a formidable player in the real estate arena.

Article in full: New York Real Estate Update

Related recent US Architecture News on e-architect:

Jan 19, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump taps two rich developers to oversee infrastructure plan

Donald Trump has chosen Richard LeFrak and Steve Roth, “two of the wealthiest men in real estate” according to Forbes, to head a “council of builders and engineers”. This new council will be tasked with overseeing Trump’s plan to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure, reports archinect. The Republican infrastructure plan relies heavily on private-public partnerships, so it’s not really a surprise that developers will be involved.

Roth founded Vornado, one of the most prominent real estate trusts in New York and Washington. Tornado is merging with JBG Smith, which is one of the shortlisted bidders for the development of a new FBI headquarters, a $2 billion contract. The LeFrak family has played a major role in developing New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Miami.

AIA American Institute of Architects News

Jan 24, 2017 514 Eleventh Avenue Buildings In place of the original 1,000-foot spire, Silverstein Properties is looking to build two towers at 514 Eleventh Avenue, reports www.crainsnewyork.com: 514 Eleventh Avenue New York Towers

Jan 18, 2017 685 First Avenue, Murray Hill Building 42-Story, 556-Unit Mixed-Use Tower at 685 First Avenue, Murray Hill

image : bloomimages

Construction is now five stories above street level on the 42-story, 556-unit mixed-use tower designed by Richard Meier & Partners Architects.

The building is under development at 685 First Avenue, located between East 39th and 40th streets in Murray Hill, reports newyorkyimby.com.

Building permits indicate the project will encompass 813,813 sqft and rise 460 feet in height.

There will be 10,088 sqft of ground-floor retail space, split between two units. There will be 448 rental apartments across the 3rd through 27th floors, followed by 148 condominiums on the 28th through 42nd floors.

Solow Realty & Development Group is the developer. Completion is expected in 2018.

Jan 17, 2017 The Ellipse The Ellipse, Mixed-Use Tower, Tops Out at 1-25 14th Street, Jersey City

LeFrak’s 43-story building in Newport, Jersey City, designed by Arquitectonica, Miami: image : Arquitectonica

Construction has topped out on the 43-story, 376-unit mixed-use tower, dubbed Ellipse, at 1-25 14th Street, located in the Newport section of Jersey City, N.J., reports newyorkyimby.com.

The structure, which is now receiving glass installation on its 27th floor, can be seen thanks to photos posted to the YIMBY Forums. The 592,800-sqft tower’s apartments will be rentals, ranging from studios to three-bedrooms. There will be 24,000 square feet of amenities, as well as a retail component near street level. The LeFrak Organization is the developer. Arquitectonica is the design architect and Haines, Lundberg & Waehler (HLW) is the executive architect. Completion is expected later this year.

source: https://ift.tt/2jHCqKH

Jan 10, 2017 Liberty Museum New York Competition Winners

Winners: First prize: Jungwoo Ji, Bosuk Hur, Suk Lee (Korea and USA) Second prize: Maherul Kader Prince, Nabila Ferdousi (Bangladesh) Third prize: Yuxin Zhang, Shujuan Tang, Yiran Wang (China)

Jury Panel: • Jeffry Burchard, Principal, Machado-Silvetti, Boston, USA • Christian Remes, Plus+Bauplanung, Stuttgart, Germany • Adrian Welch, Chief Editor, e-architect, London

First prize: Jungwoo Ji, Bosuk Hur, Suk Lee (Korea and USA)

Liberty Museum New York Competition Winners

Jan 5, 2017 Second Avenue Subway Stations in New York Design: AECOM-Arup photo © Charles Aydlett courtesy AECOM-Arup JV Second Avenue Subway Stations in New York City The first major expansion of New York City subway system in nearly a century, the 1.8 mile stretch of track runs between 63rd and 96th streets and consists of three new stations, plus one upgraded station.

More US Architecture News welcome on e-architect

US Architecture News 2016

Nov 28, 2016 120 Nassau Street, Downtown Brooklyn Tower image from architects Construction is now 24 stories above street level on the 33-story tower designed by architects Woods Bagot. The 270-unit mixed-use building at 120 Nassau Street, located on the corner of Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, report yimby.com. The latest building permits indicate the 425-foot-tall tower will measure 312,093 sqft. The base will include 57,904 square feet of commercial space, in the form of retail on the ground floor and office space on floors two through eight.

Nov 28, 2016 281 Fifth Avenue Building rendering : Rafael Viñoly Architects Foundation work is now underway on the 52-story, 141-unit mixed-use tower under development at 281 Fifth Avenue, located on the corner of West 30th Street in NoMad, report yimby.com. The latest building permits indicate the project will stand 728 feet in height and encompass 266,963 sqft.

Nov 23, 2016 MoMA / P.S.1 YAP 2017 Program Finalists MoMA / P.S.1 YAP Program Finalists – Bureau Spectacular, led by Jimenez Lai – architect Ania Jaworska – design collective Office of III, comprised of Sean Canty, Ryan Golenberg and Stephanie Lin – Jenny E. Sabin, director of Sabin Design Lab – SCHAUM/SCHIEH, led by Rosalyne Shieh and Troy Schaum.

Nov 8, 2016 Sales Launch for 287 East Houston Street, NY Design: AA Studio, Architects image from developers 287 East Houston Street Manhattan Building Development partners Hogg Holdings and Vinci Partners USA announce 28-unit residential condominium building has come to market on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Oct 27, 2016 HFZ Capital Group tops out The Bryant, 16 West 40th Street, NY, USA Design: David Chipperfield Architects image : Miller Hare Columbia University Manhattanville Campus Expansion

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oliveratlanta · 5 years

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Georgia Tech’s Living Building, the Southeast’s greenest, is a marvel of efficiency and spare parts

The futuristic canopy over the 422 Ferst Drive building on Tech’s campus is an array of solar panels with water-catching components.

Now finished, metro Atlanta’s most environmentally advanced structure aims to be a self-sustaining launchpad for big ideas

It’s not every day the president of a major university stands before an auditorium packed to the walls with dignitaries and journalists, raises his arms like an inspired evangelist, points toward the restrooms, and extolls the virtues of using the toilet.

But such was the scene when Georgia Tech’s recently installed, excitable leader Dr. Ángel Cabrera helped lead dedication ceremonies in late October for The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design—colloquially: “The Kendeda Building,” or “the Living Building”—a modern wonder amid Tech’s leafy campus that’s not satisfied with being merely the Southeast’s greenest structure.

Compostable toilets use a teaspoon of water per flush, automatically foaming to help remove waste. Toilet water is managed and broken down naturally onsite, avoiding sewers. The back wall is made of slate panels from the old Alumni House roof on campus.

Should project leaders succeed, the $30-million, grant-funded experiment will be the only fully certified Living Building south of Virginia Beach, southeast of suburban St. Louis, and east of Texas—and one of just 24 across the country. Before certification can happen, the Living Building Challenge, an international green-building program, will require the world’s most rigorous year-long process of performance evaluations. That gauntlet is expected to begin with spring semester classes, which will host everything from science to calculus at the new facility where Ferst Drive meets State Street. Compounding matters is Atlanta’s subtropical, often humid climate, where creating a comfortable, solar-powered, self-sustaining building not connected to city utilities was once thought impossible. Nothing like it has ever been attempted in this climate zone. Achieving the LBC stamp, in short, will require a logistical concert from the rooftop apiary and Big Ass Fans overhead (that’s the brand name) to complex heating and cooling systems in the floors. Oh, and toilets that don’t gulp but sip.

“You would not believe how excited we are about toilets in this building!” Cabrera was saying to the crowd, describing a structure so fresh it still smells like sawed wood, which the president calls his favorite place on campus. “Go and check out the toilet, and you’ll understand.”

A few moments later, Shan Arora, the Kendeda Building director hired by Tech to guide sustainability and programming efforts and lasso the prized certification, sounded equally amped at the lectern: “Constructing a Living Building in the South… people said it can’t be done,” said Arora. “We’re going to show the South, the Southeast, and the world that we can do it here.”

Four years ago, behind-the-scenes discussions began between officials with Tech and The Kendeda Fund—among metro Atlanta’s leading philanthropic investors, with a heart for social and ecological causes—in regards to an on-campus project that might “live” on its own. Kendeda Fund’s eventual $30 million grant covered everything from geotechnical testing to the custom furniture. It’s the agency’s largest single gift to date—and one of the biggest Tech has received in a history dating to the 1880s.

The building was situated in a way to keep one of the oldest, shade-casting oaks on campus from being cut down.

And then, in early 2018, a groundbreaking was held on what had been a humdrum parking lot, a 1.35-acre site next to one of campus’s largest old oaks. The goal: To create a building that collects all its own water, produces more electricity than it needs, and discards of waste in an ecologically responsible way.

Nearly two years later, Arora led Curbed Atlanta on a tour of the 47,000-square-foot results, all tailored to the South and surprising in their use of seemingly useless things.

The Living Building’s main entrance. Atlanta’s Lord Aeck Sargent architecture firm and Seattle’s Miller Hull Partnership led designs, with construction by Skanska.

Almost everything removed during the Kendeda Building’s construction—including the surface parking lot itself—was recycled, salvaged, or turned into a different onsite product.

The idea of salvaging is one Arora’s particularly fond of. He pointed to a granite curb near Ferst Street and noted it used to be part of the Georgia State Archives Building—downtown’s “White Ice Cube” imploded in 2017. A bench near the building’s entrance, he said, had been made from a South Georgia white oak tree toppled by a tornado. A wall of dark brick came from North Carolina, compiled from aggregate waste that typically would be bound for a landfill. A constructed wetland made of gravel near the entrance is designed to both calm humans and filter gray water (collected from faucets and rainclouds, that is), cleaning it naturally and avoiding the city’s sewers. That water was still undergoing testing last month but will eventually be used for all purposes, including drinking.

On the subject of H2O, the building is equipped to capture about 40 percent of rainfall on the property, which it directs to a 50,000-gallon onsite cistern. “We treat the rainwater to potable standards,” said Arora. “It’s the first time in Georgia that a commercial building is trying to do that.”

Elsewhere outside, triple-pane glass windows are designed to decrease solar gain in long humid summers. Towering, minimalistic support columns use less material (and thus less embodied carbon) while supporting the crowning, most distinctive feature: a huge array of solar panels capable of generating 450,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year—or more than 120,000 hours of juice than the building is estimated to need, which should meet Living Building Challenge certification standards, and then some. Overall, the project is designed to use one-third the energy of a traditional building of comparable size.

Beyond the main entrance is the open three-story lobby, designed to encouraging idea-sharing among students. Wood from a former campus church forms the ramp at right.

“You can see the ductwork, the vents, the wires, the pipes,” Arora noted, moving inside. “If you liken this thing to a living being, you can see the building’s skeleton, its neurological, digestive, circulatory, respiratory systems—and that was by design.”

And here’s where the material trivia gets especially interesting.

Water reclamation pipes, exposed on the building’s basement floor, with a water conservation mural on the wall.

Wood boards that were pulled from a 10th Street church, razed for construction of Tech’s new police station, have created the building’s lobby ramp and decorative walls. Storm-felled trees on campus provided wood for interior benches.

In the bathrooms and showers, circa-1920 slate shingles on the floors and walls formerly acted as the roof of the renovated Georgia Tech Alumni Association building. Wood from dissembled Peach State movie sets forms the ceilings, and the sawed-off tips of those 2 by 6 boards became stairs.

The majority of wood used in the building is reclaimed from movie sets built and filmed in Georgia. More than 60 fans inside allows the building to comfortably operate at higher temperatures during summer, saving energy.

The ends of boards used elsewhere in construction form these steps.

But the emotional grand slam for most visitors, as Arora put it, is the building’s main staircase, built of heart-pine joists that’d been part of Tech Tower, one of two original campus buildings dating to 1888.

“When the most iconic building on campus needed to undergo a renovation, we could have taken those joists out and thrown them away,” said Arora. “Instead, we turned them into those stairs.”

Numerous classroom sizes dot the building, with the lecture hall (bottom right) being the biggest. The project is also pursuing U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification at the Platinum level.

Now finished, the building offers a 170-seat auditorium, classrooms designed to accommodate between 16 and 70 people, labs, offices, student commons, and the rooftop garden and apiary. It will have to meet 20 performance requirements—or LBC “imperatives”—for a full year to be certified as the Southeast’s first Living Building.

Project leaders expect that to happen in 2021.

“We’ll be constantly monitoring the building’s performance, making adjustments needed,” said Arora. “But as designed, we hope that all we have to do is monitor, and the building’s doing exactly what it needs to do.”

The fledgling garden on the roof, to include honey bees, will help satisfy the building’s urban agriculture imperative.

The roof has space for the Urban Honey Bee Project with seating, a garden, and Midtown views.

At the public dedication, Kendeda Fund’s executive director Dena Kimball spoke of the potentially important connection between a building in Midtown Atlanta and a warming planet, how it could serve as a blueprint for transforming construction and design practices in the Southeast while igniting young minds.

“[The building] could serve as a bridge between small, direct experiences that balance human nature,” said Kimball, “and the huge environmental problems that many Georgia Tech students might play a key role in solving.”

Cabrera, the president, took that sentiment a step further.

“This facility is a way of turning our own campus into a lab, into a learning opportunity. This is a way of inspiring new generations,” he said. “Just think about the people who are going to be taking classes here, or coming to conferences here. They’re going to be intrigued, looking around, and they’re going to use that toilet.”

View from behind the Living Building, at the dawn of a new day.

source https://atlanta.curbed.com/atlanta-photo-essays/2019/11/14/20954173/georgia-tech-atlanta-living-building-green-sustainability

#OliverAtlanta

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deborahringgold · 4 years

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This is your SolarWakeup for May 28th, 2020

Commercial Solar In Trouble. Financing rooftop solar for commercial customers is going to be more complicated than ever before. Putting most companies through a pandemic risk assessment increases the return requirement in a market already tough to make the financials work. This is going to drive more developers to either propose cash purchases as opposed to financing where a third party owns the solar asset. The tax code was amended to allow for the depreciation losses to go back 5 years but this market desperately needs a grant in lieu to kick start again. How the community solar or virtual PPA market adopts these customers will be interesting. EVs Are Better (And Cheaper). Anyone that has driven an electric car knows that it’s a better driving experience. Even car companies have accepted this and adopting full product lines in this decade. EVs will nationalize once a cultural icon like the F-150 gets an electric version and fleets actually roll out large scale implementation. How regulators and utilities execute on this will be important especially as the market seems to be trending towards utility ownership of charging stations. The best part in this new data set, EVs are drastically cheaper assets to own as well. Southern Co Wants Headlines. I’d like to fast forward to every utility announcing a 100% clean by 2050 goal. With every coal asset or older power plant to be first moved to a gas investment and then magically by 2050 it will all be renewable. The issue with the headlines and details isn’t the goal, it’s that none of the executives in the board room today will be there in 30 years and the goal doesn’t impact this quarters financial performance. Until the incentive of rate basing a new gas plant next year is removed and replaced by building a better solar plus storage asset, we will get more lofty goals with short term gas power plants being built. Podcast Mailbag. Make sure you catch my podcast about the 30 million solar roof idea by John Farrell. The podcast is now available on spotify as well as other streaming platforms. Next week’s episode will be a mailbag where I talk about the headlines and answer your questions, send over topics you want me to cover. Act On FERC. During the coronavirus pandemic, a small shadowy association just launched an unprecedented attack on our solar rights, and we need your help to stop it. This secretive group is trying to end the fundamental, state-based solar energy policy of net metering that allows solar users to earn fair credit for the surplus electricity their solar panels produce. The deadline to stop this attack is in just a few weeks. Tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to immediately reject this destructive and dangerous attack on your solar rights! Thank you for lending your voice to this important issue during this challenging time. If you want more details on the petition before FERC, click here or join Vote Solar on a webinar on May 28th at 3pm MT. Presented By Suntuity. Do you sell solar and see an opportunity to expand the markets you serve in a digital sales environment? Suntuity is expanding its salesforce and looking for more sales leaders to join their growing team. Based in New Jersey and servicing over a dozen States, joining Suntuity could be the sales boost you need. Learn more about our company today.

Greentech Media: As Commercial Solar Takes a Hit From COVID-19, Virtual PPAs Continue Their Rise

Utility Dive: Powering EVs is cheaper than diesel, gas in the largest US cities — Atlanta and Boston are exceptions

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Georgia Power’s parent pledges ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050

Energy News Network: Virginia agency aims to make solar ‘faster, easier and more affordable’

Solar Power World: NYSEIA survey finds small and medium solar firms deeply suffering from COVID impacts

PV-Tech: China’s new grid capacity likely to exceed solar demand

Axios: States sue Trump administration over fuel efficiency rollbacks

Vox: At last, a climate policy platform that can unite the left

Opinion

Rocky Mountain Institute: Op-ed – Clean Energy Tipping Points

Best, Yann

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What a Green New Deal would look like in every state

In the absence of a federal mandate, some local governments and institutions are stepping up. (Unsplash/Pixabay/DepositPhotos/)

In 2018, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change set a deadline: Snuff greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent by 2030 to keep warming from creeping past 1.5 degrees Celsius, the threshold beyond which lie the worst consequences of an overheated planet. Technologically, the scientists pointed out, we have the tools to make such a drastic clamp-down happen, but we’ve struggled to put them to work.

The past two years have provided an especially dire preview of what may come if we don’t. In 2019, wildfires flared in southern California and eastern Australia, destroying homes and habitats. And already 2020 has seen more fires Down Under, massive flooding in the Southeast, and Antarctic temps hitting close to 70 degrees Fahrenheit in February—accelerating melting and pushing up sea levels worldwide.

In the US, 2019’s proposed Green New Deal, the brainchild of Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Edward Markey (MA), presented the most ambitious climate blueprint to ever cross lawmakers’ desks. The resolution—inspired by both FDR's sweeping 1930s social and economic safety net and modern, groundbreaking climate policies in progressive states like California—called for a transformation of energy, economic, and social structures. The grand plan aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions by switching to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, while providing a safety net for displaced workers, increasing the efficiency of buildings, and decarbonizing agriculture and manufacturing. Recognizing that climate change often hurts low-income communities the most, it also addresses income inequality through goals like providing training opportunities for a new wave of green jobs.

Washington has not yet answered the GND’s call to action. Bills that would advance objectives like making buildings more efficient and curbing emissions have sputtered, the US has no federal renewable-energy target, and the current administration has overwritten emissions-reduction efforts like former president Barack Obama’s plan to phase out coal.

The state level, however, is a different story. In the absence of a federal mandate, local governments and institutions are stepping up. “Since the Green New Deal, we've seen more [state] governments put forth more policies,” says Ben Beachy, Director of Sierra Club's Living Economy Program. At least 20 states have adopted, or are considering, a 100 percent renewables requirement for electric utilities, according to a report last year from EQ Research, and 100 cities have done so, too. A few governments, including those representing Maine, Los Angeles, and New York City, branded their policies as Green New Deal avatars. In others, the influence is more covert.

As states pursue fixes tailored to their individual priorities—from phasing out coal-fired power to getting more electric vehicles on the road—the GND doctrine is gaining momentum, climate policy experts say. State initiatives can light the way for the specific federal policies needed to realize Green New Deal goals, such as electric vehicle rebates or a carbon tax, says Rob Klee, a professor at the Yale School of Environmental Studies and a former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. “To me that’s exciting; it’s showing the potential to create a functioning government and policy that actually works.”

These are the climate policies, fixes, and initiatives that could help each state gain ground on Green New Deal goals—or get a boost if a national effort gets underway.

Scroll through, or use the links below to jump to your state:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

ALABAMA could weather extreme temps

In September 2019, amid a “flash drought” that saw the mercury reach 103 degrees in some parts of the state, Auburn University earned a $3 million grant to fund an unusual climate program. An interdisciplinary team of researchers will educate graduate students about climate resilience and then send them into communities to apply what they know. That could include showing farmers how to switch to heat-tolerant crops such as less-thirsty strains of corn or helping emergency-response workers prepare for especially high temps. Gearing up for sweltering times is key in this poor, hot state: The EPA estimates that in 75 years, Alabama will annually endure 30 to 60 days above 95 degrees, compared with about 15 days today. By 2060, extreme temperatures will claim 760 additional lives each year, by some estimates.

ALASKA could retrain for renewables

Alaskan temperatures have risen more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 50 years, which is twice the pace of much of the world. The rapid warming puts many of the state’s ecosystems at risk; for example, thawing permafrost along the coast threatens homes, and vanishing sea ice makes it increasingly difficult for Inuit communities to hunt for primary food sources like seals and polar bears. The simplest way to reduce the 586,000-square-mile state’s 40 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions (among the highest per capita in the nation) would be to transition from oil to alternatives like wind. But state and federal lawmakers continue to reject proposals to do so. Senator Lisa Murkowski, for instance, advocates carbon capture and new nuclear power plants—expensive and controversial prospects. Regional environmental groups like the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition are pushing for an Alaskan version of the Green New Deal, which would provide retraining for thousands of fossil-fuel workers to ensure a “just transition” to jobs in solar, wind, and other renewable sources.

An oil pipeline cuts across Alaska, a state where thousands of fossil-fuel workers will require retraining for green jobs. (DepositPhotos/)

ARIZONA could slash electricity costs

Despite the Southwestern state’s vast solar potential (the industry already supports some 7,500 jobs) and higher-than-average warming (temperatures have risen 3.2 degrees over the past century), Senator Kyrsten Sinema was one of only three Democrats to reject the federal GND resolution. A 2018 state ballot measure to adopt a renewables target of 50 percent by 2030 also failed. Yet, incentives from a GND could speed sluggish compliance with a 2010 mandate aimed at tamping down rising electricity demand. That directive from utility regulator Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) requires utilities to achieve 22 percent energy savings by 2020 by, among other things, offering rebates on energy-efficient lightbulbs, HVAC systems, and smart thermostats. The Grand Canyon chapter of the Sierra Club, Mi Familia Vota, and other groups have urged the ACC to extend the target date to 2030 and up the goal to 35 percent. “I think it’s helpful to have a Green New Deal out there for communities who are thinking about doing something” to rein in climate change, says Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter.

ARKANSAS could go big on carbon farming

Agriculture is the Natural State’s largest industry (there are 49,346 farms there) and research out of the University of Arkansas shows that all that acreage could play a big role in offsetting emissions by pulling carbon from the atmosphere into the ground. The practices that reduce greenhouse gases, such as planting cover crops and going easy on tilling, also enhance soil health and help retain moisture, which can help farmers withstand more-intense droughts as climate change worsens. Arkansas has been a locus of experimentation in so-called carbon farming for several years: In 2017, Microsoft struck a deal to buy carbon-offset credits from four rice farmers. But among state policymakers and officials, there’s been little effort to encourage farmers to adopt the practices, which could be achieved through incentives like technical assistance from the state’s Department of Agriculture. This southern story isn’t without its bright spots, though: Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan has signed onto the national Climate Mayors coalition, and the city’s Energy Action Plan sets a target of 100 percent clean power for municipal operations by 2030 and citywide by 2050.

CALIFORNIA could boost building efficiency

The Golden State’s commitment to reaching 100 percent clean energy by 2045 inspired the Green New Deal. One of the hallmarks of its plan, which tackles the challenge of reining in emissions in the nation’s most populous state, is its focus on climate-minded building. In 2018, lawmakers passed a measure to take steps to require that homes and commercial buildings—California’s second-largest climate polluter, after transportation—consume 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Much of those gains could be achieved by swapping out natural-gas-powered stoves and heaters for electric versions. To help households make the transition, the California Public Utilities Commission approved $50 million to invest in electric-everything buildings for low-income residents in the central San Joaquin Valley. In April 2019, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled a plan to make similar retrofits to commercial buildings and homes by 2050. The effort would also create a zero-emissions transportation network to encourage residents of the famously car-dependent city to use public transit, scooters, and other low-carbon ways of getting around.

COLORADO could make homes greener

Buoyed by the GND resolution and the election of Governor Jared Polis—who wants to switch the state to 100 percent renewables by 2040 and cut emissions 90 percent below 2005 levels by 2050—green-minded lawmakers and environmental groups like Conservation Colorado successfully pushed several broad carbon-cutting bills in the state legislature in spring 2019. One measure, which Polis signed this past May, establishes new energy-efficiency standards for air conditioners, lightbulbs, and other power hogs; the Natural Resources Defense Council estimates the effort could avoid 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution over 15 years. But the city of Boulder has gone further, declaring a climate emergency in July 2019, and committing to going fully renewable by 2030 and slashing greenhouse emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The centerpiece of the effort: replacing natural-gas furnaces in homes with electric heaters powered by renewables like wind and solar.

CONNECTICUT could go big on wind

The Constitution State, with its 618 miles of Long Island Sound shoreline, is awhirl in wind, and a recent piece of legislation aims to harness a lot more of it—and turn Connecticut into a regional hub for gusty offshore wind power. Under a 2019 law signed by Governor Ned Lamont, the state will increase its capacity from 300 to 2,300 megawatts by 2030, enough to run about 1 million homes. The buildout, along with a new effort to swap public buses and other parts of the state’s vehicle fleet for zero-emission models, aims to help meet a 2018 goal to slash emissions 45 percent below 2001 levels by 2030, while providing new opportunities for economic development.

DELAWARE could capture even more sun

As one of 25 states and territories in the US Climate Alliance, a coalition that will adhere to the goals of the Paris Agreement, the “small wonder” state is drawing up a crucial plan, due in December 2020, to achieve a 26-to-28 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2025. About 2.8 percent of the state’s electricity already comes from solar, a large step toward its target of 3.5 percent in the same time frame. Its pioneering Green Energy Grant program grants, established back in 1999, have funded more than $54.3 million in renewable projects, all of which has increased installed solar capacity from 8.6 megawatts in 2010 to more than 100 megawatts in 2019. A separate program, the Energy Efficiency Investment Fund, gives grants to local governments, businesses, and nonprofits to fund efficiency upgrades like better insulation and weatherstripping.

FLORIDA could get residents off the beach

South Florida’s imminent inundation from sea-level rise makes national headlines—about 2.4 million people live within 4 feet of the high-tide line. After replacing Rick Scott, who was widely criticized for his lack of action on climate, new Governor Ron DeSantis has managed to push the state forward. In August 2019, he hired the first climate resilience officer and persuaded the legislature to allocate $5.5 million to help local governments plan for sea-level rise. Most action is occurring at the local level already, but one community’s solution can become another community’s problem. In Miami, for example, social-justice advocates are working to help low-income residents in Little Haiti, which sits on higher ground, withstand “climate gentrification” as wealthier people retreat from beachfront property. Efforts include preserving existing affordable housing and advocating for new low-income projects. The Miami City Council recently adopted a resolution to study climate impacts on housing and potential solutions, including how to manage taxes so residents can stay in their homes.

GEORGIA could protect crops from extreme weather

Economic hardship from climate change is expected to hit Georgia especially hard. According to a 2008 study, a 2007 drought caused $1.3 billion in losses, including $92.5 million in peanut crops—a preview of what’s to come as prolonged dry periods become more frequent and severe. The number of dangerously hot days is increasing, and sea levels are rising an inch per decade, faster than much of the rest of the East Coast, eroding beaches and flooding low-lying areas. In the absence of government action, researchers at three universities created the Georgia Climate Project, which aims to develop an economically beneficial and socially equitable path to carbon neutrality in the Peach State. To do that, says Kim Cobb of Georgia Tech, advocates must “decouple the conversation from the national-level, tit-for-tat mudslinging-fest” and instead focus on local benefits. In May 2018, the project published a “road map” that laid out priorities, including girding the coast; helping farmers increase resilience to weather extremes with strategic crop choices; and identifying and protecting the state’s at-risk, low-income communities. It remains to be seen whether officials will turn the project’s ideas into actual policy.

HAWAII could gird its shorelines

Mindful that the Aloha State’s celebrated Waikiki Beach could be underwater in 20 years, the Hawaiian legislature might soon accelerate its ambitious target of going 100 percent renewable by 2045. House bill 1487 creates a pilot project to buffer Honolulu’s shoreline against sea-level rise and storms by expanding parks and establishing emergency access routes; it also requires the state to study the feasibility of a carbon tax. In September 2019, Hawaii issued “climate equity” recommendations that call for the most-vulnerable communities to be identified, protected, and made part of climate policy decisions. To speed an all-out switch to renewables, the state must also upgrade the grid with devices called smart inverters; the tech helps smooth out energy spikes and dips to provide consistent power around the clock.

As sea levels rise, Hawaii’s iconic beaches face increasing risk. (DepositPhotos/)

IDAHO could go deeper into geothermal

State lawmakers held their first-ever meeting on climate change in March 2019, two months after Governor Brad Little acknowledged that warming is, indeed, happening. So far, they have only called for more research, but Boise is blazing its own path. City officials are expanding its geothermal system, which now powers 92 residences and businesses downtown (some six million square feet) with 177-degree water circulating through more than 20 miles of underground pipes. The build-out, which will involve adding 10 million to 15 million more gallons of hot water a year, is part of a plan to transition to all sustainable power by 2035. If it succeeds, Boise will be the only Idaho city to run solely on renewables.

ILLINOIS could retrofit more homes

The Green New Deal owes its call for climate action that helps lift people out of poverty in part to this state’s 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act, which the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition regards as a model for how nationwide climate legislation should work. In addition to a standard raft of new energy standards, the law also set aside $5 billion for programs to help households improve insulation and make other efficiency upgrades. The measure will create 7,000 new retrofitting jobs each year and cut $4 billion in energy costs for Illinois families. Under the law, the state now also provides training for solar installation, and gives priority to those with low incomes and the formerly incarcerated. The measure also helps low-income families purchase solar systems.

INDIANA could afford to quit coal

According to an October 2019 report from a Hoosier State task force set up to develop new energy policies, keeping the state’s aging coal plants running for another 30 years would cost customers $20 billion more than switching to renewables. Environmental organizations such as the Hoosier chapter of the Sierra Club, however, are doubtful that the task force’s findings will do much to rally support for GND-like measures, given the resistance among state lawmakers. Still, utility companies are eyeing an eventual switch to renewable sources like solar and wind. In November, the Indiana Public Service Company announced it will go coal-free within a decade—though, it’s also asking for permission to raise rates to help pay for the effort.

IOWA could keep renewable installers working

Between June 2018 and May 2019, 50 inches of rain—the most precipitation in a 12-month period since record-keeping began in 1895—drenched Iowa. Yet state officials are rolling back climate-mitigation measures already on the books. A law passed by the legislature in spring 2018 capped the cost of energy-efficiency programs and lifted green-power requirements for municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives. Environmental groups say the move will likely increase the state’s emissions and spur layoffs of energy auditors, insulation installers, and other workers in the efficiency industry. One bright spot is Iowa City, whose action plan aims to snuff emissions 45 percent by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050. Among the proposals to get there: expanding the city’s carbon-grabbing and street-cooling tree canopy with up to 10,000 saplings, creating community solar projects, and encouraging energy-efficient construction by rebating a portion of building permit fees in exchange for green updates.

KANSAS could help farms go green

Across the wind-whipped Great Plains, market forces are driving GND-like programs more than policy mandates. Kansas—which gets 36 percent of its power from wind, more than any other state—is Exhibit A in how to grow a renewables industry in a hostile political climate. Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran voted against the GND resolution, but an increasing number of farmers and ranchers are boosting their income by leasing some of their land to wind developers. Some agriculturalists are also beginning to manage fields so that they suck more carbon from the atmosphere—another item on the GND to-do list. These types of soil improvements, such as alternating cash crops with carbon-sequestering cover crops like radishes and wheat, help offset emissions while improving farmers’ bottom lines: A new program pays them to manage for carbon, and harvestable cover crops can boost income.

Kansas already gets more than one-third of its power from wind, as many farmers lease land to renewable-energy developers. (DepositPhotos/)

KENTUCKY could retrain its miners

Before the Green New Deal was a glint in Edward Markey’s and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s eyes, a group in the Bluegrass State was cooking up the “Empower Kentucky” plan. Crafted in 2017 by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a justice advocacy group, the blueprint emphasizes energy efficiency, renewables, and placing a price on carbon dioxide pollution to discourage industrial emissions—all while helping miners find work in other professions. Now comes the hard part: implementation. The group worked to restore full funding for the federal Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (the coal tax that supports it was slashed by 55 percent for 2019), which provides medical benefits and monthly assistance.

LOUISIANA could safeguard shoreline communities

In mid-2019, Louisiana issued an ambitious plan—the first of its kind in the US—to help people at risk from rising sea levels, hurricanes, and high-tide “sunny day flooding” relocate from coastal areas. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has funded the first phase, which identifies and offers buyouts to the most vulnerable residents in six Gulf-adjacent parishes, where a combination of swelling oceans, erosion, and sinking land (called subsidence) is already eating away at the ground. On Isle de Jean Charles, 80 miles from New Orleans, relocation is already underway under a previous HUD-funded effort, though only about half of residents have opted to move so far. The next (and as-yet-unfunded) phase of the plan will also help those who choose to stay by elevating homes, relocating urban centers, and altering transportation routes to bypass flood-prone areas.

MAINE could retrain its lobstermen

In Maine, it’s not fossil-fuel workers who need help, it’s lobstermen, who have watched their catches migrate north to cooler waters. In 2019, lawmakers passed a measure to establish the state’s own version of the Green New Deal aimed at lifting up lobstermen and other workers while torpedoing climate pollution. The law created a task force to craft a strategy for boosting renewables—especially offshore wind and solar, which could help the state, one of sunniest in New England, hit its ambitious target of 45 percent reduction below 1990 levels by 2030 and an 80-percent dip by 2050—while creating good jobs and ensuring low-income households have access to affordable solar power. “We know these climate-change solutions are coming, and we want to make sure workers are at the table, so we make sure they support working people,” says Andy O’Brien, a spokesman for the Maine AFL-CIO. The law also includes a provision that about a quarter of jobs during construction of grid-scale renewables, such as a large solar array, go to workers enrolled in an apprenticeship program. The trainees include former lobstermen, military veterans, and recent graduates.

In Maine, lobstermen will require retraining instead of fossil-fuel workers, as the shellfish move north to cooler waters. (DepositPhotos/)

MARYLAND could get going on a renewable switch

The Old Line State, where sea-level rise could cause $19 billion worth of damage by 2100, has some major climate culprits: vehicles, the military, and six coal-fired power plants. Governor Larry Hogan has unveiled a clean-energy plan, but it favors building small “modular” nuclear plants and using carbon-capture technology to limit emissions from natural gas plants—decidedly un-GND-like solutions. Lawmakers have also floated a proposal to charge a fee on fossil-fuel imports as a means to fund renewable alternatives. Climate activists favor a more aggressive approach: a full-on energy switch by 2023; renewables training for fossil-fuel workers, people of color, and those in marginalized communities; and a reduction in pollution from military installations and aircraft. It’s a tall order. The state is striving to deliver on a 2016 promise to cut emissions 40 percent below 2006 levels by 2030. “We want to keep pushing because we’re absolutely one of the most vulnerable states,” said David Smedick of the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club. “We are really susceptible to sea-level rise, and we are already seeing property at risk.”

MASSACHUSETTS could become more resilient

The Pilgrim State recently set aside a big pot of money—more than $2.4 billion—much of which to help communities gird against inland flooding, rising seas, and extreme weather. Through the Municipal Vulnerabilities Preparedness program, towns from Acton to Worcester have received grants to craft adaptation and resilience plans, restore wetlands to help soak up floodwaters, plant trees, replace culverts to improve drainage, and other projects. As of February 2020, 82 percent of communities had enrolled, according to the Governor Charlie Baker’s office. Now, he wants to up the ante: The administration’s proposed budget for 2021 would provide millions more for resilience efforts. In January, Baker called for upping the state’s climate target to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, from a current goal of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. “Time is not our friend,” the governor said during his January 22 State of the Commonwealth speech.

MICHIGAN could speed its renewable switch

Fresh leadership has thrust Michigan to the forefront of state climate action. Newly elected Attorney General Dana Nessel entered the fray specifically to stop a project to restore a section of Enbridge’s aging Line 5 oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, out of fears of a spill that would foul Lakes Michigan and Huron. And new Governor Gretchen Whitmer—one of a handful of gubernatorial candidates who campaigned on climate action in the wake of the GND—quickly created an Office of Climate and Energy and signed up the state to heed the Paris Agreement’s call for reducing emissions. Meanwhile, in a separate undertaking up north, the Upper Peninsula Power Co., which charges some of the nation’s highest electricity rates, plans to deliver energy from a new solar array within two years. Once running, it will boost its solar capacity by 50 percent and, ultimately, lower costs for customers.

MINNESOTA could help homeowners go green

While statewide initiatives inspired by the Green New Deal have faltered in the legislature (they’ll try again in the new session), several Minnesota cities have stepped up their own efforts to take on climate culprits. St. Paul, where 60 percent of total emissions come from buildings, has a draft climate plan that calls for swapping natural-gas heating units for electric ones. To help tackle the 30 percent of emissions that come from transportation, officials are gearing up to trade the current fleet of police cruisers for electric vehicles. Across the river in Minneapolis, a new rule would require an energy audit when a home is sold, with the idea that buyers will be inspired to make efficiency upgrades like installing better insulation and weatherstripping around doors and windows. Meanwhile, the state’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, has vowed to go carbon-neutral by 2050.

MISSISSIPPI could beat the heat

Despite the specter of rising sea levels along the Gulf Coast, lingering effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and flooding in the Mississippi River Delta in 2018, the state has done little to address climate change. New Governor Tate Reeves, elected last November, has said he sees no need to take action, and has called the GND a “disaster.” But that doesn’t mean Magnolia State residents wouldn’t stand to benefit from a federal program. GND-fueled investment could provide relocation help for poor residents in the most at-risk flood areas (like Long Beach on the coast, and Vicksburg and Natchez on the Mississippi River) and help hospitals prepare for a potential spike in heat-related illnesses. The state faces some 90 days a year with a heat index of 105 degrees F in the coming decades, high enough to cause deadly heat stroke. Funds could also go toward retraining workers in the state’s oil and gas industry, which employs about 60,000 people.

Wetlands along the Gulf shoreline face regular inundation, leaving many Mississippi residents in need of relocation assistance (Unsplash/)

MISSOURI could update more buildings

In a state that stands apart for its coal dependency—only Texas consumes more, according to the Energy Information Administration—St. Louis is doubling down on slashing emissions. A centerpiece of its blueprint is improving its buildings, which generate 77 percent of the city’s greenhouse gases. The Mississippi River town has already added weatherstripping, LEDs, updated HVACs, and other changes to three municipal structures, achieving Energy Star certification; with 2018 grant money from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ American Cities Climate Challenge, the city will expand the program to structures in the private sector. St. Louis has also tweaked its building code to further increase efficiency: The requirements mandate that owners of structures larger than 50,000 square feet track and report their energy and water consumption each year, the first step toward curbing such use; those who don’t comply can be fined. Energy advocates consider the measures some of the strongest in the Midwest.

MONTANA could invest in carbon farming

Montana’s congressional delegation opposes the GND, but the resolution has emboldened local advocates to push for stronger climate protections. In February 2019, a group of local students and residents associated with the Sunrise Movement held a rally outside Senator Steve Daines’s office in Bozeman calling for a localized Green New Deal focused in part on the agriculture industry, which occupies 65 percent of the state’s land and contributes $4 billion to the economy each year. The idea involves working with ranchers and farmers to manage land in ways that draw more carbon dioxide from the air and into flora and soils, such as planting perennial crops that are superstars at sucking up CO2. The group is also pushing the state to upgrade buildings with better insulation and more-efficient appliances, and to expand alternative transportation options.

NEBRASKA could prepare for severe rains

Nebraska endured a bitter reminder of the ravages of climate change in spring 2019, when severe flooding inundated 2,000 homes, destroyed bridges, damaged $800 million worth of crops and livestock, and wrecked an Air Force base. Climate scientists say warming likely made the “bomb cyclone” worse than it otherwise would have been—excess humid air above seas turbocharges cyclones—and University of Nebraska analysis has warned of looming threats to the state’s economy, environment, and citizens. But Nebraska is one of only a handful of states that has not created its own resilience plan. That leaves local communities to take on the challenge themselves. One bright spot is state climatologist Martha Shulski’s outreach efforts; she is working with municipalities to help them prepare. The town of Bellevue, for example, has constructed rain gardens to help absorb runoff from parking lots, streets, and rooftops during downpours. Others are designating “heat shelters” to give the elderly and poor a cool place to go when temps spike.

NEVADA could run more on solar

While Nevada’s elected officials overwhelmingly opposed the Green New Deal, their constituents appear to be warming to the idea of climate action. According to a January 2019 poll by Colorado College, 74 percent of Nevada voters view climate change as a serious problem—a 16 percent jump since the last such poll in 2016. Las Vegas, known more for its excesses than its governance, has emerged as a leader in the state, which happens to boast some of the highest solar-energy potential in the nation: As of 2016, Sin City, which also happens to be the country’s fastest-warming burgh, runs all government buildings on 100 percent renewable power.

Nevada boasts the highest solar-energy potential in the US, as desert arrays help feed demand for bright towns like Las Vegas. (DepositPhotos/)

NEW HAMPSHIRE could finally ramp up its renewables

Under Governor Chris Sununu, a frequent target of environmentalist dismay, the Granite State has lagged behind its New England neighbors in climate action. Most recently, Sununu pulled out of the 11-state Transportation and Climate Initiative. New Hampshire has had a plan on the books since 2005 but could use a Green New Deal-style renewables surge, advocates like Environment New Hampshire say. The state boasts significant wind, hydropower, and biomass resources but has struggled to capitalize on them. In 2018, Sununu issued an “all-of-the-above” energy plan that still included fossil fuels, and, in February 2020, the 448-megawatt Merrimack coal-fired power plant announced it would stay open through at least 2024. But the tide might be turning: Sununu has convened a task force to explore how the state can tap into the stiff winds off its shores.

NEW JERSEY could make offshore wind happen

According to one recent study from Rutgers University, the Garden State will see a full foot of sea-level rise by 2030. State officials view offshore wind development as key to lowering emissions and boosting economic development. In fact, harnessing ocean breezes is a centerpiece of the new Energy Master Plan, which aims for 100 percent clean energy by 2050. After years of false starts, the blueprint, which echoes a November 2019 executive order, calls for firing up 7,500 megawatts by 2035, enough to juice 3 million homes. (That’s more than double the previous goal of 3,500 MW.) Still, the state has no offshore turbines now, so meeting the target will require a rapid buildout. Last June, the state approved what will be one of the largest such projects in the US, the 1,100 MW Ocean Wind development, which will sit 15 miles off the coast near Atlantic City. New Jersey is also working with other Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states to tamp down emissions from the transportation sector, and is part of a 25-state coalition (that tally includes Puerto Rico) that’s agreed to adhere to the Paris Agreement.

NEW MEXICO could retrain coal workers

In spring 2019, new Governor Michele Lujan Grisham signed the landmark Energy Transition Act, which echoes the Green New Deal’s call to provide a safety net for fossil-fuel workers sidelined by the renewables revolution. When the San Juan Generating Station, the state’s largest polluter, closes in 2022—along with the nearby coal mine that feeds it—$20 million in workforce-training funds will help ease the pain of lost jobs; another $20 million will go to San Juan County to help offset reduced tax revenue. “We’re going to lead the country in investments in technology and renewable energy,” Grisham says. But critics note that even as New Mexico—the second-fastest-warming state in the US—weans itself off coal, it will continue to rely on oil and gas revenues from the Permian Basin, which produces more than 4 million barrels of crude oil a day and is a major emitter of the greenhouse gas methane.

NEW YORK could revamp more buildings

NYC has its very own Green New Deal, with its most iconic building at the center. Buildings contribute 70 percent of the Big Apple’s emissions, but the Empire State Building is leading the way on efficiency updates. Retrofits of the 102-story prewar tower include resealed windows and elevators that capture the energy generated during drops to help power ascents; the tweaks amount to a 38 percent reduction in its consumption. Following the Empire State’s lead, the city council passed a law this past year requiring about 50,000 large structures (above 25,000 square feet) to slash pollution from heaters and other outmoded systems by 40 percent by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050. Property owners will have to install things like power-sipping lights, upgraded heating and cooling systems, and better insulation. The upgrades, which should create about 20,000 jobs, are estimated to cost about $4 billion, though owners will recoup some through energy savings. The law dovetails with an ambitious statewide effort, which, in addition to its own raft of building-efficiency updates, will focus on switching to clean energy—a move that could net some 212,000 new jobs in the Empire State.

The Empire State Building is an icon in the NYC skyline, and now it’s also a model for how to retrofit old buildings with efficiency in mind. (Unsplash/)

NORTH CAROLINA could maintain its solar momentum

North Carolina is a climate leader in the sunny South, boasting more solar infrastructure than any other state in the region and ranking second nationwide. But the state is poised to backtrack: Its solar tax credit expired in 2015, and only one wind farm has gone up, despite ample potential. A Green New Deal would help spur expanded solar and wind development while also creating new jobs, or so say the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and other environmental advocates. Governor Roy Cooper supports a renewables renaissance and, in October 2019, the state Department of Environmental Quality unveiled a plan that calls for accelerating “clean energy innovation, development, and deployment.” The goal: Cut greenhouse emissions from the power sector by 70 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and make the state carbon-neutral by 2050. An online portal will allow the public to track the effort’s progress.

NORTH DAKOTA could double down on wind

Some North Dakota lawmakers oppose climate action, and the Green New Deal, so strongly that they came close to banning wind farms in 2017. Rep. Kelly Armstrong has dubbed the GND “ridiculous” and warned it “would end North Dakota’s economy as we know it.” But despite elected officials’ antipathy toward GND principles, the state’s private sector is embracing emissions-slashing renewable development. One of the nation’s four most blustery states, North Dakota produces 25.8 percent of its power from wind. The wind industry employs between 3,000 and 4,000 people, and as prices continue to fall, the potential in the region is as vast as its zephyr-swept plains. “That’s not because of any kind of government intervention,” says Scott Skokol of the Dakota Resource Council. “If anything, the government is an inhibitor of the industry rather than something that’s fostering it.”

OHIO could finally tap into renewables

The Buckeye State remains heavily reliant on coal and natural gas, and ranks No. 6 in state greenhouse gas emissions. Ohio officials have largely ignored the Green New Deal and climate action in general, despite considerable green-power potential in the state. For example, turbines could produce about 55,000 megawatts, yet almost no new wind development has occurred since 2014. Cleveland, however, is forging its own path. Mayor Frank Jackson committed to cutting the city’s emissions by 80 percent (by prioritizing projects like 70 new miles of bike lanes) and going 100 percent renewable (see: plans to install solar panels atop Progressive Field) by 2050. The lakeside burg also hopes to plant 50,000 trees, a project that will absorb carbon dioxide while creating more walkable neighborhoods and, they hope, a healthier population; cut residential and commercial energy use by 50 percent and industrial use by 30 percent; and keep 50 percent of discarded food and other types of waste out of methane-belching landfills by 2030. The efforts have earned Cleveland an A grade from the Carbon Disclosure Project, making it among the 7 percent of towns to receive the top score.

OKLAHOMA could work out energy storage

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe is one of the nation’s loudest climate-change skeptics, but the state is nonetheless pursuing at least one Green New Deal tenet: a renewable-energy ramp-up. That’s because, in the Sooner State—one of the top four wind producers in the country, with more than 30 percent of its power generated by zephyrs—it’s good for business. Already about 7,000 Oklahomans work in wind, the state’s dominant renewable resource, more than natural gas and coal employ combined. The state is also working to solve the central problem with wind and solar: storing energy for times when the wind isn’t blowing and/or the sun isn’t shining. In July 2019, Western Farmers Electric Cooperative and NextEra Energy Resources announced a 700-megawatt hybrid wind-and-solar project that features state-of-the-art battery storage to even out lulls. Excess energy from peak production times tucks into the battery to fill in gaps. The facility, which will be the largest such project in the country, will create about 300 new construction jobs and up to 15 operational ones.

OREGON could expand green infrastructure

In 2018, Portland voters approved an innovative ballot referendum that will create a “clean energy fund.” The 1 percent tax on major retailer profits should generate between $30 million and $70 million annually, according to the community coalition that led the effort, which will support a range of GND-like efforts. Those include job training for workers to transition to the renewables industry, green infrastructure projects like planting trees and rain gardens that capture stormwater runoff, and regenerative agriculture—a conservation-minded way of farming and ranching that, among other things, keeps livestock moving to avoid overgrazing, uses cover crops to keep fields sucking up CO2 between regular plantings, and adds compost to fields to improve soil health. At least half the revenue is earmarked to support such projects in low-income areas and communities of color. Statewide climate efforts in 2019 weren’t quite as successful: In June, Republican lawmakers left the state to prevent Democrats from having the quorum they needed to pass a bill that would have demanded emissions cuts from businesses.

PENNSYLVANIA could manage floodwaters

Like other East Coast states, flooding is one of the biggest threats Pennsylvania faces—though not from sea-level rise. In the case of places like landlocked Pittsburgh, heavier downpours are the danger. Pittsburgh United’s Clean Rivers Campaign has come up with an innovative solution: It’s working to secure public investments in green infrastructure—rainwater gardens to absorb intense storms, for example. The projects aim to reduce flooding in some of the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods while creating jobs, and could provide a model for other cities facing similar risks. The effort reached a milestone last year, when the mayor’s budget included funding to complete the design for the Four Mile Run green infrastructure project, which will absorb rainwater from parts of five neighborhoods and help reduce the amount of sewage flowing into rivers when systems overflow during storms. Stormwater that once rushed across pavement will instead route to a new surface channel built to mimic the path of historic streams and handle some of the overflow.

RHODE ISLAND could harness the wind

The tiniest state in the union faces an outsize climate threat from sea-level rise, but few residents have the means to prepare for it: Rhode Island has the highest poverty rate in New England. With the aim of stimulating the economy and creating green jobs through renewables growth, it recently began working on its own version of the Green New Deal. Representatives from the fishing and farming industries, climate scientists, energy experts, and social justice advocates are studying the state’s climate risks and economic challenges and opportunities. For example, on the opportunities side of the ledger, Rhode Island has largely untapped offshore wind resources; about 95 percent of its wind potential lies at sea, yet breezes provide only about 0.5 percent of the state’s power. Renewables advocates hope the group’s efforts will see the state’s estimated 70 megawatts of land-based wind potential and 25 gigawatts of offshore resources finally developed.

Even landlocked cities and towns like Pittsburgh need to prepare for more-frequent floods and heavy downpours. (DepositPhotos/)

SOUTH CAROLINA could capture the sun

The Palmetto State has some of the choicest renewable resources in the South: Nearly every square meter gets hit by almost 5.4 kilowatt hours of solar radiation each day. Yet only about 1 percent of the state’s power comes from the sun, though several new projects are underway. Climate advocates with the Coastal Conservation League point out that efforts could have been much farther along if the government had made good on a promise former Governor Mark Sanford’s administration made more than a decade ago to achieve a modest 5 percent emissions reduction from 1990 levels by 2020. This year, lawmakers passed a bill that aims to change that; it removes a 2 percent cap on generation from home solar panels served by Duke Energy and other utilities, a step that industry analysts said is vital for the nascent industry and could incentivize more residents to invest in panels. Crucially, the act, which received bipartisan support, frames the effort as economic development more than climate action. “There wasn’t a robust discussion of ‘we need to reduce emissions.’ It was ‘we need to lower bills and encourage clean energy,’” says John Tynan, executive director of Conservation Voters of South Carolina. “We have to find a way to advance clean energy that’s characteristically South Carolina.”

SOUTH DAKOTA could build out more wind

South Dakota takes advantage of some of the windiest conditions in the US and now has sufficient turbines online to produce more than 1,218 megawatts of power—enough for 1.2 million homes. While elected officials have opposed the Green New Deal as government overreach that would hurt farmers and ranchers, native tribes have pushed forward. The Rosebud Sioux erected the first commercial turbine on tribal lands back in 2003. Now, six tribes are collaborating on the Oceti Sakowin Power Project, which will be the biggest renewables effort on tribal land. Leaders expect it will create at least 500 much-needed jobs during construction and 30 permanent ones for some of the poorest populations in the country. While these efforts were well underway before the GND resolution, climate justice advocates say they illustrate the importance of its call to use solutions like renewables development as a tool for lifting people out of poverty.

TENNESSEE could ditch nuclear

In a state that has embraced a controversial vision on climate (case in point: Senator Lamar Alexander’s “New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy” relies on nuclear power, which the GND’s framers oppose), Nashville is kicking up some GND dust. City Council member Freddie O’Connell wants to create the “Green New Deal of the East” and, last June, Music City’s leaders unanimously passed a measure that puts its government on a schedule to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2041. Nashville’s gasoline-powered vehicle fleet will switch to electric models by 2050, and the city will adopt new green building standards, including energy-efficiency retrofits, for at least 12.5 percent of its municipal offices by 2032.

TEXAS could protect against floods

Austin, a longtime progressive outlier in the conservative Lone Star State, is one of the few cities to outright endorse the Green New Deal. In May 2019, the city council also directed staff to explore what a climate-resilience plan for the flood-prone burg would look like. Like Houston, which endured record inundation from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the capital will need to focus on stormwater infrastructure upgrades to sweep away excess rainfall from roads and homes. The blueprint officials create could provide a model that other cities in conservative states can follow, according to Cyrus Reed, conservation director for the Sierra Club’s Lone Star chapter. The efforts run in stark contrast to a continued oil rush in the Permian Basin. Meanwhile, wind-power companies hurry to squeeze what’s left of federal tax incentives for renewables development.

UTAH could speed its renewable switch

In Utah, which ranks fifth among states with the fastest-rising temperatures and struggles with poor air quality, the legislature passed a bill in March 2019 that creates a new program to help municipalities reach 100 percent renewable power. Communities can opt to partner with the state’s largest utility, Rocky Mountain Power, which will coordinate efforts for the switch and provide all the necessary supply and infrastructure updates. At least 12 municipalities have taken advantage of the opportunity, including Salt Lake City, Moab, Park City, and Summit County. In the process, Salt Lake will cut its carbon emissions in half, and will “create a replicable roadmap for others across the country,” Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said in a statement. Officials were responding in part to lobbying from young people in the Sunshine Movement, but the measure also gained the support of free-market advocates who see the expansion of renewables as key to the state’s economic development.

Park City, Utah, is among the municipalities in the state to have signed on to go 100-percent renewable. (Unsplash/)

VERMONT could shake off nuclear

Famously progressive Vermont is a case study in the difficulty of achieving lofty climate goals. While the Green Mountain State pledged back in 2005 to cut emissions 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2028 and 75 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, the state’s emissions are now 16 percent higher than they were in 1990. That’s partly because it has proved difficult to entirely replace a shuttered nuclear plant, which provided about half the state’s electricity, with renewables. Despite a doubling of solar generation between 2016 and 2018, the state has struggled to build enough new facilities to fill the gap. Instead, they’ve wound up importing hydropower from Canada. But the biggest culprit are vehicles: Cars and trucks are responsible for some 40 percent of emissions. In the 2020 legislative session, lawmakers are mulling a bill, the Global Warming Solutions Act, that would establish mandatory emissions cuts across all sectors, including transportation, of 26 percent below 2005 levels in the next five years. In addition, the bill gives specific attention to the impact of climate change on the state’s rural communities.

VIRGINIA could fund efficiency upgrades

Arlington, a wealthy D.C. suburb, is leading the way on climate action. In 2017, the city became the first in the country to receive the LEED for Communities Platinum certification for its programs, which include providing rebates on power-sipping appliances and free expert advice for homeowners on efficiency upgrades like insulation or weatherstrips for windows. Local entrepreneurs have also set up a solar and electric vehicle charger co-op; members leverage their purchasing power and get discounts on installation of either solar panels, a level-2 EV charger, or both. Statewide, more than 50 groups, including the Sierra Club, the Richmond Food Justice Alliance, and Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, are pushing toward key GND objectives: switching to 100 percent renewables, retraining displaced fossil-fuel workers, making efficiency upgrades to residential and commercial buildings, prioritizing clean and affordable transportation, and investing in local agriculture. A bill to turn much of that wish list into a reality quickly stalled in the last legislative session, but supporters continue to build momentum for the effort.

WASHINGTON could fund low-income home updates

The state legislature, at the urging of governor and former presidential candidate Jay Inslee, passed the most ambitious clean-energy bill in the country in 2019. The measure calls for Washington, which now gets 10 percent of its power from coal, to ditch fossil fuel by 2025, become carbon-neutral by 2030, and achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2045. Low-income communities get “energy assistance,” meaning that utilities will have to help fund the weatherization of homes and other efficiency improvements, with a goal of aiding 60 percent of eligible customers by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050. The new law also requires that utilities ensure that low-income neighborhoods have the same access to new energy projects, such as wind facilities or electric-vehicle charging stations, as wealthier ones do.

Statewide, Vermont has struggled to hit its emissions-reduction targets, but some individuals are already making the switch on their own. (Department of Energy/Flickr/)

WEST VIRGINIA could keep miners working

In West Virginia, where coal is still king, per capita carbon emissions are among the highest in the country, and state and federal lawmakers have resisted climate action at almost every turn. All the while, the repercussions of global warming are coming home to roost, in the form of a 5-to-10 percent increase in precipitation in some regions by the middle of the 21st century. So environmental and social-justice groups are taking a bottom-up approach to dealing with the coming crisis, working to help displaced coal workers retrain for other occupations, such as coding and renewables installation, and find jobs. (As of 2018, 12,253 West Virginians worked as coal miners, compared with 20,925 in 2009, according to yearly figures from the West Virginia Coal Association.) Solar Holler, for example, has been retraining displaced workers—some former miners, some miners’ sons and daughters—in solar installation since its founding in 2013.

WISCONSIN could train a green workforce

Under a new GND-like initiative in Milwaukee, supporters like County Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde hope to see an influx of jobs in solar installation, efficiency upgrades, and other climate-change-fighting work. The swing could help many of the city’s black residents rise above the poverty line, where 30 percent of that community currently resides. The local task force in charge of the push promised to conjure a Green New Deal “with teeth” that will reduce emissions by 45 percent of 2010 levels by 2030.

WYOMING could harness more wind

In the coal-rich Cowboy State, where Senator Mike Enzi recently called the Green New Deal a “pipe dream,” the only effort that has been palatable among elected officials is carbon capture of emissions from coal plants—an idea at direct odds with the GND’s call to put an end to fossil fuel use. Governor Mark Gordon has asked lawmakers to commit $10 million for a pilot project that would trap 75 percent of pollution from such facilities. And in March 2019, he signed a bill that further encourages keeping coal plants open by requiring owners to look for new buyers before closing such facilities. Still, the blustery plains have attracted renewable-energy developers—there’s already 1,410 megawatts of wind power up and running—but environmental groups say officials could do far more to harness the GND’s promise of a new energy economy. “It’s all talk and no action,” says Jeremy Nichols, climate-change campaign manager for WildEarth Guardians. Job training and other aid would ensure a soft landing for fossil-fuel workers, “but transition is still a dirty word in Wyoming,” he says.

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scootoaster · 5 years

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What a Green New Deal would look like in every state

In the absence of a federal mandate, some local governments and institutions are stepping up. (Unsplash/Pixabay/DepositPhotos/)

In 2018, the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change set a deadline: Snuff greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent by 2030 to keep warming from creeping past 1.5 degrees Celsius, the threshold beyond which lie the worst consequences of an overheated planet. Technologically, the scientists pointed out, we have the tools to make such a drastic clamp-down happen, but we’ve struggled to put them to work.

These are the climate policies, fixes, and initiatives that could help each state gain ground on Green New Deal goals—or get a boost if a national effort gets underway.

Scroll through, or use the links below to jump to your state:

ALABAMA could weather extreme temps

ALASKA could retrain for renewables

An oil pipeline cuts across Alaska, a state where thousands of fossil-fuel workers will require retraining for green jobs. (DepositPhotos/)

ARIZONA could slash electricity costs

ARKANSAS could go big on carbon farming

CALIFORNIA could boost building efficiency

COLORADO could make homes greener

CONNECTICUT could go big on wind

DELAWARE could capture even more sun

FLORIDA could get residents off the beach

GEORGIA could protect crops from extreme weather

HAWAII could gird its shorelines

As sea levels rise, Hawaii’s iconic beaches face increasing risk. (DepositPhotos/)

IDAHO could go deeper into geothermal

ILLINOIS could retrofit more homes

INDIANA could afford to quit coal

IOWA could keep renewable installers working

KANSAS could help farms go green

Kansas already gets more than one-third of its power from wind, as many farmers lease land to renewable-energy developers. (DepositPhotos/)

KENTUCKY could retrain its miners

LOUISIANA could safeguard shoreline communities

MAINE could retrain its lobstermen

In Maine, lobstermen will require retraining instead of fossil-fuel workers, as the shellfish move north to cooler waters. (DepositPhotos/)

MARYLAND could get going on a renewable switch

MASSACHUSETTS could become more resilient

MICHIGAN could speed its renewable switch

MINNESOTA could help homeowners go green

MISSISSIPPI could beat the heat

Wetlands along the Gulf shoreline face regular inundation, leaving many Mississippi residents in need of relocation assistance (Unsplash/)

MISSOURI could update more buildings

MONTANA could invest in carbon farming

NEBRASKA could prepare for severe rains

NEVADA could run more on solar

Nevada boasts the highest solar-energy potential in the US, as desert arrays help feed demand for bright towns like Las Vegas. (DepositPhotos/)

NEW HAMPSHIRE could finally ramp up its renewables

NEW JERSEY could make offshore wind happen

NEW MEXICO could retrain coal workers

NEW YORK could revamp more buildings

The Empire State Building is an icon in the NYC skyline, and now it’s also a model for how to retrofit old buildings with efficiency in mind. (Unsplash/)

NORTH CAROLINA could maintain its solar momentum

NORTH DAKOTA could double down on wind

OHIO could finally tap into renewables

OKLAHOMA could work out energy storage

OREGON could expand green infrastructure

PENNSYLVANIA could manage floodwaters

RHODE ISLAND could harness the wind

Even landlocked cities and towns like Pittsburgh need to prepare for more-frequent floods and heavy downpours. (DepositPhotos/)

SOUTH CAROLINA could capture the sun

SOUTH DAKOTA could build out more wind

TENNESSEE could ditch nuclear

TEXAS could protect against floods

UTAH could speed its renewable switch

Park City, Utah, is among the municipalities in the state to have signed on to go 100-percent renewable. (Unsplash/)

VERMONT could shake off nuclear

VIRGINIA could fund efficiency upgrades

WASHINGTON could fund low-income home updates

Statewide, Vermont has struggled to hit its emissions-reduction targets, but some individuals are already making the switch on their own. (Department of Energy/Flickr/)

WEST VIRGINIA could keep miners working

WISCONSIN could train a green workforce

WYOMING could harness more wind

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mobileautorepairpros · 5 years

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Motor News: Solar Prius

The quest to harness power from the sun has taken many forms over the years… and now there’s a new effort to drive only on sunshine. Toyota is working with electronic giant Sharp and others to develop a car the runs on solar power. They’re using a Prius test car in Japan with flexible solar panels on the roof, hood and rear hatch. We’ve seen other experiments with solar powered cars, but they were usually small with limited practicality. This research offers the possibility of moving a passenger car for what Toyota says is up to 35 electric-only miles from solar energy alone.

Like it or not… autonomous cars are coming… and the pace is picking up to bring driverless cars to American roads. Working with Argo AI, Ford will test autonomous technology in Austin, Texas. It’s the third place in the country they’re seeing how these vehicles operate on city streets. Miami-Dade County Florida and Washington, D.C. are their other test sites.

Meantime, the Ohio Department of Transportation says they’ve received a $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The money will be spent studying autonomous technology on rural roads and highways. They’ll also see how it works on unpaved roads and work zones. Michigan and Virginia have also received grants to research self-driving vehicles.

Supporters of driverless vehicles say removing the human factor can make them safer. And rising speed limits are taking a deadly toll on the road.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says higher speed limits during the past 25 years have cost nearly 37,000 lives. States set their own speed limits, as 55 is no longer the rule everywhere. The IIHS study found a 5 mph increase in the maximum highway speed limit yields an 8-percent increase in the fatality rate.

So, slow down and drive safe. And, that does it for this week’s Motor News.

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fthbarlingtontx · 5 years

Link

Oregon Department Of Veterans Affairs Home Loans

Contents

Related organizations offer

Owned homes (reo)

Bond (qvmb) loan.

Federal housing administration

Buying A Va Owned Foreclosure Texas Va Home Loan Rates Home Mortgage Rates in Texas.. Veterans of the U.S. armed forces can get a home loan through the VA with no down payment, a luxury not to be found anywhere else. The mortgage is underwritten by a private mortgage company, and the VA insures the loan.Do Closing Costs Vary By Lender You can’t put this money toward a down payment (though USDA loans do not require one). VA loans allow the seller to pay all of the buyer’s mortgage-related closing costs and up to. you can use gift.Solar Panel Grants For Veterans Va Home Loan Application Online Grants For First time home buyers In Va Department Of Veterans Affairs Foreclosures VA loans are insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA home loans.com is not owned or operated by VA or va.gov. VA Home Loans.com is a mortgage banker specialized in providing information regarding VA loans for Veterans whom wish to use their VA benefits in the form VA loans to buy a home with no down payment or refinance VA.Va Home Certificate Of Eligibility Personal Loans For Disabled Veterans This Veteran’S Basic Entitlement Is $36 000* Personal Loans For Disabled Veterans With bad credit instant approval! credit history restore Will be Possible, Discover Exactly how Having These Helpful Guidelines Regardless of whether youve not very many tiny issues to change, or maybe complete renovation to try and do, be aware that many people furthermore undergo challenges utilizing their credit history rating.Request your Certificate of Eligibility to apply for a VA loan. You have three options to obtain your document: by phone, online, or by mail. All are available through our COE tool.Buying a home is still the american dream. Unfortunately, student debt can make saving up for a down payment and securing a loan feel impossible. It doesn’t have to be though. The federal government and related organizations offer several first time home buyer federal grants that make becoming a first time home buyer an affordable reality.Once you've determined that you are eligible for a VA home loan, you can begin the loan application process, which includes six important steps.va home loan certificate eligibility land For Sale By Owner In Va Of the 55 counties in the state, Hampshire County had the most land and acreage for sale. To find more land for sale in West Virginia, sign up for the Land And Farm West Virginia land-for-sale email alerts to be notified when new listings matching your search criteria come onto the market in West Virginia!2019 VA Entitlement Calculator. Use our VA entitlement calculator if you are buying above your county loan limit, if you already have a VA loan, or if you have entitlement used that will not be restored prior to closing on your new home.Made from steel containers that may also be outfitted with solar panels, Wi-Fi, and potable water. Coca-Cola conceived of a Pop Tienda program to support the islands’ recovery. grants were awarded.How Can I Buy a VA REO Home? The Department of Veterans Affairs offers foreclosed homes, also known as real estate owned homes (reo), for sale to veterans and civilians alike. Since the VA insures mortgages under the VA loan program, if the property goes into default and foreclosure, the VA recoups its losses by selling the foreclosed home.

"Refinance originations increased 16 percent compared to a year ago while purchase originations were down 11 percent and Home. FHA loan share down for second straight quarter A total of 143,366.

Veterans who’ve become ill said they hope the data can prod the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to act on claims with more urgency. for chronic diseases Pollution investigation hits home for.

The higher hurdles for FHA loans. the Department of Veterans Affairs and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the companies taken over by the government in 2008, have been providing about 95 percent of new.

SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs has announced lower interest rates for its home loan products, effective this week. The rates for Qualified Veterans Mortgage bond (qvmb) loan.

If you are ready to buy a home, CalVet Home Loans is here to meet our veterans' home financing needs. You will find the CalVet Home Loan is a true benefit.

"They were a distance away from the shooting situation," Robertson said. The state Veterans Affairs department said the home that opened in 1884 is the nation’s largest veterans home and cares for.

Historically, getting a Department of Veterans Affairs loan for homes that didn't meet. If you're eligible for the VA home loan program, and you want to.. cost purchase loans for veterans who want to buy a house in Oregon.

30 Year Fixed Va Loan Rates Today Benefits Of Using A Va Loan Part of the increase is a result of more flexible credit standards for VA loans. Today, homebuyers can purchase a home using their VA benefit even if they have less than sterling credit. Many lenders.All loans subject to credit approval. Rates quoted require a loan origination fee of 1.00%, which may be waived for a 0.25% increase in interest rate. Many of these programs carry discount points, which may impact your rate. 3 A VA loan of $250,000 for 15 years at 2.875% interest and 3.351% APR will have a monthly payment of $1,711. A VA.

Like everybody who cares about the well-being of veterans, I’m aware of the stumbling blocks they face when they come home — heck. I spent a little time yesterday with Oregon Dept. of Veterans.

Va Home Loan Application Online Va Streamline Refinance No Closing Costs The VA IRRRL, or Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan, is the VA’s way of helping veterans who already have a VA mortgage loan to refinance that loan to a lower rate. Although this loan does not have to cost the borrower any out-of-pocket fees, there are VA refinance closing costs associated with the loan, as there are with any loan.Veterans Administration Foreclosure Homes For Sale Qualifying For A Va Mortgage Can Anyone Get A Va Loan Can I Buy Two Houses With A Va Loan Apply for a VA home loan and learn how a VA mortgage can benefit you as a buyer. view eligibility requirements for both VA home loans and VA refinancing.. Use this link to answer a few questions about the home you want to buy, and you’ll find a VA lender in minutes. You can also shop for.I get. can allow you to purchase a home with little to no down payment, where otherwise you wouldn’t be able to purchase. The con with getting down payment assistance is that there’s a price to pay.Usually, for an active duty service member or Veteran to be eligible for a Texas Vet or VA Mortgage, they will need to have served according to the following:.Discover real estate and house auction listings in Virginia. View latest photos, foreclosure. Chesapeake City County, VA Auctions · Chesterfield County, VA.Needless to say, they shouldn’t face any moments of frustration and uncertainty while trying to apply for a loan. Here are a few tips you need to learn when applying for a VA home loan so that no.

The most risky loans were those backed by the federal housing administration (FHA), which registered an index reading of 24.26 percent for November (an increase from 24.17 percent in October). The.

SALEM The Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs has lowered its 30-year term fixed home mortgage rate to 4.125 percent to qualified veteran home buyers. The ORVET Home Loan Program offers one of the.

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SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs announced Wednesday across-the-board interest rate reductions on all new loan applications for its home loan products, which the agency said is.

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bharatiyamedia-blog · 5 years

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Subsequent-gen photo voltaic cells spin in new course

http://tinyurl.com/yyaouh34 A nanomaterial created from phosphorus, often known as phosphorene, is shaping up as a key ingredient for extra sustainable and environment friendly next-generation perovskite photo voltaic cells (PSCs). PSCs that are one of many quickest growing new photo voltaic applied sciences and may obtain efficiencies akin to extra generally used commercially out there silicon photo voltaic cells. For the primary time, a global group of fresh chemistry researchers led by Professor Joseph Shapter and Flinders College, has made very skinny phosphorene nanosheets for low-temperature PSCs utilizing the fast shear stress of the College’s revolutionary vortex fluidic gadget (VFD). “Silicon is presently the usual for rooftop photo voltaic, and different photo voltaic panels, however they take plenty of vitality to provide them. They don’t seem to be as sustainable as these newer choices,” says adjunct Professor Shapter, now at College of Queensland. “Phosphorene is an thrilling materials as a result of it’s a good conductor that can take up seen gentle. Up to now most non-metallic supplies would have one property however not each,” he says. “We have discovered thrilling new method to convert exfoliated black phosphorus into phosphorene which can assist produce extra environment friendly and likewise doubtlessly cheaper photo voltaic cells,” says Dr Christopher Gibson, from the School of Science and Engineering at Flinders College. “Our newest experiments have improved the potential of phosphene in photo voltaic cells, exhibiting an additional effectivity of two%-3% in electrical energy manufacturing.” Analysis into making prime quality 2D phosphorene in giant quantities- together with different future supplies reminiscent of graphene – are paving the way in which to extra environment friendly and sustainable manufacturing with using the SA-made VFD, near-infrared laser gentle pulses, and even an industrial-scale microwave oven. “The work with phosphorene is exploring the addition of various atoms to the matrix which is exhibiting very promising ends in catalysis, notably within the space of water splitting to provide hydrogen and oxygen,” says Professor Shapter. With the flexibility to artificially produce perovskite constructions, industrial viability is on the threshold and never too far-off as soon as the cells could be efficiently scaled up. In the meantime analysis world wide continues to search for methods to enhance and optimise perovskite cell efficiency. ### This examine was made out there on-line in February 2019 forward of ultimate publication in print on Could 10, 2019. Professor of Clear Expertise Colin Raston, Dr Kasturi Vimalanathan and Dr Gibson are amongst a group of Flinders Institute for Nanoscale Science and Expertise researchers trying to enhance photo voltaic cell effectivity with new and improved photo voltaic cell supplies and processing methods. Professor Shaper additionally is continuous the pioneering solar-cell analysis on the UQ with Dr Munkhbayar Batmunkh and Abdulaziz Bati, all co-authors of the brand new paper ‘Environment friendly Manufacturing of Phosphorene Nanosheets by way of Shear Stress Mediated Exfoliation for Low-Temperature Perovskite Photo voltaic Cells. The brand new paper by M Batmunkh, Okay Vimalanathan, C Wu, ASR Bati, L Yu, SA Tawfik, MJ Ford, TJ Macdonald, CL Raston, S Priya, CT Gibson and JG Shapter (College of Queensland, Pennsylvania State, Virginia Tech, UTS, RMIT, UCL and Flinders College) has been revealed in Small Strategies (Wiley) DOI: 10.1002/smtd.201800521. The most recent examine was supported by an Australian Analysis Council Discovery Program, Royal Society of Chemistry analysis grants, Microscopy Australia, Australian Nationwide Fabrication Facility and the brand new Flinders Microscopy and Microanalysis Centre. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! aren’t chargeable for the accuracy of reports releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing establishments or for using any data by means of the EurekAlert system. Source link

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wineanddinosaur · 5 years

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Homage or Appropriation? Navigating Cultural Branding and Complicated Spirits

Never mind what your peacekeeping bartender says: Politics do have a place in the bar.

Economics, social mores, and centuries-old traditions all come together in the glass. After all, rum is inextricably tied to the Caribbean, and mezcal and tequila to Mexico. If European trade routes hadn’t existed, fortified wines probably wouldn’t, either.

As people and societies evolve, ownership of a certain style or category sometimes falls into a gray area. Tiki, for example, began as a post-war, white American fantasia of transpacific cultures. Today its themes straddle inspiration, homage, and appropriation, depending on whom you ask.

Things get especially complicated when business owners profit from the history or culture of communities to which they don’t belong. The dynamics change when brands are backed by people of privileged demographics, and their products feature the culture of marginalized people.

Here, we examine a few cases where things got sticky — and others where spirits pros absolutely got it right.

Apache Gin

Four white Belgian guys walk into an Albuquerque bar, have a few drinks with some Native American folks, and then, almost a decade later, back in Belgium, decide to launch a liquor brand inspired by that experience. They name it Apache Gin.

Zero actual Native American people were involved in Apache’s inception, and the gin does not benefit any Native American tribes or organizations. Marketing efforts have included things like a now-deleted Instagram post of themselves dressed in headdresses. (Luckily, we kept the receipt.)

Once the U.S. bar community got wind of Apache Gin and its blatant appropriation of Native American culture, numerous people attempted to call them out via various channels (Instagram comments, emails, and the like). They were met with radio silence at best; others were blocked.

It’s one thing for a brand or business to commit this kind of offense, but it’s another when they refuse to listen to the people who actually feel the effect of their actions. This sort of behavior can be deeply harmful to marginalized communities.

When I reached out to the Apache Gin team for comment on this story, I received this response:

“Our product is not actively promoted, has no sales points and you can even not ask on our webshop to have our bottle shopped [sic] to the USA. So we deem we don’t hurt anyone, as in our homemarket [sic] similar feelings about using such branding don’t exist.

“The only way our brand is going to create damage is if you and your friends continue making a [hurricane] in a glass of water. (=> if you stop speaking about Apache Gin in the USA, no Apache tribe member will get hurt)

Kind regards, Thomas Van Acker”

Does Apache Gin comprehend their wrongdoing? Unclear. Do they care? Definitely not. (Are they really good at gaslighting? Yep.).

“Indigenous culture in not just a name, a piece of jewelry, or a feather,” says Morgan Crisp, president and co-owner of Seven Clans Brewing, a majority-female indigenous-owned company in Cherokee, N.C. “What you see on the outside is just that: an exoskeleton. Beneath lies all the good stuff — values, spirituality, stewardship, history, community –that shape the exterior symbols that many non-native people today recognize as ‘Native.’

“When used inappropriately, it simply de-values our culture and the people of that culture. Brands that appropriate culture in this fashion today seem to either lack understanding and/or compassion,” she adds.

So, how should the guys behind Apache Gin have handled this sort of situation — aside from just not launching a blatantly insensitive brand in the first place?

“The least they can do is listen,” Crisp says. “A favorable response hinges on their ability to understand why their branding has a negative impact. I don’t think it’s appropriate for a brand to profit off of a marginalized culture without the person(s) represented in that culture having ownership or being compensated.”

Copalli Rum

Rum is not exactly synonymous with Belize, but Copal Tree Lodge, a luxury eco-resort in Punta Gorda, recently partnered with a distillery to make Copalli Rum.

At first glance, someone with a culturally sensitive lens might raise an eyebrow at a five-star, primarily white-owned hospitality business operating in a small, Central American country with staggeringly high unemployment and poverty rates. This, however, is a case of a company doing its best to benefit its local community.

The Copalli Rum distillery is a zero-impact operation. Its two certified-organic, single-estate rums are made from sugarcane, canopy water, and yeast sourced from the Copal Tree’s own rainforest farm in southern Belize. The distillation process is “powered by sustainable, regenerative biomass and supports full-circle conversion of waste from production into agricultural inputs,” according to a brand representative.

Moreover, Copal Tree Lodge has a 22,000-acre rainforest conservancy that has promoted both preservation of the land as well as marine conservation programs over the past 20 years. The company as a whole has become the largest employer in southern Belize.

It doesn’t stop there. Copal Tree Distillery president and master distiller Ed Tiedge notes that, in Belize, free public education ends at 8th grade. Those below the poverty line (approximately 43 percent of the population) are often unable to continue their education beyond that point and, for societal reasons, young girls tend to be especially affected by this.

As of 2019, Copal Tree started to “provide educational grants for these local children [particularly girls] to continue their education into high school,” Tiedge says.

It’s too early to see results from this particular program as it’s currently in its early stages of implementation, but the intention is there at the very least. We’re eager to watch this progress, and hopefully offer an example to other internationally-owned tourism and hospitality companies.

GEM & BOLT

Not all cultural appropriation is as obvious as that of Apache Gin. Others, like GEM & BOLT mezcal, are dangerously vague.

The company website is a mystery wrapped in intentionally enigmatic marketing language. It describes its two white founders, “artist-alchemist duo Adrinadrina and Elliott Coon,” as “daughters of bohemian-bootleggers” from the mountains of Virginia. Abstract tag lines include such chestnuts as “life is an altar,” “it’s all theatre,” and “energy is immortal.”

Imagery is similarly head-scratching. An image on one tab, “The Altar,” features a white woman running naked through an agave field. Various videos and photos across the site show white people in headdresses, candy skull face paint, and whole wolf skins.

What makes this extra uncomfortable is that GEM & BOLT doesn’t seem inclusive of the culture upon which it’s built a brand and revenue stream. It claims to be a “clean spirit,” which means… nothing, actually, but is disturbingly reminiscent of other culturally insensitive brands. Is the implication here that other agave spirits, distilled by people in Mexico for centuries, are dirty? This smacks of white saviorism. It spins the use of “fair-trade, organic and sustainable agave” into a better-for-your-body storyline, denigrating the culture it’s claimed in the process.

The company website also claims to employ a “fourth-generation master distiller in Oaxaca.” He is not named or pictured anywhere on the site. Why is such a key player not given representation, while its two white founders are endlessly promoted on the site and to the press? (Upon further digging elsewhere on the internet, I found his name. It’s Ignacio Martinez.)

While researching this article I emailed GEM & BOLT to request comment. I also asked about a tab I had seen on GEM & BOLT’s website, titled “Warrior Generation.” It alluded to a plan to develop programming designed to give back to the community in some way. That tab has since disappeared, and my request for comment was unanswered. What does this tell us about this company, its two white women founders, and their accountability?

Sombra Mezcal

A perfect comparison to the GEM & BOLT case is Sombra Mezcal, founded in 2006 by winemaker and Master Sommelier Richard Betts with director general John Sean Fagan. The two were determined to create an ecologically sustainable brand that benefits the local indigenous population.

The distillery’s construction was overseen by civil engineer and Oaxaca native Martha Cardoso, and the juice is distilled by José Pablo Raña Zorrilla of Mexico City. (As with GEM & BOLT, neither of these individuals are anywhere to be found on the website, but, in this case, no members of the team are featured online.)

Sombra’s production incorporates a number of sustainability-minded processes, such as collecting and repurposing rainwater, composting spent materials for local farmers, and deriving energy from solar panels. Byproducts are upcycled into adobe bricks used to build houses for families affected by earthquakes in Oaxaca’s Sierra Mixe district, and to rebuild a graveyard wall. Sombra is also a member of 1% for the Planet, through which it donates 1 percent of its sales to local environmental charities and educational initiatives in Oaxaca. According to an article by Munchies’ Dan Q. Dao, 77 percent of the company’s employees are indigenous.

Its recent, limited-edition Ensamble mezcal was made of rare agaves Tepeztate and Tobalá (the latter is particularly precious). To make up for the 673 mature Tobalá plants that Sombra harvested, the company planted 20,000 in their place; they will be replanted in the wild after two years of maturation. Sombra Mezcal is an excellent example of what it means to launch a culturally sensitive brand, and to give back significantly more than what it takes.

When the Community Speaks, The Industry Should Listen

Could companies like GEM & BOLT learn from Sombra? (Certainly, but will they?) And what will it take for the Apache Gins of the world to change?

“A brand called out for this kind of behavior has really only one choice: involve someone from the culture they’ve appropriated on an equity level, or completely rebrand,” says Jackie Summers, entrepreneur, published author, creator of Sorel Liqueur, and liquor-industry advocate. “And if they really want to honor culture, actually provide financial backing to people from a culture to lift their own brands to the forefront.”

The examples we’ve explored in this story represent a mere fraction of the bigger picture. Offenses are offenses, whether they are subtle microaggressions of the “clean spirit” variety, or blatant disregard for those who express discomfort with culturally insensitive branding. And there are myriad blueprints for brands that aim to honor and, in the best cases, actively benefit the cultures they claim.

If we as consumers know what to look out for, and call out offenders when we see them, perhaps we can collectively begin to level the playing field — and, ultimately, make the industry a better place for all.

The article Homage or Appropriation? Navigating Cultural Branding and Complicated Spirits appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/spirits-cultural-appropriation/

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