2026-11-05 - Resilience and Sustainability Advisory Committee

02:02Mhm.

04:05>> Mhm.

06:07>> Mhm.

08:10>> Mhm.

10:12>> Mhm.

12:15>> Mhm.

13:41>> We have a number of friends. We are good

13:43to go.

13:44>> Bye.

13:46>> We are live. It's the only healthy

13:48camera action.

13:49>> All right.

13:50So.

13:51>> Okay. Yeah.

13:52>> Well.

13:52>> I'm going to let you welcome and kick

13:54off the meeting.

13:55>> Okay. Well, I will call this uh November

13:585th

13:59meeting of the Resilience and

14:01Sustainability Advisory Committee to

14:03order. Appreciate everybody being here.

14:05We have a lot of new members in the

14:07room. So, what I'd like to do is uh

14:12allow just a brief opportunity to go

14:14around and everybody introduce

14:16themselves.

14:18Uh Uh tell us your birth sign, favorite

14:19color,

14:22whatever you want to do about yourself

14:24so that

14:25we can welcome you to the group. So

14:26we'll start with our new council member.

14:29>> All right, Aaron Fokel, Charleston City

14:30Council District 4. Obviously a Leo.

14:34My favorite color is green.

14:37>> [laughter]

14:41>> Danny Kassis, Dominion Energy or as the

14:43mayor once called me Danny Dominion.

14:47>> Sagittarius.

14:51And I'm a native Charlestonian.

14:55>> And so am I.

14:57>> [laughter]

14:58>> All right, I'm not a native

15:00Charlestonian. I'm Lucy Davis. I'm with

15:01the College of Charleston Environmental

15:03and Sustainability Studies programs and

15:05sustainable agriculture.

15:07I'm a Scorpio. My birthday was last

15:08week.

15:11>> And I think we're on a good theme with

15:13my color is green as well.

15:15>> Okay.

15:16>> I'm Jackie Wilson. I'm a graduate in the

15:18environmental and science sustainability

15:20program along with the concurrent MPA

15:22program. I'm also a Charleston native.

15:25Sign is Virgo and favorite color is

15:27purple.

15:30>> Regal.

15:31>> [laughter]

15:32>> My name is Amaya Hargrove. I am the

15:34sustainability manager for Palmetto

15:36Goodwill

15:37and

15:39yeah, I'm a Charleston native as well.

15:41I am a Capricorn. My birthday's on

15:43Christmas. My

15:45favorite color is also purple.

15:47>> Nice.

15:50>> My name is Hillary Blevins. I am also

15:53not a Charleston native.

15:55I am a Capricorn but I'm a January

15:58Capricorn and my favorite color is blue.

16:02>> I'll now return to a new theme.

16:04This is William the Bear and

16:07I am a native Charlestonian and

16:11I too am a Capricorn. So we've got a lot

16:13of goats in the room

16:15Uh,

16:16and my favorite color is blue.

16:19>> Hi, I'm Stuart Weinberg. I privileged to

16:22to serve as the vice chair of this

16:24committee under the mayor.

16:26Um, I'm a Sagittarian. Um, my

16:29favorite color is royal blue.

16:32>> Royal blue, right. I like a qualifier in

16:34there.

16:35>> Yeah.

16:37>> If you don't like it

16:38>> Doing intros.

16:40>> I think so.

16:40>> Intros, birth sign, and

16:43>> And your favorite color.

16:44>> I'm a Sagittarius.

16:45>> Uh

16:46>> How's it going, y'all? My name is

16:47Chamber Gamble with the Charleston Metro

16:49Chamber of Commerce. I'm one of their

16:50business advocacy managers, so manage a

16:52lot of our advocacy priorities in

16:54Charleston County. So, just happy to be

16:55here.

16:56>> Thank you, guys.

16:57>> And your birth sign.

16:58>> And color.

16:58>> I think I'm a Gemini.

17:01>> And favorite color.

17:02>> Uh, navy blue.

17:04>> We've got a lot of qualifiers in the

17:05group.

17:05>> Yeah, yeah.

17:06>> Specific over there.

17:07>> That's right.

17:08>> Very wet color.

17:10>> Very nice.

17:11>> Um, I'm Tory Sanders. I'm with the

17:12Coastal Conservation League. I'm a

17:14Pisces, and my favorite color is also

17:17blue.

17:18>> Hey.

17:18>> Blues versus greens.

17:20>> Yeah, yeah.

17:20>> Or on the middle there.

17:22>> It's perfect.

17:23>> The blue side here.

17:24>> Yeah, the specific.

17:24>> I'm surprised I didn't give them the

17:26nature of the committee. Charles

17:27Pinckney Rutledge, also a native

17:28Charlestonian. That's where the name

17:30comes from.

17:31With Charleston Climate Coalition, also

17:33with Developmental Associates. We do

17:35local hiring processes for local

17:37government department heads.

17:39I'm actually hiring for the Savannah

17:40Communications Director position later

17:42today. Um, and to settle it, green

17:46and Aquarius.

17:49>> Good.

17:50Um, all right. Well, look, everybody. I

17:51appreciate uh

17:54time here today. We've got a good

17:55agenda. So, that I will turn it over to

17:58Mika.

17:59>> I'm sorry.

18:00>> I wrote it down, and I glanced at

18:02everything. So,

18:04I need a motion to approve uh the

18:06minutes from the August meeting.

18:08>> So moved.

18:09>> Second.

18:09>> Motion made, properly seconded. Any

18:11further discussion? If not, all those in

18:12favor signify by saying

18:14>> Aye.

18:14>> Aye.

18:15>> Opposed to approval? Eyes have it. Now,

18:20first order of business. Thank you, Vice

18:21Chair, for giving the recap. Um we'll

18:24turn it over to Mika, and she will tell

18:27us her birth sign and

18:31favorite color.

18:33>> Hey, well, yeah, good morning. This is a

18:35great committee meeting already. Um

18:38Mika Gadsden here, director of

18:39sustainability. Favorite color is

18:41Charleston green, whatever green that is

18:43part of our official brand. Um and I'm a

18:46Scorpio as well, so

18:48>> Happy birthday.

18:49>> Thank you, it's coming.

18:51Um well, welcome everyone to this uh our

18:54final, I guess, our final quarterly

18:55meeting of the year.

18:57Um just give some quick updates because

18:59we do have a loaded agenda,

19:02um and which features a a guest of ours

19:04here today. So,

19:05um next slide, please. Thanks. Uh quick

19:08updates include what's on the calendar

19:11uh for this holiday season. Uh

19:13I know folks are very, very, very fond

19:15of our annual pumpkin smash, um and I

19:19love the pumpkin smash, believe me. But

19:21this year, we're changing things up a

19:23little bit. We're going to have the

19:24Great Pumpkin Rescue. Still going to be

19:26same time, same place, um West Ashley

19:28Farmers Market. This is our holiday

19:30market, which is an event um of its own.

19:34Uh we want to encourage all

19:35Charlestonians, all folks, visitors,

19:37residents to attend this farmers market,

19:40uh and there we will have kids

19:41activities. We're encouraging families

19:44uh to bring their pumpkins for for

19:46composting, so that means glitter-free

19:48pumpkins, sticker-and-paint-free

19:50pumpkins. Bring them all. The Nally, our

19:53partner uh for this event, will be there

19:55to collect um everything that's that's

19:58uh brought to us, all the gourds and

19:59pumpkins, that will be turned into

20:01nutrient-rich compost. Um we're also uh

20:04doing this in collaboration with the

20:06county's efforts. Uh the county just

20:08announced recently that they have

20:11partnered with McGill, who typically is

20:13our partner, but uh they're working to

20:15create an area so you can bring your

20:17pumpkins if you can't make it to the

20:18market, uh bring your pumpkins to the

20:22landfill on Bees Ferry,

20:24uh and I can al- always follow up with

20:25more information, but they'll be

20:28composting pumpkins there as well. So,

20:30uh check out the county's website. Next

20:32slide. Thanks.

20:33Um one more update, it includes Relief.

20:36And this is

20:37something long-awaited, launch of

20:39Relief. I'm very excited about.

20:41Um I want to just recognize the work of

20:45the Westside Neighborhood Association

20:47led by Sarah Spangler, president. Um

20:50Relief will be launching in December, uh

20:53and so I'm excited. Uh December 5th,

20:55excuse me, uh

20:56at uh 8:00 a.m. Mitchell Playground.

20:59It's It's going to be a fun weekend.

21:01We're also acknowledging uh South

21:03Carolina Arbor Day. Uh and again,

21:06recognizing the efforts of not just

21:07Sarah Spangler, her entire community. Uh

21:10they really did a a wonderful job

21:12leveraging the data that was collected

21:15and perfected here with our GIS teams

21:18and other folks. Uh our urban forestry

21:20team led by Clark and David uh have been

21:24exceptional, of course, uh in helping

21:26her map out where her neighborhood will

21:29be planting trees. And we hope to

21:30replicate a lot of what Sarah has kind

21:33of created uh with this launch. So, look

21:36out for more announcements from the

21:38city, but also check out the Westside

21:40Neighborhood Association's website,

21:42which includes a tab for Relief. So,

21:44you'll get additional information. Uh

21:47and Sarah has made sure that the website

21:49is very comprehensive. So, um I

21:51encourage everyone to visit that uh

21:53website. I'm very excited about that.

21:56Okay.

21:57And just uh this is just going to be a

21:58quick uh rundown of give a little bit

22:01more context as to not just Relief, but

22:03ongoing efforts. Relief also coincides

22:05with other initiatives, including the

22:07Just Ecological Corridor. So, this right

22:10here is just a a rendering from um our

22:12amazing partner, uh RDE, Robinson Design

22:15Engineers. Um what they did here was

22:18this is This map is used for our rest-

22:21our Halsey Creek restoration and our

22:23Just Corridor mapping, but I wanted to

22:25show the overlay which includes um the

22:28percentage of tree canopy. The Westside

22:31neighborhood, can you click one more?

22:34I'll go back. Go back. Go back.

22:36The That's fine. There.

22:38The Westside neighborhood I thought I

22:40had an arrow there, but it's 19.4%. This

22:43is the target neighborhood for the

22:45launch.

22:47And as you can see, areas of the

22:48peninsula that are more rich in canopy

22:50than others.

22:52This is also what we use to identify the

22:55areas of need.

22:56Um yeah, thank you.

22:59Identify areas of need

23:01in in moving forward. Let me see.

23:05Can I click this?

23:08You can just click

23:09All right. So, that leads me to the

23:10Halsey

23:13The Halsey Creek restoration effort

23:15revitalization efforts also led by RDE.

23:18That's it.

23:20Um for those who don't know the just

23:21ecological corridor, the focus area

23:23initially it includes three watersheds

23:27which include the Halsey Creek,

23:29Newmarket Creek, and Gason Creek

23:30watersheds. Next slide, please.

23:32Thanks.

23:33Uh here's my arrow.

23:37But again, and so this is a good overlay

23:38so you also see where the just You saw

23:41the previous map featured the watershed

23:43areas, the areas of focus. You see where

23:45the Westside fits into that into the

23:47area. So, so these are nature-based

23:49solutions being introduced to these

23:51corridors

23:52and we hope that they complement a lot

23:54of the whether it's the gray

23:55infrastructure projects that the city is

23:57leading, stormwater projects,

23:59but also other initiatives that help

24:02solve the issue of

24:05flooding in certain areas. Next.

24:08All right. You can skip through that.

24:10Priority zone.

24:12The one delightful update I'd like to

24:14give is that we recently partnered or or

24:17yeah, we recently partnered with the

24:19Greater Saint Luke AME Church. This is

24:21us a couple Fridays ago with Pastor

24:24Curry along with leaders from the Marsh

24:27project

24:28and CFC students and the RDE staff just

24:32showing Pastor Curry

24:34what he can expect in terms of collect

24:37continued collaboration, the

24:39nature-based solutions that that will

24:41coincide with the work that um

24:44will happen with the revitalization,

24:46which my peer

24:48here today, Kaylin, is also running

24:51point on. So, it was a really great

24:53meeting, and one thing we heard loud and

24:55clear was that the community is

24:57concerned. Um they want to be a part of

24:59the change. They also just are curious

25:02about what this looks like, what this

25:03restoration or revitalization of this

25:05creek look like, and how it would

25:07directly benefit these stakeholders who

25:09have been there for for generations. And

25:11so, we hear them loud and clear, and we

25:14look forward to to meeting with them. We

25:16have more more

25:19opportunities to to convene with them on

25:21the calendar.

25:23And yeah, it's exciting development.

25:26We can go back to that one.

25:27>> [clears throat]

25:27>> Okay, and um just to kind of dovetail,

25:30I'm going to I'm going to make way for

25:32Kaylin and her presentation, but what I

25:34would like to just help folks understand

25:36today's meeting and what what's at the

25:37core.

25:39Last time we met, I mentioned uh

25:42much of what was included on this slide.

25:44Our our advisory committee uh members of

25:47our advisory committee have met

25:49informally uh

25:51to to talk about ways forward to

25:53activate our recommendations from the

25:55climate action plan. That work is

25:57continuing,

25:58and that will set the stage for today's

26:01discussion with April McGill here. Uh

26:04we're looking for ways to just affect

26:06change, pragmatic ways, ways that

26:09um work well with what the city has

26:12prioritized. And so, I'd love to hear

26:14feedback um and questions from the

26:17committee members. And also, Lucy and I

26:19spoke just briefly before the meeting

26:21about ways to maintain a more more um

26:25just be more consistent with meeting

26:27outside of these meetings so we can

26:29continue the work and so there's not

26:30there's not fall off between

26:32um conversations. Next slide.

26:35Which leads me to

26:37even though I'm I'm just presenting her

26:39but she's not going to speak yet.

26:41Which leads me to our guest here, April

26:42McGill, architect and principal with

26:44Root Down Designs. I I really am looking

26:48forward for you all to learn more about

26:50her expertise

26:51and her work throughout the city. So

26:53she's been an amazing partner. Next

26:55slide and

26:57shameless plug as part of the

27:00Southeast Sustainability Directors

27:01Network. I'm one of of several podcast

27:05hosts. April was featured on my last

27:08episode so folks can, you know, inquire

27:10with me afterwards if you want to know

27:11how to how to find it but it's it's

27:13Green Minds podcast available on all

27:15platforms and you'll hear a very very

27:18rich conversation between April and I

27:20that I had to edit down to 20 minutes or

27:21so.

27:23It was just a lot of information so I

27:25look forward to that. Yeah.

27:27So with that said, I'm going to make way

27:29for

27:30resilience updates from Kaylin.

27:34Yeah. They will Yeah. Oh, absolutely.

27:36Thank you.

27:39>> All right. Welcome everybody. I will be

27:41quick cuz you're probably all here to

27:43listen to April, not necessarily me, but

27:46going very short today.

27:49I'll introduce myself. I'm Kaylin

27:50Cazalot for folks that are new to the

27:52committee or maybe new to my role and

27:54work at the city but I'm the director of

27:56resilience here at the city of

27:57Charleston and he is counterpart with

27:59sustainability and my my role really is

28:02to implement all of the

28:06resilience strategies that the city has

28:07had embedded in plans like our flooding

28:09and sea level rise strategy, our

28:11comprehensive plan, our Charleston water

28:13plan and that kind of requires a lot of

28:15pillars of work that I'll highlight a

28:17lot of the progress progress that we've

28:18been making. So

28:23So this is one of our big ones. So one

28:24of our big pillars of how we're going to

28:26become more resilient is identifying

28:29partners that can help implement our

28:30policies and projects. And one of our

28:33large partners we have is with the

28:35federal government through the US Army

28:37Corps of Engineers. They are the arm of

28:39the federal government that builds

28:41projects, flood protection type

28:42projects. So, we've got a lot going on

28:45with the Army Corps of Engineers and I

28:47will welcome the mayor to interject at

28:48any point cuz he is incredibly engaged

28:50in the leadership of this partnership.

28:52So, one thing I do want to highlight is

28:54we have we launched this summer a new

28:57website, joint website with the US Army

28:59Corps and because believe it or not

29:01their processes, their projects super

29:03complex. So, we really wanted to

29:05simplify it. We have a website called

29:07Resilient Charleston.

29:08Um it's a has maps, interactive

29:10activities where you can really dive

29:12into all the projects we have going on

29:14as I think some folks just think we're

29:16just working downtown with them, but

29:18that's not correct. We are working all

29:20across the city um implementing flood

29:21projects with the Army Corps. So, really

29:24quickly there's a laundry list of the

29:25different projects we have going on. One

29:27of them is a study across the city.

29:29We're in a phase of public scoping. We

29:32held some public engagement with the

29:33Charleston Tidal and Rainfall Flood

29:34Study over in West Ashley and James

29:36Island last month and we're going to be

29:39selecting some projects to move into the

29:40design phase. So, stay tuned on that

29:42front. Um

29:44we also through a program that we've

29:46been really fortunate to get some

29:47congressional funding with for

29:48stormwater projects. We've kicked off

29:50the design phase for two projects out in

29:53West Ashley, um Oak Forest Drainage

29:55Basin and the Dupont Wappoo Drainage

29:57Basin. And we also just got funding last

29:59year to do uh another phase of the in

30:02the Central Park um drainage basin there

30:04on James Island. And also really cool um

30:07um this project work we get some fund

30:09dollars for is to continue what the city

30:11started with rehabilitating our brick

30:13arches, which is our historic wastewater

30:16system that

30:17lays under for miles and miles of the

30:19peninsula, but unfortunately is defunct

30:21and not serving much of a purpose um

30:24it's historical, but nobody can see it

30:25and it's not functioning um to benefit.

30:27So, you know, we've been working to tie

30:29this into our actual stormwater system.

30:31So, you know, we can activate this

30:33historic resource to serve um kind of

30:36one of its original purposes. So, that's

30:37something we've got also,

30:39um, some significant federal funding to

30:41keep moving on. And then, really

30:43exciting, we finally have something in

30:44construction. Um, and that is we've been

30:47working with the port for the past, um,

30:49several years and MUSC to do a pump

30:52station upfit, um, in the medical

30:53district downtown. And then, of course,

30:55um, we have been engaged in the past

30:59year in the design process for the

31:01Battery Extension project. This is our

31:03vision of extending the battery for,

31:06obviously, flood protection, but a

31:08linear park along, um, the perimeters of

31:10the western side and the eastern side of

31:12the peninsula. So, we are right now, we

31:14have officially kicked off the design

31:16phase for the Adgers Wharf and Lockwood

31:18segment. And on that website, you can

31:20kind of see the whole city's vision of

31:22that project and phasing, um, and

31:24timeline as well. And I'm always happy

31:27today or offline to answer more

31:29questions about that. But, Mary, did you

31:31want to add anything for

31:32>> I don't know. I was kind of

31:34>> I was kind of done.

31:35>> Okay, great. And the next one, please?

31:38So, again, one of, um, our

31:39identifications of solutions from our

31:41water plan for looking at some of our

31:43more flooding vulnerability areas is

31:45this idea of community adaptation

31:47planning. And that's really the idea

31:49that, you know,

31:50we understand, we want to identify,

31:52communicate to certain communities of

31:54some of the flood risk, but also present

31:55opportunities that we want them to think

31:57about about how they can kind of see

31:59their future in their community

32:01with the knowledge of knowing what's

32:03occurring and will continue to occur

32:04with some flooding risk. So, we've been

32:07really successful in the past year, um,

32:09I like to say piloting some of these

32:11kind of pilot community adaptation

32:12framework could be could be moving, um,

32:15in different communities. And it's going

32:16to be different for different community,

32:17right? Cuz different communities have

32:19different needs and and desires. So, we

32:21can mention the one that we've, um,

32:23worked with the Halsey Creek, um, Wagner

32:25Terrace neighborhood, um,

32:27that is a complete master plan that Josh

32:30told about as a design engineer. So,

32:31it's completed for that community. It is

32:33live on, um, the website, so you're

32:35welcome to flip through that. I would

32:37encourage, um,

32:38communities and neighbors to look at

32:39these kind of plans and see if that's

32:41something that would work for them and

32:43be in your community as well. Um another

32:45community plan that we're really excited

32:48to complete this year and really excited

32:49to say we're actually implementing

32:52work in that plan in the Rosemont

32:54community in the peninsula. We're

32:55actually um

32:57they've had um some flooding concerns

32:58along SC SCDOT property there. You can

33:01see in the bottom right. We've actually

33:03our city storm water crews with strong

33:05coordination with SCDOT, getting on

33:07their property, clearing out some

33:09vegetation, re-grading ditches, um

33:12really helping improve conveyance there.

33:14And tomorrow we're working with our

33:15community partners and sustainability

33:17institute to get some volunteers out

33:19there to do some native plantings and

33:21vegetation stabilization of the slope

33:23there. So, really excited that that

33:25work's happening. Also really excited to

33:27announce we officially also got a grant

33:29with NOAA to do similar flood action

33:32planning work in the West Ashley

33:33community out on James Island. And also

33:36in James Island with the sustainability

33:38institute, we've been doing similar work

33:39with the Artillery Point neighborhood

33:41along Battery Island Drive.

33:43And then I think we've talked about this

33:45with the um committee before, but the

33:47city was successful in getting a NOAA

33:49grant to do some planning for the

33:51restoration of the New Market Creek

33:53area. And I believe that is believe that

33:56bid is going up for council next week.

33:57So, that work will be kicking off as

33:59well. And then also just to highlight um

34:01through the larger initiative on the

34:02peninsula for portability, Calhoun

34:05Project 3500 detailed workshop with um

34:08nature-based solution um experts this

34:10summer to help kind of look at that

34:12footprint and where we can embed some

34:13more nature-based solutions.

34:16Okay.

34:16>> Can I interrupt for a moment and say

34:18something? I'm going to say something

34:19nice.

34:20I just wanted to uh just applaud you um

34:23and everyone for your engagement in

34:25particular with the Rosemont community.

34:27Um I just want you all to know that the

34:29level of trust um that has been built

34:31there and then also the sustained

34:33in-person engagement has been quite

34:35impressive. Um there are meetings that

34:38they have um in their community center

34:39every month where attendance varies um

34:43uh but I must say that this project that

34:46you all have been undertaking um to

34:48implement or develop and implement the

34:50flood action plan has been impressive

34:52impressively consistent no matter what

34:54um I think everybody should know and I

34:56want to applaud you publicly um for that

34:58work in particular.

35:00>> Thank you for saying that.

35:02That's really kind of the underlying

35:03basis of this community adaptation is

35:05getting in there working with our

35:06community, the trusted messengers, and

35:09community partners to really help build

35:10up resilience.

35:11Great.

35:12Um also want to highlight um folks new

35:15familiar we do have a whole we kicked it

35:17off last year this water wise is a new

35:19communication school kind of call it our

35:21online library one stop shop for all

35:24things water in the city where you can

35:26find um resources for anywhere from

35:29storm prep to how to keep, you know,

35:31your own site more resilient. But also

35:33if you want to hear and read all these

35:35hundreds of pages of city plans and look

35:38at projects it's all there. But I did

35:40want to highlight one of our new online

35:42um products that we have is really

35:44telling the story of the city's

35:45voluntary buyout program. Um we've we

35:48kind of were lauded at a national level

35:50of not just the not just kind of the

35:53scope of the voluntary buyouts we've

35:55been successful with but how we utilize

35:57it for community benefits post buyout.

35:59So you'll see there is kind of one of

36:00our pop pocket ecological parks that

36:03from a site in West Ashley. So every um

36:06you know, large scale and small scale um

36:08voluntary buyout we've done in the city

36:10we've restored it to an ecological park.

36:12So you know, we currently have 8.7 acres

36:14of open space that was created in three

36:16neighborhoods and we've heard from the

36:17community they're very very very

36:21appreciative of having that community

36:23benefit where used to flood in their

36:24community. Um so please check that out

36:27learn more about the program and if you

36:29have questions or community or neighbors

36:30that are interested in the program um

36:33there's information to contact our

36:34really awesome flood plain management

36:36team here at the city.

36:42And then I've also brought this up to

36:43the attention. We have had our um EVSS

36:46program at the college. We've had a

36:47partnership to help monitor and then

36:50create this dashboard, which I can

36:53really excitedly say is live. So you can

36:55go and check out 14 groundwater wells we

36:58have across the city. You could might be

37:00fun to check out some data from some of

37:02our events we had with our king tides

37:04plus rainfall over the past year. You

37:07can sit there and see and kind of

37:09correlate. So we're really excited

37:11because we continue that partnership

37:13this year at the with the college.

37:15They'll continue to collect that data so

37:16we can actually start to make some

37:18connections over time of of what that

37:20means.

37:21So very excited. Please check that out.

37:29I'll use my last one, but just wanted to

37:31you know, we have been talking about

37:33obviously a lot of the work revolves

37:35around water management and those

37:37solution opportunities, but heat is

37:39something that we've been bringing to

37:41the conversation in the past. Um

37:43several years as we're talking about

37:45resilience and sustainability and we've

37:47made a lot of progress since the city

37:49was part of a pilot program with Noah

37:51with four other cities five years ago

37:53where

37:55volunteers like Stewart went around

37:57collected temperatures very early in the

37:59morning and late at night

38:01and that's helped guide a lot of the

38:02collaboration we've worked across the

38:04region on heat mitigation strategies. So

38:08you know, this year I just wanted to

38:09recap since we're kind of warm today,

38:11but not officially extreme heat since

38:13we're out of the heat season, but again

38:15we had a city proclamation at city

38:17council

38:18recognizing national heat safety week.

38:20We have our low country heat action

38:21toolkit that we did in collaboration

38:23with many partners including the

38:24Citadel's Center for your climate

38:27studies. We this year partnered with the

38:29county distributed over 100 heat

38:31preparedness kits at some of the select

38:34libraries and the Hope Center.

38:36We had 200 plus donation of

38:38hoist packets. We finally we had a city

38:41collaborative workshop to help drive

38:44annex to the city's emergency operation

38:46plan for the first time for extreme heat

38:48events. And I'm working with the EM team

38:51to help actually develop in time for

38:52next summer a heat mitigation plan for

38:54the city. And of course, this has much

38:56crossover with relief as as Mika noticed

38:59of where we looked to God and plant that

39:01tree canopy in our urban heat islands.

39:04Next slide.

39:05Oh, one more. Oh, this is this is a

39:07shameless plug. So, sister committee, um

39:09Charleston Basin Flood Action Committee,

39:11we're meeting at 3:00 today. We meet

39:12virtually. Um this is kind of again a uh

39:15citizens committee with oversight of all

39:17of our kind of flooding planning efforts

39:19on the city. Um

39:20we're we've already been in existence

39:22for 2 years. So, we have some new

39:23appointments coming up. Please check it

39:25out on the website. Encourage some

39:26neighbors to apply. But, just to

39:28highlight some of the fun stuff we've

39:29discussed over the past years, um diving

39:32deeper into our partnership with the

39:33Army Corps of Engineers, um city

39:35stormwater projects from all scales.

39:38We've had presentations from city zoning

39:40code, um working on that rewrite, um

39:42today

39:43a little tease, we have our director of

39:45development services talking about kind

39:46of our stormwater development

39:48regulations and how that supports some

39:50of our um conservation efforts and all

39:52in the city. So,

39:53um that is my last one.

39:56>> Thank you.

39:57>> Okay. Okay.

39:58That's my contact and those are some of

39:59the websites for folks that are

40:01>> Thanks.

40:03>> Any questions for Kaylee or for Mika or

40:05Paula?

40:06>> Thank you again. Those are really great

40:08updates for those who um I know you you

40:10tend regularly. I also want to encourage

40:12people to attend [clears throat]

40:13Kaylee's uh meeting this afternoon. As

40:16you can attend virtually. Um before we

40:19we move on to our future presenter, I

40:21wanted to just make some time. Uh

40:22Stewart, if you don't mind just kind of

40:24queue him up April in terms of

40:26um

40:27the inspiration behind inviting her to

40:29facil- to launch the conversations

40:31around climate action plan.

40:32>> Well, if you go back to what uh Mika

40:35presented earlier about the the

40:36subcommittee that met last year,

40:39one of our recommendations is to

40:42continually look at how we could

40:45increase the efficiency of all the

40:47buildings in in the city of Charleston

40:49or how we can reduce emissions from all

40:52of the of the buildings. And with that,

40:55April has a wonderful new idea not only

40:59in construction but also in maintenance

41:02of

41:02through the life of a building. So, I

41:04think it's a perfect segue into

41:07April's presentation.

41:10>> Thank you, Mr. P.

41:14>> Thank you.

41:21Thanks for having me. I'm April Miguel.

41:23I live on James Island.

41:25I was not born here but my ancestors.

41:28And I've been here 22 years.

41:31I'm a Libra.

41:34Well, my favorite color is terracotta.

41:45Yes,

41:47thank you for having me. When Mika asked

41:50me to come and talk about reducing

41:52building emissions, I said that's my

41:54love language. So,

41:56happy to share with you guys some of the

41:57research that really informs our work

42:00and some practical strategies that could

42:05be really effective with reducing

42:07emissions and some of the goals in the

42:08climate action plan.

42:10So, we do we do a ton of work here in

42:14the city and the county and the

42:16Carolinas in general.

42:18We have a lot of really progressive work

42:20all across the country that we're

42:22consulting on but keeping this

42:24presentation very practical, very

42:26centered on climate action plan today.

42:29Next slide.

42:31So, I'll give you a little background

42:32about myself and and the work that we're

42:34doing. Um

42:36I already mentioned a little bit of a

42:38lag.

42:40I came here [clears throat] right after

42:41college. I studied at Virginia Tech and

42:45spent the next 8 years working for

42:46several different firms.

42:48I left my corporate run at LS3P.

42:52I was co-project managing really

42:55large-scale

42:56federal government buildings that were

42:58LEED platinum, LEED certified, LEED

43:01you know, all the accolades. And I just

43:03thought

43:05I don't know what sustainable buildings

43:07are, but I don't think this is it.

43:10Really large concrete and Styrofoam

43:12buildings

43:13just didn't seem right to me. So, um

43:16I kind of went on my own deep dive into

43:20what sustainable buildings are.

43:23I immersed myself in a lot of workshops

43:26and classes and projects all across the

43:28country, outside of the country. Um I

43:31learned about a lot of

43:32ancient indigenous methods both here in

43:35the low country as well as outside of

43:38here that really informs a lot of our

43:40work today.

43:42Um through that work I became an adjunct

43:44at the College of the Building Arts.

43:47So, you may have seen some of our

43:49community built projects around town

43:52over the years. Next slide, please.

43:55Um and so for the past 15 or so years,

43:59um

44:00we've been really building what I call

44:02the Root Down Family Tree.

44:04Um

44:05I have we have three business entities

44:08all with the same mission, which is to

44:11advance climate smart equitable housing

44:13solutions, building solutions. Um

44:17we have a

44:18custom architecture firm, Root Down

44:20Designs, affordable housing, affordable

44:24accessible pathways is near and dear to

44:26me. That's been a huge part of our focus

44:28as well as how to have affordability and

44:32healthy buildings. So,

44:34the we have a separate company, The

44:37House Plan Co, which is

44:39pre-designed

44:41house plans that we utilize for

44:42affordable housing projects, ADUs, other

44:45kinds of um

44:48pre-designed affordable

44:50solutions. And then we also have 501c3.

44:54And we received a a federal grant in

44:572023 with the Sustainability Institute

45:00and the city of North Charleston um, to

45:03create uh, affordable housing

45:05um, project, climate smart affordable

45:07housing in the Union Heights community

45:09of North Charleston.

45:11Next slide, please.

45:13Um, and last thing I'll say about myself

45:15is um, also just through the years been

45:18involved with a lot of um,

45:21local city-based organizations. I sat on

45:23the Charleston Redevelopment Corporation

45:25board, um, Community First Land Trust,

45:28the Climate Action Plan subcommittee.

45:31Um, and so really been um, interested in

45:34really trying to integrate a lot of this

45:36into our fabric here at the city over

45:38the years.

45:40Next slide.

45:41Okay. So, enough about me. The

45:44Charleston Climate Action Plan, as you

45:46know, um, buildings are the number one

45:50issue in the plan or one of the biggest

45:53issues in the plan.

45:54Um, we have some really aggressive goals

45:57to reduce carbon emissions. Um, and this

45:59is a not specific to Charleston. This is

46:02also a goal that we see at the global

46:05um, level as well.

46:07So, how do we do that? Um, next slide.

46:10So, um, to really talk about building

46:13emissions,

46:14um,

46:15we have to really look at there's two

46:17parts of that equation. There's what we

46:19call operational carbon and then there's

46:21embodied carbon.

46:23Um, and this is a little bit geeky and

46:25boring, but um, it's really important.

46:28The operational carbon has been what the

46:31focus has been on forever. When we talk

46:33about net zero buildings, we're talking

46:35about how do we make a building really

46:37efficient once it's built, um, but we're

46:39not looking at what were the materials

46:43that were produced to make the building,

46:45right? And so, we now know, um,

46:48due to published research that we

46:51absolutely cannot meet any of these

46:54drastic carbon emission goals if we're

46:57not looking at both parts of that

46:58equation. Um, and so our friends at the

47:01Sustainability Institute are the go-to

47:03people with operational carbon, and

47:06we're kind of the go-to for embodied

47:08carbon.

47:09Um, next slide.

47:11And so, um, kind of already said this,

47:14but we know now that,

47:17um,

47:18almost [clears throat] 50% of a

47:20building's entire lifestyle emit life

47:23cycle of emissions, um,

47:26comes from the materials used. So, if

47:28we're building a net zero building, but

47:30we're using SIPs panels, we're using

47:32Styrofoam and concrete, our emission uh,

47:37count is already so high that, um, we're

47:41already starting way higher than where

47:44we could be.

47:45So, we know that we can

47:47go ahead today and decide to stop using

47:53high carbon, high emission materials,

47:56um, and then through the

47:58through time we can work towards more

48:00what we call carbon storing materials.

48:03Next slide, please.

48:05Um, okay. So, how do we do that? Um, the

48:10graphic on the right, if you can see it,

48:13it's a little small, but, um,

48:15so if we take a building, and we break

48:17it down into its components,

48:20um, we can see which parts of the

48:22building are the most responsible for

48:26carbon emissions. As you can see,

48:28concrete is a huge one.

48:30Um,

48:32we know that car- concrete is very, very

48:35energy intensive,

48:37but I'm not going to focus on that

48:38today, because it's also a more

48:40challenging material to talk about

48:42alternatives. So, all I'll say about

48:44concrete is that we should just try and

48:47minimize our use of it. It's a great

48:48material, I love concrete, but we should

48:51just use it where it's absolutely

48:53appropriate, um, and then minimize use.

48:56Um, if you go above that, you'll see

48:58insulation, and then cladding and

49:00interior surfaces. So, basically, our

49:04insulation and then the interior and

49:06exterior finishes accounts for roughly

49:1050% of a building's emissions. So, the

49:13material Those materials are what

49:16we're going to focus on because there

49:18are a lot of easy to

49:21um substitute materials that we can

49:23utilize.

49:25And so, the graphic on the right is just

49:27looking at insulation.

49:30Um the materials that are our highest

49:34carbon emitters tend to be our

49:36petroleum-based, petro-based um

49:39styrofoams, spray foams, foam-based

49:42insulations. If you move down that list,

49:44what you'll see is that it starts to

49:47trend towards your more plant-based,

49:49bio-based materials.

49:51Um they start to shift to the left side

49:54of that line, which means they become

49:56carbon storing versus carbon emitting.

49:60So, plants, as they grow, they pull

50:02carbon out of the atmosphere, and we

50:03harvest it, and turn it into a building

50:05material, it's a carbon storing material

50:08versus

50:09carbon emitting. So, bio-based or

50:12plant-based materials are carbon

50:15storing. Next slide.

50:19And then, we can further look We can

50:21really analyze each piece and part of

50:24the building. Here's an example of

50:26flooring.

50:27You can see that the materials that are

50:31closer to the red

50:33are our high emitters. As they trend to

50:35the left, and get past that zero,

50:38then we move into carbon storing. So,

50:40again, you see that trend as you move

50:42down the line as you get into

50:45linoleum, cork, bamboo, hempwood, we are

50:48moving towards carbon storing. Our

50:50vinyls and our carpets tend to be really

50:53high in our carbon emissions on the

50:55right side.

50:57Okay. Next slide.

50:59Um and so, then you can really see like

51:01the impact that can be made just through

51:04substituting materials. So this is

51:05looking at even

51:07the entire house or building as a whole

51:10just as an example.

51:12Kind of business as usual on the left

51:14roughly 45 tons of CO2 emitted through

51:17those materials.

51:19If you replace the materials with more

51:20bio-based materials, we can actually

51:22flip that script and store that same

51:25amount of carbon. So you can start to

51:27see like the big impact that we can make

51:30through those kinds of choices.

51:34And just to prove to you that it's not

51:36just me,

51:38not just the tree hugger architect here.

51:41The AIA, which is the American Institute

51:43of Architects, is now on board. They're

51:45putting out the materials pledge.

51:47They're talking about bio-based

51:49materials.

51:50And because operational carbon,

51:54so energy efficiency is well known, it's

51:57being worked on.

51:59Um

51:59We have a lot of efforts there

52:01happening. They're saying that 90% of

52:04all new building emissions will come

52:06from building materials. So that's where

52:08like we really have to be heavily

52:10focused as we move forward.

52:13And then even

52:15outside of that, under the Biden

52:17administration, the DOE released their

52:20first

52:22document framework for decarbonizing

52:25buildings. And the keyword all

52:26throughout the document is bio-based

52:28materials.

52:29So that's at the federal level too.

52:33Okay, next slide. Okay.

52:35So with an understanding that more

52:38bio-based materials can drastically

52:40reduce our carbon emissions.

52:43Some of the other perks that come along

52:46with using bio-based materials is that

52:49they also tend to be more breathable,

52:52which is really

52:54important when we talk about healthy

52:55buildings.

52:58We, just like our clothing and our skin,

53:01we need breathability.

53:03When we don't have that ability to

53:06breathe and deal with moisture properly,

53:08we have a build up of moisture, we get

53:09mold. We have more and more clients

53:11coming to us with mold sickness, um

53:15mold related issues. So,

53:17um

53:19it's just another benefit of creating

53:21healthy buildings is really thinking

53:23about vapor open materials. Next slide.

53:28>> [clears throat]

53:28>> Um this also translate into historic

53:31preservation. Um Brian Turner with

53:34Preservation Society shared this

53:36document with me. Um and I pulled out

53:39some the the quotes that you see are

53:41from this document. Basically, it's

53:44driving an argument for the use of

53:45cellulose insulation in historic

53:48buildings. Um

53:50we're seeing a lot of problems with

53:51spray foam. Um I don't go into all the

53:54details, but essentially cellulose is a

53:56very very affordable insulation. It does

53:58a really good job. It's carbon negative.

54:02It's breathable. Um so,

54:05these materials can translate from new

54:08construction to renovations to historic

54:10preservation.

54:11>> What is cellulose versus bat?

54:13>> Um so, that's um

54:16dense pack, so it's like blown in from a

54:19tube.

54:20>> This is?

54:21>> Yeah.

54:24>> [clears throat]

54:24>> You see it like um

54:28you can do it, you know, in the ceiling,

54:29you do it in the wall, but

54:31>> It's but it's not flammable.

54:33>> No.

54:34Yeah.

54:36It's pretty I mean it's it was fairly

54:38well used um

54:40back in the day.

54:42>> Did you have

54:42that? I did a renovation on that our

54:44house which is 1898 and I won't get into

54:47the details.

54:48But I looked at the uh insulation they

54:51used old newspapers.

54:52>> Hm.

54:56>> The Anvil.

54:57You could buy a Model T for and

54:59>> [laughter]

55:03>> Scared.

55:03>> Um okay. And then this can even um we

55:06can think about just something as simple

55:08as the paint that we use.

55:11There's been this big trend of like

55:12painting our bricks, brick homes.

55:15Starting to see more problems with that.

55:17Again, it kind of goes back to that idea

55:19of

55:20latex paint is plastic. It's

55:22non-breathable. When you put that on top

55:24of a material that's always been able to

55:26exhaust moisture, you start to get a

55:28build up of the moisture. So, something

55:30as simple as utilizing mineral based,

55:33lime based, lime paint, lime washes

55:35instead of latex paints can

55:38reduce our carbon emission count and

55:41also lead to healthier buildings. Next

55:44slide.

55:46Costs. Now, that's what all of you are

55:47thinking right now. What about costs?

55:50So, there are a lot of really cool newer

55:53building products on the market. There's

55:55a lot of I brought some with me. There's

55:57hemp and wood fiber based insulations.

56:00They do tend to cost more cuz they are

56:02newer products. But, there's also

56:04products readily available. Those the

56:07prices you see here, we pulled right off

56:09the Lowe's website 2 days ago.

56:12So, denim, cellulose insulation, both of

56:15those are on the the carbon storing side

56:18and they are also happen to be cheaper

56:21than fiberglass.

56:22So, there are affordable options

56:25available. Next slide.

56:28>> [clears throat]

56:29>> We can

56:30look at also flooring.

56:34I'm going to [clears throat] pick on

56:34vinyl cuz it's just an easy one to pick

56:36on.

56:37Um

56:38LVT flooring or vinyl plank flooring has

56:42become very very common, especially

56:45affordable housing, workforce housing.

56:48Any kind of building that has

56:49affordability tied to it, we tend to see

56:51a lot of vinyl products going in.

56:54There's that saying vinyl is vinyl,

56:56which is not true.

56:57Um

56:58but just as an example, marmoleum is a

57:01natural linoleum product. It's pretty

57:04comparable in price.

57:06Um but we also We look at that lifespan.

57:09um, materials that cannot be refinished

57:11repaired. You know, vinyl products have

57:14to be taken out, thrown in a landfill

57:16where they will sit for hundreds and

57:17hundreds of years. Um, so when we can

57:20utilize something that is repairable,

57:23um, or even hardwoods, you know, my

57:25house has 75 year old hardwoods that all

57:28you have to do is sand it, finish.

57:30They're, you know, going to be there

57:31forever. Um,

57:34so there are cost bamboo, cork, there

57:36are cost, um,

57:38alt

57:39cost equivalent alternatives available.

57:42Next slide.

57:44Okay, and then last thing about cost is,

57:47you know, healthier materials is a cost

57:50saving strategy. Um, I've seen a lot of

57:53projects over the years where subpar

57:56materials are being used. Um,

57:58I've seen new buildings going up with

58:01crawl spaces. I've seen new buildings

58:02going up with HVAC in an uninsulated

58:05attic, right? There's like a lot of

58:06things that, um,

58:09are built very quickly, very cheaply,

58:12but there's going to be problems within

58:1510 years. And then the cost, especially

58:17a a city

58:19um, a city project where that cost is

58:22going to be transferred, you know, to

58:24us. Cost to main to repair and replace

58:26materials is always going to be much

58:28higher than

58:30possibly spending slightly more up

58:32front. You know, if you've got a $2

58:34million

58:35workforce housing project, upping that

58:37insulation budget by $10,000 is nothing

58:40compared to, you know, the the cost of

58:43replacing,

58:45um, materials in 10 years.

58:47And then, of course, the hidden costs

58:49that we don't see is, again, picking on

58:52vinyl, um,

58:54these pictures are from a place called

58:56Cancer Alley. This is in Louisiana,

58:59Mississippi. This is where the majority

59:01of our vinyl building products are

59:03manufactured. Of course, it's, as you

59:05can imagine, in predominantly low income

59:08black neighborhoods where there are

59:11significant, um, health repercussions

59:14for production of these materials. So,

59:17um,

59:18the the more bio or next slide,

59:21um,

59:22so that kind of segues into page 10 of

59:25the climate action plan, which is our

59:28social equity piece.

59:29Um,

59:30so the the really cool thing too about

59:33using these low emission, um, low carbon

59:37materials is that they also inherently

59:40are

59:41healthier from a red list or chemical

59:44standpoint. Red list materials are

59:47the red list are known carcinogens. So,

59:50it's the building material that have

59:51known carcinogens. Still picking on

59:53vinyl, if you go to the bottom of the

59:55slide, I mean, of the graph,

59:57vinyl floors. So, um, there's a lot of

1:00:01known carcinogens that are off-gassing

1:00:04from vinyl flooring.

1:00:06If you move up the line towards the more

1:00:08bio-based materials, you tend to get out

1:00:11of those red list materials. So,

1:00:15um,

1:00:16it's all very much linked together. So,

1:00:19we can really,

1:00:20um,

1:00:21next slide.

1:00:23We can, um, really

1:00:27uh, um, affect four of the three

1:00:31chapters of the climate action plan

1:00:34through the use of more bio-based

1:00:37materials. And I threw social equity in

1:00:39there because that's a check, too. Um,

1:00:42and the Styrofoam and plastic bag I

1:00:44threw in there too under waste because

1:00:46we decided in Charleston we didn't want

1:00:49plastic bags and Styrofoam in our in our

1:00:51environment because it ends up in the

1:00:53waterways. So, we might want to think

1:00:56the same kind of logic when it comes to

1:00:58our buildings and the waste that's going

1:01:00into dumpsters and washing into

1:01:04our waterways as well. Next slide. Okay,

1:01:08so just some practical strategies that

1:01:11we could easily implement moving

1:01:14forward,

1:01:15um, would be things like

1:01:17um

1:01:18deciding that

1:01:20no more high emission insulation

1:01:22materials moving forward, but to use

1:01:25some of these low lower emission

1:01:27alternatives.

1:01:29Another example could be

1:01:31choosing to not use um

1:01:33vinyl flooring projects moving products

1:01:35moving forward, but some of the low

1:01:38carbon alternatives. And then um I did

1:01:42throw this one slide or one piece in

1:01:45here for operational carbon for my

1:01:48partners at the Sustainability

1:01:49Institute.

1:01:51Um I talked to Brian last night and he

1:01:53reminded me you know the weatherization

1:01:55piece is also hugely important um for

1:01:58reducing our carbon count. Um one in

1:02:02three households are energy insecure in

1:02:04South Carolina. Um and we can leverage

1:02:10um

1:02:11getting more federal HUD dollars through

1:02:14our Department of um Housing and

1:02:16Community Development to help uh expand

1:02:19on their programming.

1:02:21Next slide. All right.

1:02:23Um kind of already went over this.

1:02:25There's a lot of alternatives out there.

1:02:26Next slide.

1:02:28Um there's also information guidelines

1:02:31out there showing you municipalities

1:02:33wanting to implement um incentive

1:02:35programs or projects, new construction

1:02:38permitting wanting to um hit certain uh

1:02:42carbon numbers. We see a lot of

1:02:44financial incentive programs out there.

1:02:48I'm going to leave that there in the

1:02:49interest of time. Keep going.

1:02:52I want to mention this too. So, B1 in

1:02:54the climate action plan is about the

1:02:56energy code. We are one of three states

1:02:59that is still on the 2009 energy code.

1:03:01Everybody else has moved on from that.

1:03:04Um I think that's really important to

1:03:06know. And also we have a strong lobby

1:03:09um in Columbia that is adamantly opposed

1:03:11to South Carolina adopting anything

1:03:13else. So,

1:03:15um we need some advocacy help there.

1:03:18Keep going. Okay, I'm just going to wrap

1:03:20up with a couple example projects. This

1:03:23is our grant project with SI

1:03:26to create a new paradigm for climate

1:03:28smart healthy affordable housing. Just

1:03:30really want to emphasize the affordable

1:03:32piece. A lot of people think when you

1:03:34talk about healthy or sustainable

1:03:36buildings all of a sudden the dollar

1:03:38signs go up.

1:03:40Doesn't have to. We have solutions. Next

1:03:42slide.

1:03:44We're also working with native

1:03:46communities and

1:03:48the University of Minnesota on the same

1:03:51concept. Affordable housing that's um

1:03:54climate smart, healthy. If you haven't

1:03:57watched The Green Buffalo, Joel Caldwell

1:04:00with the Marsh project produced this

1:04:01film. Watch it. You can find it online.

1:04:04And it'll really speak to everything

1:04:06that we're talking about here.

1:04:08Next slide.

1:04:10We have our own pilot project on James

1:04:12Island

1:04:13where we are

1:04:15we have developed using bio-based

1:04:16materials. Next slide.

1:04:19We are in partnership with Clemson and

1:04:21New York Institute of Technology

1:04:22tracking performance. So we'll have some

1:04:24real-time data very soon to publish

1:04:27about our carbon emissions as well as

1:04:29performance in our hot humid climate.

1:04:33And I think there's two more.

1:04:35Oh, three more. This one is in Wagner

1:04:37Terrace. So again, it apply it can apply

1:04:40to historical fabric of our city. Next

1:04:43slide.

1:04:45Keep going. I'll just skip that one.

1:04:47This one is not our project, but it's

1:04:48worth mentioning just to kind of see

1:04:51a bigger scale that it what is possible.

1:04:55This is multi-family community in

1:04:57Massachusetts using pre-fab modular

1:05:00bio-based wall panels. They're about to

1:05:03erect a 12-unit multi-family building.

1:05:05Next slide. And then even outside of

1:05:08that,

1:05:09if you get go to Europe or Canada, you

1:05:12will see really really large-scale

1:05:15commercial building using the bio-based

1:05:18carbon-negative materials. So it's

1:05:21possible whether we want to just saying

1:05:24let's look at our flooring,

1:05:26let's look at our insulation, or we want

1:05:28to go big with something like this. So,

1:05:30next last slide um

1:05:33Michael Pollan, the author, coined that

1:05:35phrase like eat food, not too much,

1:05:37mostly plants. Same logic for buildings.

1:05:41Build smart, not too big, mostly plants.

1:05:50>> I can only answer any questions any

1:05:52questions for April. I know it was

1:05:54brought up agave insulation.

1:05:57>> Yeah, that was pretty fascinating. So,

1:05:58having spent

1:06:00almost a career on operational carbon.

1:06:03Yeah.

1:06:04So,

1:06:05and then how ultimately

1:06:08you either had a compliance market or a

1:06:10voluntary market to make

1:06:12a lot of the changes happen.

1:06:15Does embodied carbon

1:06:17need a subsidy

1:06:19or a catalyst

1:06:21or does it naturally

1:06:22transition

1:06:24to the path?

1:06:28>> Um

1:06:29>> How do you get the adoption? Cuz we

1:06:30can't like even in even in even in the

1:06:33operational carbon world

1:06:35for example, the energy efficiency

1:06:38you have to create in some cases

1:06:39incentives to create economic payback.

1:06:42So, I'm just curious does it track cuz

1:06:44this is

1:06:45does it does it parallel?

1:06:46>> Yeah, I mean I think the operational

1:06:48carbon's been

1:06:49studied and being worked on for much

1:06:52longer than embodied carbon. So, I think

1:06:55we're we're seeing these incentive

1:06:57programs, we're seeing the legislation

1:06:59um

1:07:00and mean it mean it's municipal based um

1:07:05permitting incentives happening

1:07:08um

1:07:09but not on the same scale as like the

1:07:12energy code which is really driving a

1:07:13lot of that operational carbon.

1:07:16Um

1:07:17So, you know, a lot of our projects is

1:07:19more are more um

1:07:21I would say client incentive um that

1:07:25incentive is there but no there's

1:07:26nothing sort of mandating that at this

1:07:29time.

1:07:31I've heard about potentially like carbon

1:07:34taxes being

1:07:36enacted [clears throat] and the concern

1:07:38I don't know if like the DOE if that's

1:07:40going to

1:07:41cycle back eventually or we're going to

1:07:44see federal

1:07:46incentives

1:07:47or framework guiding those decisions but

1:07:52I mean at this time no there's nothing

1:07:55that is

1:07:56>> I guess question is do you think we need

1:07:58it now?

1:07:59>> [clears throat]

1:07:59>> I mean

1:08:00>> I mean I think

1:08:01the operational

1:08:03I mean it was driven by federal and then

1:08:0598

1:08:05>> I think it's going to get I think that's

1:08:06where we're we're going to see

1:08:09but it's just hasn't sort of

1:08:11gotten there yet.

1:08:13>> In the interest of time I thank you

1:08:15again

1:08:16and I guess you have any lingering

1:08:18questions you probably get

1:08:19>> Yeah I can stick around.

1:08:20>> Yeah but I did want to make sure I'm

1:08:22just conscious of everyone's time.

1:08:24But

1:08:25I don't believe we have any public

1:08:26comments to make.

1:08:28>> I'm not that I'm aware of.

1:08:29>> Not that I'm aware of either.

1:08:31So

1:08:32just wanted to give you that opportunity

1:08:33to answer but I'm still here would you

1:08:35like to

1:08:36>> Yeah first of all I'd like to thank

1:08:38congratulate the mayor and everybody

1:08:40else for passing through the

1:08:41transportation tax.

1:08:42>> Yes yes.

1:08:46>> When you think of all the projects that

1:08:48especially that you proposed

1:08:50it really deals with resilience

1:08:52sustainability

1:08:55really a good thing for all of us.

1:08:57Anybody else on the committee have any

1:08:59comments?

1:09:02We should I can entertain a motion to

1:09:04adjourn.

1:09:05>> Can I entertain a motion to adjourn?

1:09:07>> Second.

1:09:09>> All right no further questions all all

1:09:11of those in favor of adjourning we are

1:09:12adjourned.

1:09:14>> Thanks guys.

1:09:15>> Thank you good evening.

1:09:18>> [clears throat]

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