This Week’s News for LA’s Best Buildings
Despite the Supreme Court, Momentum is Building to Combat Climate Change
The decision by the majority-conservative US Supreme Court to scuttle the Environmental Protection Agency’s oversight of clean air regulations is undoubtedly chilling for a warming planet. However, it may prove increasingly irrelevant because the pendulum is swinging — and gaining momentum — in favor of combating climate change, and market forces are moving it.
Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge Honors Innovative Companies
The Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge (LABBC) in June presented sustainability prizes to the “Best Buildings” in Los Angeles at its annual Innovation Awards. The ceremony, held in Downtown Los Angeles at the L.A. Cleantech Incubator in the Arts District, was held in person for the first time in three years. Among the companies honored were Hudson Pacific Properties, Barings, and CommonWealth Partners, all of whom are ULI Greenprint members.
California Needs to Triple Historical Decarbonization Rate to Meet 2030 Carbon Target, Report Finds
California passed legislation in 2016 that set the state on a path to reducing economy-wide emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. Two years later, the then governor issued an executive order aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045. California’s emissions will need to fall below 260 MMT to meet the target in eight years, according to Energy Innovation’s report — this translates to more than tripling its historical decarbonization rate.
ARLA's Andy Lipkis: The Value of Investing in Water Capture, ReUse, and Urban Watersheds to Address Climate Emergencies
On June 1, over 6 million residents in Southern California saw the imposition of the strictest-ever water restrictions from Metropolitan Water District. In examining ways for the Los Angeles region to be more resilient and smart about our water use, TPR interviewed the Founder and Project Executive of Accelerate Resilience LA (ARLA), Andy Lipkis, regarding his life long quest to induce governments and individuals to adopt and invest in stormwater capture and other sustainable practices. Here, Andy Lipkis, TreePeople’s founder, explains how public agency collaboration in this field can also help Los Angeles better address extreme heat, wildfire events, and also further the region’s economic development, particularly in underserved communities.
A Low-Income Energy-Efficiency Program Gets $3.5 Billion Boost, but Leave Out Many in Need
Joseph Davis raised five children in the two-story row home he and his wife bought in the mid-1960s in North Philadelphia, near the automotive parts factory where he worked.
Now, Davis struggles to keep up the house on a fixed income. Plaster peels away from the walls on the second floor. Investors call and offer to buy it, but Davis, who is now widowed, plans to stay as long as he can.
Clean Energy Technologies: Overhyped, Underhyped or Just Right?
Within the climatetech world, technology hype is all over the map. In this episode, Lara Pierpoint, director of climate at Actuate, and Stephen Lacey, host of The Carbon Copy and executive producer of Catalyst, join Shayle for a game of “buy, sell, hold.” They take bets on which technologies are overhyped, underhyped or just right.
Connection Cues
2022 Innovation Awards: Industry Leader, Office
CommonWealth Partners Paves the Way for District Decarbonization in Downtown Los Angeles
City National Plaza, the 3.7 million-square-foot twin-tower property in Downtown Los Angeles, has won an LABBC award for the second year in a row for continued and creative leadership in decarbonization of the commercial office sector.
A wind farm near Allen. Neb., in 2020.