As I write this piece, with wildfire smoke causing an off-the-charts Air Quality Index outside (520 w/301 considered hazardous) and a Level 1 wildfire evacuation zone just 3 miles away, I feel privileged to have electricity, internet, food in the fridge, a fairly tight house and a HEPA air cleaner keeping the indoor air breathable. Scientific consensus says that the record-setting conflagration gripping the Western U.S. is significantly more severe due to climate change. Under a sky reminiscent of post-apocalyptic Hollywood depictions (think Blade Runner 2049), rather than dwelling on the ominous, I want to expand on the integrated solutions theme from my last column and imagine addressing pressing issues with equity, ecology and economics in mind. Significant investments are needed to support pandemic recovery, and at the same time, adequate funding of climate change mitigation and adaptation is long overdue, and real effort is required to correct the injustices of structural racism. Prioritizing initiatives that address all three would be wise investments, and the returns would accrue to individuals, governments and business alike.
Climate change will have a significant financial impact and requires commensurate investments to mitigate and adapt to avert disaster. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently gave U.S. financial regulators the direst warning yet about the stresses that financial markets will endure due to climate change. Its report, “Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System,” states that climate change poses “serious emerging risks to the U.S. financial system,” saying that it will destabilize the system and its ability to sustain the American economy.
While climate change does not cause natural disasters, and did not create injustice, it is a very powerful threat multiplier for both. Likewise, addressing social and economic injustice and increasing community resilience will not by itself reverse climate change. However, using models like the EcoDistricts Protocol and Doughnut Economics help us to identify, initiate and measure progress in the implementation of strategies that boost the economy, increase equity and inclusion, and reduce climate impacts and other environmental stresses. One example relates to urban heat islands: These pollutants are harmful to human health and also contribute to complex air quality problems such as the formation of ground-level ozone (smog), fine particulate matter and acid rain.
We know that low-income communities and communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to several factors including prolonged exposure to poor air quality and other environmental factors. We also know that many of these same communities are expected to suffer more from the effects of climate change (frequent flooding, heat waves, etc.). Urban heat islands are part of the problem and present an opportunity for integrated solutions. A recent study, “The Effects of Historical Housing Policies on Resident Exposure to Intra-Urban Heat: A Study of 108 US Urban Areas” led by Vivek Shandas, Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, found strong link between extreme heat islands and century-old racist housing policies in many U.S. cities.
These policies, beginning before 1920 and continuing into the 1960s, including exclusionary zoning, restrictive deeds (covenants prohibiting sale to African Americans), redlining, municipal policy directing park and open space investments to wealthier neighborhoods, and urban renewal initiatives that collectively resulted in lasting segregation, denser development and limited green space in poorer neighborhoods. Redlining was a long-standing racist practice by banks that prevented African Americans from purchasing homes in wealthier, whiter neighbors based on “residential security maps” established by the Home Owners’ Loan Corp. (HOLC) under the auspices of the National Housing Act of 1934.
Heat island map of Portland, Ore., with redline overlay (V. Shandas, 2020)
Professor Shandas and his fellow researchers collected data on land surface temperatures in urban areas and overlaid this with HOLC residential security maps used in redlining. They found that these historically disadvantaged zones in 108 urban areas have significantly higher temperatures (as much as 13 F) than wealthier neighborhoods. Heat islands increase rates of heat-related illnesses and deaths, levels of ground-level ozone (smog) and other air pollutants, and energy use, and they create downstream water quality issues.
As we make public investments to hasten the economic recovery from the pandemic-caused recession, we can also help to correct this racial injustice and simultaneously mitigate the climate and environmental impacts of heat islands. Viable integrated solutions include:
- Reroofing with cool roofs and green roofs on homes, apartments and commercial buildings
- Depaving (removing unnecessary concrete and asphalt) in streets and parking lots
- Installation of green streets and stormwater swales
- Development of parks, community gardens and green spaces
These improvements would create jobs, improve health and well-being in effected neighborhoods, reduce health care costs, improve regional air and water quality, and reduce heat islands and flooding. Similar integrated approaches could be developed to address safe water systems (e.g., Flint, Mich.), and resilience enhancements in areas threatened by wildfires, flooding and sea level rise. The response to the pandemic illustrates the potential for public investment to respond to a major threat. While the resources needed to address climate change are significantly larger, so are the potential economic returns. The cost of not making these investments will be far higher.
Alan Scott, FAIA, LEED Fellow, LEED AP BD+C, O+M, WELL AP, CEM, is an architect with over 30 years of experience in sustainable building design. He is a senior consultant with Intertek Building Science Solutions in Portland, Ore. To learn more, follow Scott on Twitter @alanscott_faia.