Adaptation to Climate Change

Urban Design and Mobility for Carbon Mitigation

Net-Zero Development for Carbon Mitigation

Background:Global warming already is underway. Recent droughts, extreme weather events, record temperatures, stresses on plants and animal species and other phenomena are being attributed, at least in part, to climate change. Even if greenhouse gas emissions were dramatically reduced today, the effects of past emissions will be felt for decades.

Adaptation to these impacts is a key component of community well-being, including the safety of the built environment, public health, and the condition of the natural environment and the ecosystem services upon which social and economic systems rely - such as surface water control, aquifer recharge, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and habitat.

Effective adaptation to the impacts of global warming now must be taken into account in community decision-making processes. In many cases, adaptation to climate change can become a new driver for actions that advance the community’s broader sustainability objectives.

Background:The use of fossil fuels for transportation is responsible for 27% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. If current trends continue, emissions from this sector will continue growing steeply.

New technologies and urban design concepts are available to help communities reduce transportation-related emissions at the same time they enhance peoples’ mobility and the community’s overall sustainability. These include location-efficient design, non-petroleum vehicles and fuels, alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles and high vehicle miles traveled, and the integration of “smart growth” with “smart grids”, distributed electric generation, cogeneration and other advanced energy technologies.

With more creative and active use of these technologies and techniques, communities can make significant reductions in their carbon emissions while achieving an array of economic, environmental and social benefits fundamental to sustainability.

Background:The construction and operation of buildings are responsible for 48% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings and neighborhoods that consume zero net energy and produce zero net carbon – a notion considered revolutionary until recently – are becoming goals worldwide. The need for substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment should create a robust new market for green buildings and neighborhoods.

The American Institute of Architects, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and others have endorsed the goal that all new and renovated buildings in the U.S. will be carbon neutral by 2030. The U.S. Green Building Council assists builders and developers in creating more sustainable buildings and neighborhoods through its LEED standards.

Major homebuilders account for 80% of all homebuilding activity in the U.S. The National Association of Home Builders predicts that 10% of new homes will be “green” by 2010, up from 2% today.

But building professionals cite difficulties in marketing “green” homes. According to the Associated Press, large-scale builders who add green features to their homes “have not yet been able to sign on a critical mass of buyers willing to pay more for them.”

Opportunities:

1. While priorities will vary from place to place, what generally are the most important targets for local adaptation to the impacts of global warming – for example, water management, disaster resilience and public health?

2. Given limited revenues, how should local governments and agencies prioritize these opportunities and needs?  Who should pay?

Opportunities:

1. What are the most important opportunities for communities to reduce their carbon emissions through land-use planning, urban design and mobility options?

Note: Consider regional as well as local priorities and note if different scales have different priorities.

Opportunities:

1. What does present experience with building and marketing green developments suggest for marketing net-zero homes and neighborhoods? Is the rising concern about climate change a viable market driver?

Barriers:

3. Who are the key adversaries to moving forward on this agenda? And how do we convert, overcome, or end run them? What are the other key barriers to local climate adaptation efforts? Are they educational, attitudinal, institutional, financial, all of the above?

Barriers:

2. Who are the key adversaries to moving forward on this agenda? And how do we convert, overcome, or end run them? What are the other key barriers to climate-friendly urban design, land use planning and mobility --educational, attitudinal, institutional, financial, other?.

Barriers:

2. Who are the key adversaries to moving forward on this agenda? And how do we convert, overcome, or end run them? What additional market barriers face zero-net-carbon buildings and neighborhoods?

Action Items:

4. What types of assistance, coordination, and collaboration do communities require to address the issues and barriers identified under Questions 1-2, including key adversaries?  From whom should this assistance come?

Note: Consider partnerships, pilot projects, technical assistance, financial assistance, etc., and the appropriate roles of state and federal governments and the private sector.

Action Items:

3. What assistance, coordination, and collaboration do communities need to address each of the priorities, opportunities and barriers identified under Questions 1-2, including key adversaries? From whom should this assistance come?

Note: Consider partnerships, pilot projects, technical assistance, financial assistance, etc., and the appropriate roles of state and federal governments, and the private sector.

4. What actions produce best co-benefits for climate action and local sustainability?

Action Items:

3. What specific actions are needed to surmount current market barriers to green and zero-net buildings and neighborhoods? For example:

- How do we persuade buyers to pay any necessary premiums for green homes and neighborhoods?

- How can we create economic models (incentives, financing, etc.) that remove the up-front incremental costs for green builders and developers?

- How do we win over the “key adversaries” ?

Note: Consider partnerships, pilot projects, technical assistance, financial assistance, etc., and the appropriate roles of state and federal governments, and the private sector.