Today, 22 April 2022, is Earth Day. We were reading this Deutsche Welle article, ‘From Mumbai to Paris, the cities investing in the planet‘ – on cities leading on climate action – when we came across a surprise…
The piece lists what climate leading cities Copenhagen, Paris, and Mumbai are doing around investing in climate mitigation – decarbonization, bike and transit prioritization, blue green infrastructure.
We were quite shocked when reading the last section which mentions Seattle… and Larch Lab!
In Seattle, an architecture and urbanism firm, Larch Lab, is focused on decarbonized, low-energy urban buildings and "ecodistricts" based on the German idea of "baugruppen," or building groups — meaning housing cooperatives. Developed by residents rather than developers, the idea is that these sustainable districts will achieve superior building efficiency by employing net-zero energy Passivhaus building standards
Seattle has a long way to go to actually lead on climate. We have no Passivhaus mandates. There is no plan to drive down VMTs. Our bike infrastructure is not safe or connected. The region is spending tens of billions of dollars on light rail without capitalizing on this investment to prioritize housing and ecodistricts.
However, we do like to think our little start up is making a difference – and focusing on the very things the IPCC’s Working Group III report stated were necessary to mitigate climate change: Passivhaus, Baugruppen (to combat loneliness and reduce resource consumption), decarbonized buildings, and ecodistricts.
If you’re interested in joining us on this journey, please contact us.