Sustainability 101 with Jennifer Collins

Welcome to the first episode in our Sustainability Series. I am first to admit that Sustainability is not something I know a lot about. It’s something I’ve been aware of my entire life, but as a design practice is not a specialty I’ve done beyond the basics (reusing existing materials from site, or choosing options that produce less carbon or can be recycled). As I began brainstorming for the Deep Dive Series one of the first things I knew I had to discuss, was Sustainability.

So I asked my friend Jennifer Collins, to come along with me as I explore this topic. She is the founder of OneRejen a sustainable consulting firm, and the perfect person to get us going on the topic of Regenerative Design. Enjoy!

OneRejen.com email: jen@onerejen.com

Timestamps:

Welcome and Intro to Format: 0:25

Discussing the term ‘Sustainable’: 4:23

Tragedy of the Commons and why we need ‘Sustainable’ Thinking: 15:13

History of the Sustainable movement: 22:33

Measuring the impact humans on the planet: 28:58

Environmental Pillar/ 9 Planetary Boundaries: 49:41

Social Pillar/Emotionally Durable Design and the Economic Pillar/Triple Bottom Line: 1:05:42

Frameworks we use to measure Sustainability Goals: 1:19:23

Hurdles Sustainable Designers face: 1:31:59

Greenwashing: 1:44:43

Aesthetics of Sustainable Design & Easy First Steps: 1:55:30

Big Takeaways: 2:13:52

Outro: 2:19:19

Shownotes:

Building Ease

Mindful Materials /Common Materials Framework

Legislative Episodes can be found here and here

Sustainability Definition

Visuals of the Three Sustainable Pillars By Purvis, B., Mao, Y. & Robinson, D. Three pillars of sustainability: in search of conceptual origins. Sustain Sci 14, 681–695 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-018-0627-5 - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-018-0627-5, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114609473

Saving Us by Katherine Hayhoe

Correction: 10:37 - meant to say solar panels to heat our showers/water

UNESCO Definition of Sustainable Development

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 17 Goals

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

SDG - Sustainable Development Goals

Tragedy of the Commons

Buckminster Fuller

1992: Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil led to SDGs

1993: Bill of Rights for the Planet adopted by AIA (can’t find a list- but please send my way if you have it!)

Sept 2015: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 SDGs adopted at UN Sustainable Development Summit

Nov 2015: Paris Agreement on Climate Change

United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties

COP 25- Madrid 2019

COP 29 - Baku, Azerbaijan 2024

COP 30 -Belem, Brazil 2025

Living Future Conference

Nine Planetary Boundaries - Everything we talk about in this section can be found on this website

Graph of the tipping points of the 9 planetary boundaries and their status by the Stockholm Resilience Centre

Planetary Health Check 2024

PFAS

Synthetic chemicals (trying be removed from production)

Red List - Living Future

Bakelite LHB

Correction: 39:22 - meant it has a high melting point

The Adirondack Museum

What if We Get It Right by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

Green House Gas Emissions

ODS - Ozone Depletion Substances

LCA - Life Cycle Assessment/ Cradle to Grave

piece dyed vs. solution dyed fabric

Emotionally Durable Design by Jonathan Chapman

Triple Bottom Line: People, Planet, Profit

Circular Economy & Waste Hierarchy

Circular Economy of Construction and Demolition Waste

ROI - Return on Investment

ESG - Environmental Social Governance

AIA Material Pledge translates to the Mindful Materials, Common Materials Framework (CMF)

TACO - Transparency Assessment Commitment Optimization

LEED

WELL

Living Building Challenge (LBC)

BREEAM - Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method

GBI- Green Building Initiative

Passive House that survived LA fire

Declare Product Label

HPD - Health Product Declaration

FSC - The Forest Stewardship Council

C2C - Cradle 2 Cradle

GreenCircle Certified

Intertek

GreenGuard

Just Label

CDPH -California Department of Public Health

SCAQMD - South Coast Air Quality Management District

Gensler GPS

Brightworks Basic Better Best (BBB) - BBB program is not out yet, but there is some mention of it the AIA24 Conference.

Victor Papanek

Design For Deconstruction how we plan for building material end-of-life and minimize consumption of raw materials

Solid Waste Master Plan | Mass.gov

Off-Gassing/Outgassing

Material Bank - Sustainability Page

CSI - Construction Specifications Institute MasterFormat

Shape of Green: Aesthetics Ecology and Design (2012) by Lance Hosey

Informed Product Guidance

Avocado Bricks

Mushroom construction

Hempitecture

New Frameworks Straw Bale Insulated Panels

Design for Freedom Toolkit

EJ Screen Tool

Dalton, GA - Carpet Capital

AIA 2030 goals are different from the Materials Pledge

Other Links for further reading/research:

AIA 2023 By the Number Report

Sourcing Hub

Sustainable Agriculture Network

NOAA Climate

Design Over Drinks is Hosted by Kendra Shea

Produced and Edited by Kendra Shea and Simon Shea

Season 3 Graphics and Cover Art by Tano Design

Season 3 Music is by Qreepz

Email: DesignOverDrinksPod@gmail.com

Socials/ Patreon: @DesignOverDrinksPod

BlueSky: @DesignOverDrinks

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