Dear friends,In the last few weeks I’ve spoken at the MI Healthy Climate Conference (shout out to friend of Building Better Cities Cory Connolly for planning this one!) and the MI Energy Innovators Conference. Each panel focused on the role corporations play in creating a more sustainable future. Alongside the conversations on operational carbon, I highlighted how embodied carbon and adaptive reuse can cut future carbon emissions. 11% of global GHG emissions come from building construction. Once those buildings are constructed, they will need to stand for decades. Nearly two-thirds of buildings that exist today will still exist in 2050. But what happens when buildings outlive their original intended use? Economic boom and bust cycles are at the heart of building use and reuse. And Detroit is a living example of this where countless decaying buildings still stand as shadows of a previous era. A similar economic shift triggered by Covid-19 has left many urban cores vacant. Adaptive reuse can breathe life into vacant and underused structures. So this month, I want to focus on architect Cal Elefante’s statement, “The most sustainable building is the one that is already built.” Just maybe building better cities doesn’t always mean building anew. Hope this gets you thinking,
Kate
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