Latest Trends and Insights - Squarespace

The Future of SustainabilityLatest Trends and Insights

Nicole DeNamurShe/Her/HersOwner and FounderSustainable Strategies PLLC

AttorneyAffiliate Instructor – UW Real EstateLEED Green AssociateWELL AP and FacultyFitwel AmbassadorEcoDistricts AP

Practical sustainability

Reframing and managing evolving risks

Health and wellness are big business

Climate work is equity work

Overview

Practical Sustainability

High consumer demand

Increasingly regulated - ESG

Sustainability is a business opportunity (not a risk)

Position to advocate for sustainability

Evolving ethical requirements

Sustainability is a business opportunity

U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCILU.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

Climate is greatest risk of our time

Significant risks to human health

Disproportionate impacts

Reframing Risk

Risk just isn’t what it used to be.

Worst wildfire season to date

Future pandemics

Tools like insurance cost-prohibitive / unavailable

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andystone/2020/01/30/climate-change-will-make-more-of-the-world-uninsurable/; https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health; https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/subtopics/coronavirus-and-climate-change

Sustainability?Various aspects and evolving terms

Sustainable

Healthy

Equitable

Practical Sustainability

According to the results of the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2021 survey, 82.3% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “health and well-being will become more important factors across all sectors of real estate."

Sustainability is a business opportunity

PwC and the Urban Land Institute: Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2021. Washington, D.C.: PwC and the Urban Land Institute, 2020, p. 18.

Health and WellnessWhat do I mean by healthier buildings?

The 9 Foundations of a Healthy Building

1. Ventilation2. Air Quality3. Thermal Health4. Moisture5. Dust and Pests6. Safety and Security7. Water Quality8. Noise9. Lighting and Views

https://9foundations.forhealth.org/

Healthy BuildingsHealthier buildings are a risk management strategy.Unhealthy buildings are a liability.

*Most buildings are unhealthy in one way or another.

90% of time indoors and will likely increase as we retreat and seek shelter from a changing climate (cyclical relationship).

Public health research tells us that there will be more pandemics and the likelihood increases as our climate changes.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/subtopics/coronavirus-and-climate-change/

Healthy BuildingsHealthier building strategies have real benefits

“Associations of Cognitive Function Scores with Carbon Dioxide, Ventilation, and Volatile Organic Compound Exposures in Office Workers: A Controlled Exposure Study of Green and Conventional Office Environments,” Joseph G. Allen, Piers MacNaughton, Usha Satish, Suresh Santanam, Jose Vallarino, John D. Spengler, Environmental Health Perspectives, October 26, 2015, doi: 10.1289/ehp.1510037

“On average, cognitive scores were 61% higher on the Green building day [low VOC] and 101% higher on the two Green+ building days [low VOC + higher ventilation rates] than on the Conventional building day [high VOC]…."

"The largest effects were seen for Crisis Response, Information Usage, and Strategy, all of which are indicators of higher level cognitive function and decision-making...."

Healthy BuildingsHealthier building strategies have real benefits

Allen and Macomber, Healthy Buildings: how indoor spaces drive performance and productivity, Harvard University Press (2020)

Research shows increased ventilation associated with 1.6 fewer sick days / year.

Research also shows increased productivity of 2-10% with better indoor air quality.

Conservative estimates in improved productivity (3%), demonstrated bottom line net income for a service-based consulting firm increased more than 10%.

Healthy BuildingsHealthier buildings are a risk management strategy.Unhealthy buildings are a liability.

Emily Vaughn, NPR, Redesigning the Office for the Next 100 Year Flu (Yes, it’s Coming), (September 14, 2020), https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/14/909805060/redesigning-the-office-to-maximize-health

“‘We've designed buildings for 100-year floods,’ he says. ‘Now we have to learn to design for the 100-year flu.’"

"‘There will be another epidemic or another pandemic — or there might just be another flu season,’ says Eve Edelstein, co-founder of the research-based design consultancy Clinicians for Design. ‘Let's go ahead and design for that reality.’”

U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCILU.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

How can we reframe “risk” to advocate for healthier, more sustainable projects, and products?

Advocacy Strategies

Nicole DeNamurSustainable Strategies [email protected]@sustainablestrategiespllcMedium, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn