A JOURNAL FOR THE NEW SUSTAINABLE CITY
A Journa l f o r t h e N ew S ustain ab le City
i ss u e n o. 1: r e- i magi n i n g lo s an ge le s
YOU E
TO S I D LO S
ST
WE THE TER
BROUTHE H OF H A P
BY A N C S C B C
BR G ELE U S G
A N THE
OF
G HT
1
WIN WIN issue no.1
A JOURNAL FOR THE NEW SUSTAINABLE CITY
A Journ a l f o r t h e N ew S u s t ainab le City
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dr. Jorge Partida
FROM THE GUEST EDITOR
Eric Corey Freed
+Q&A WITH ERIC COREY FREED
WE BELIEVE IN ANGELS: A CASE STUDY
Ferris Kawar
CASE STUDY: Building One of the Gerard McCaughey
World’s First Net-Zero Energy Homes
THE SIMPLE ROI FALLACY
Vladimir Yelnif
POLY-HUMAN LOS ANGELES:
Jack Eidt
PEOPLE LIVE HERE (WITH OR WITHOUT CARS)
MY CITY MY RIVER Mia Lehrer + Associates
Michael Roy
BROWNFIELDS AND ADAPTIVE REUSE
SUSTAINABILITY IN PUBLIC ART: Rebecca Ansert
THREE PROJECTS
Carmen Suero
NEXT STOP: SUSTAINABILITY (TRANSIT IN LA) SUSTAINABILITY AND THE LA RIVER:
George Wolfe &
A TOP 10 LIST Thea Mercouffer
Cover photograph by: Justien Tien
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DR. JORGE PARTIDA
Congratulations to the Westside Branch on the creation of the Win:Win Journal, a labor of love
that represents nearly two years of hard work and dedication. I want to say a heartfelt “thank
you” to all those who volunteered, contributing long hours of service by writing articles,
editing and obtaining sponsorship, all in service of you, the reader. Through this milestone
achievement, the Westside Branch demonstrates its loyalty to its mission of promoting the
diversity of professions within the sustainable and green building industry.
The contributions and articles place the Westside Branch as thought leaders, by identifying
trends and topics that demonstrate innovation and ingenuity. Los Angeles is a proud city and
it has achieved much to promote sustainability. Yet, we have much farther to go to resolve the
challenges created by climate impact, outdated buildings and limited resources, as well as
our use of energy, water and transportation.
DR. JORGE PARTIDA
USGBC-Los Angeles (LA) is proud of the Win:Win Journal and the great achievements of its
Westside Branch. In these capable minds, our mission, “to promote sustainability in Los
Angeles County’s built environment by delivering access to knowledge, resources, recognition
and networking,” is exceptionally represented. As a nonprofit organization, USGBC-LA
We are ONE community
promoting sustainability
as the vehicle for our
transformation
promotes programs and services that increase community participation and promote access
to healthy environments where people work, learn, live and play.
I invite you to become a member of USGBC-LA and join us as we seek to transform our
communities by transforming our built environment. Please look for future editions of the
Win:Win Journal as a regular segment of the new USGBC-LA, “Green Business Quarterly
Journal.”
3
WIN WIN issue no.1
A TIME OF OPPORTUNITY
FROM GUEST EDITOR ERIC COREY FREED
The great city of Los Angeles always has represented a city of promise. The rich mix of cultural
diversity, economic density and spiritual symbiosis makes for a unique place. From a planning
perspective, however, the built environment of LA is not without its problems. Some of these
ERIC COREY FREED
issues are so much more pronounced here (namely: transit, infrastructure and sprawl) that any
solutions smart enough to work in LA automatically qualify to be a model to any other city.
It is with great honor that I present this inaugural issue of the Win:Win Journal. The incredible
work of many other, smarter people went into to this issue making my job relatively painless.
It is our hope that the words here generate inspiration and spark conversation to help us all
Our open-minded and
innovative spirit enables
us to serve as a testing
ground for new ideas
take a more involved role in shaping the future of Los Angeles.
The severity of the urban issues in Los Angeles present a challenge, but they also provide
an incredible opportunity. Our open-minded and innovative spirit enables us to serve as a
testing ground for new ideas. With this in mind, we shaped this issue to focus on tangible and
deployable solutions that could be duplicated through the region.
4
WIN WIN issue no.1
“Tip the world over on its side & everything
loose will land in Los Angeles.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright
Eric Corey Freed
IN THIS ISSUE
Speaking of replicable models, Ferris Kawar shares his story of how a program
of an ecosystem. The strongest and most resilient ecosystems are the ones
at the city of Burbank provides refurbished bicycles to needy children. Rebecca
with the greatest diversity of people, of activity, of economy, of landscape.
Ansert explains her innovative approach to an art installation for a new
The monoculture zoning of the 1950s and ’60s looked good on paper, but in
Environmental Learning Center here in Los Angeles. Their focus on small scale,
practice it stripped the humanity out of our cities. The article on Adaptive Reuse
grassroots programs is highly scalable, and it could reach hundreds of children
from Michael Roy at UCLA Extension addresses this by using brownfields as an
to raise a new generation of sustainable thinkers.
opportunity for infill development.
Urban Planning has never really been an exact science despite what others
Los Angeles deserves to be more than a collection of sprawling “Spaniterranean”
may have thought. The city is an organism, and it must follow the basic rules
buildings. What’s needed is a new approach to connect people together. To
5
WIN WIN issue no.1
further build communities, check out the innovative light rail and transit concepts
The embodied energy in an existing building is so valuable, yet there are few
from authors Carmen Suero and Jack Eidt. A recent study from the U.S. Census
financial incentives to keep it. So we rounded out the issue with esteemed
Bureau confirms what you already know, LA topped the national average in
green finance guru Vladimir Yelnif and his scandalous look at how Return on
commute time. Bold solutions for getting out of our cars are more important
Investment (ROI) is not the best way to make decisions about energy upgrades.
than ever. What other city would have something called “Carmageddon?”
This combination of ideas and visions is an incredible opportunity to transform
our beloved Los Angeles into a model for other cities worldwide.
The greening of our building codes and more stringent requirements are fine,
but the reality is that we also need to take aggressive measures with our existing
With this, we humbly present to you our inaugural issue. Should you like it,
building stock and infrastructure. We need to make every building a green
please share it with your friends and colleagues. Should you feel it lacking, we
building. To that end, we’ve shared the story of building one of the world’s first
welcome your feedback, because the ultimate goal of Win:Win—in fact of the
net-zero homes as told by Gerard McCaughey.
Branch, Chapter and the greater USGBC community—is to foster a healthy and
thriving urban environment for us all.
Here in California, we’ve put forth several pioneering laws to encourage and
support upgrading our existing buildings. Unfortunately, most only go in effect
To that end the green building community of Los Angeles needs:
at a time of permit. There are millions of square feet of existing buildings that
your ideas,
will never undergo a renovation or remodel, and therefore, will never be required
your enthusiasm,
to upgrade. That is where the benchmarking and disclosure laws become so
and most of all,
important. In an ideal world, by association you would not be allowed to sell or
your engagement.
refinance your building unless it met a minimum energy standard (say, EnergyStar
65 or higher). That is what is needed to make the type of change described in
these pages.
It seems that all of the sexy ideas have already been done. Rooftop solar panels,
integrated wind turbines and tint-changing facades might be the buzz of the
green building world, but the real potential energy savings lie in going into
the deep and unglamorous world of energy retrofits and infrastructure. While
caulking and insulation is certainly not sexy, it is what LA needs to evolve our
existing buildings into a bright, green future.
Eric Corey Freed is a nationally known architect and author of four bestselling books on
green building. His practice areas include living building, biomimicry, sustainable urban
redevelopment and sprawl repair. A much sought after speaker, you can hear one of
Eric’s hilarious and thought-provoking talks at noteworthy events throughout the year.
Check out more on www.organicarchitect.com.
Photograph by: Marielle Suba
6
WIN WIN issue no.1
Q&A WITH ERIC COREY FREED
1
You were based out of San Francisco for quite some time. Compared
to other West Coast cities such as Portland, Seattle, or San Francisco,
why has Los Angeles been slow to develop buildings whose sustainability
goals reach beyond LEED?
3
What makes Los Angeles the ideal platform for addressing
sustainability issues facing the contemporary city?
The same issue that slows its sustainable development is also perhaps its greatest
strength. The size of Los Angeles, with this wonderful diversity, culture, variety
It certainly is not for lack of interest or great resources. It really comes down
and energy, makes it ideal for the development of an urban framework. It could
to an issue of scale. LA dwarfs other cities like San Francisco and Portland in
be (and should be) the ultimate design laboratory. Since LA is a microcosm of
both population and square footage. In reality, Los Angeles is made up of several
virtually every city, the solutions we develop here can be applied to troubled
areas that are unique enough to be their own city. For example, how can you
cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Dallas or even New York.
produce green building requirements that apply to the downtown and to an area
like Westwood? The scales, uses, populations are so different that they almost
demand a neighborhood specific sustainability plan.
4
The infrastructure of Los Angeles is arguably one of its greatest
achievements from the past century. How do you imagine the
capacity and age of LA’s infrastructure playing out in the 21st Century?
2
What do you think are the largest hurdles for Los Angeles to address
regarding long-term sustainability?
Those of us working with existing cities now face an additional challenge:
resilience. Climate Change has forced us to face hard-to-address issues that
Los Angeles is suffering from the basic inherent sustainability issue; no matter
we’ve put off for decades. Hurricane Sandy showed New York how vulnerable
how green or energy efficient you make the individual buildings of LA, you are
our infrastructure really is. How do we prepare Los Angeles for the added heat,
still living within a highly car-dependent culture and landscape. If every building
drought, power outages and disruption in food supply that await us? We do
in LA magically became net-zero tomorrow, you’d still have the issue of needing
not have decades to figure this out, but need to prepare now. Unfortunately, it
a car for even the most basic of necessities.
typically takes a disaster to get cities to take notice.
7
WIN WIN issue no.1
5
Sam Lubell from The Architect’s Newspaper curated an exhibition
at the A+D Museum entitled ‘Never Built Los Angeles’. Why do you
think we haven’t seen more recent visions for Los Angeles that address
its long-term future?
Some of the past visions of Los Angeles have been fairly cynical, assuming a dark
dystopia – think “Blade Runner.” But some of my favorite pieces in that show
highlight the things that have always drawn us here: the sun, the water, vibrancy
and the density. If you go through the work you’ll see common problems that
these designers hoped to solve, decades ago. Issues surrounding transportation,
livability and curbing sprawl were continually addressed in innovative ways. We
are not lacking vision, just the bravery to implement that vision.
6
GETTING TO (REALLY) KNOW ERIC...
Los Angeles
Museums, restaurants, events,
architecture and movie stars!
Desert
Opportunity (I chair the Coachella Valley
Branch of the US Green Building Council)
San Francisco / NW U.S.
Adopted home
Building Ratings
Infancy
If you were to put forth an idea for Los Angeles in the 21st Century
what would it look like?
Changing an existing city is a long-term series of chess moves. Certain moves
Long-term Sustainability
Vibrant, abundant, regenerative, joyful
and equitable
won’t be felt for decades, but you need to make the right choices up-front in
LA Infrastructure
Vulnerable
order to win the game.
My vision of LA is hyper-local, to reinforce and emphasize the traditional
neighborhood. Each neighborhood would be developed into its own hub or
nexus and tied to a large-scale transit plan. High-speed connectors quickly bring
you from hub to hub; local public transit handles your local travel within the
21st Century Building
Not yet defined and open to interpretation
Highest Architect Moment
Studying under former apprentices of
Frank Lloyd Wright
neighborhood. Such hubs would then encourage future development and growth
around the hubs and away from the areas in-between. It would take decades
for development to follow these large moves, but we are building something to
prepare for the next few centuries, aren’t we?
8
WIN WIN issue no.1
7
From a quality of life perspective, what do you think LA will really
look like in 2060?
There are two answers to your question. First the dark version: climate change
will continue to slowly change everything for everyone. Energy costs, food
availability, and water rights will remain issues for the next century. Los Angeles
is no more immune to that than any place else.
But if we turn our attention specifically to Los Angeles, the next 50 years could
be a time of a glorious refocusing. Through an aggressive and bold combination
of public policy reforms, planning changes, public demand and buying trends,
you’ll soon see a rebirth of neighborhoods and walkability. It will start on an
individual block level and will grow organically. In fact, it has already started.
With the right support from city government through codes and incentives,
development can be focused to encourage these walkable areas.
8
What is your highest moment as a green architect?
Lowest Architect Moment
When someone calls and tells me they
“already designed it themselves” and just
need “someone to draw it up.”
Music Favorite
Oldies: The Smiths, Depeche Mode, New
Order, The Cure (you know, the Classics!)
Current: Muse, The Decemberists,
Placebo, Metric, Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
Ting Tings …
Fine Arts Favorite
Rothko, Dali, Bernini, Magritte, Klee,
Miro, Matisse, Hopper, and on and on.
Film Favorite
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
(1971), Brazil, Night on Earth
Social Media
Most people are boring and in need of a
shock to the system
Dog or Cat
Dog!
This interview, right now.
Seriously? Well, I hope I haven’t had my highest moment yet! Personally, I like
Elvis or The Beatles
Elvis (Costello)
converting old-school, hard core, traditional developers into green ones. That
is a fun moment when they “get it” and suddenly their view of their own work
changes forever.
9
WIN WIN issue no.1
9
What is your lowest moment as a green architect?
A late supper with my wife and daughter is my favorite thing to do. After they go
to sleep, I stay up and read or indulge in a nerdy sci-fi movie. Not a bad life.
This interview, right now!
I guess I always take it as a personal failure when a well-intentioned client or
12
You are strongly present ‘online’ – texting, Facebook, etc. What
do you like and hate about it?
contractor tries to do something green, but end up choosing something toxic or
Actually, I hate texting for business reasons. But everyone else (especially clients
inefficient for short-term reasons. They always tell me later that they regret it,
and contractors) seem to love it so I have to participate. I do keep pretty strong
and “should have taken my advice.” We build our buildings to last for decades,
boundaries and wait to respond to texts until business hours.
why make silly decisions that only benefit you in the right now?
10
Facebook on the other hand is a great distraction. Since I travel so much, it
What incremental green building standard today do you think
allows me to keep up with my friends and family. As you know I have a “special”
represents the greatest upside for the Earth in the long run?
sense of humor, so it is my chance to share my weirdness with everyone. Except
for the fact that everyone I went to high school with seems to be a right-wing nut
The Living Building Challenge is far from “incremental.” In fact, it is downright
job – I love checking FB daily.
hard (and why they call it a challenge). But it represents what we need right now:
to make every building a living, regenerative and healthy building.
11
I lecture to about 10,000 people a year, so Twitter and LinkedIn are the only way
I can manage a rather large network and connect with all of the amazing people
Describe your best (regular) day EVER.
I get to meet. Before I leave for any city, I use LinkedIn to connect with local
contacts to arrange meetings and find out what is happening.
This is pretty regular and what I aim for on a typical day: Start with my daughter
Using these tools are simply part of my regular workflow, so they use very little
waking me up with a light pat on the face and a smile. I then get to spend several
of my time in return for the benefit. I always want everyone to be able to reach
hours concentrating on a design without interruption. When I break for lunch
out and connect with me directly and not an assistant or receptionist. People
I find several voicemails from potential clients describing a unique problem
are often surprised when they call I answer the phone. “Who else were you
they need my help to solve. The afternoon is spent brainstorming creative ideas
expecting?”
with smart and interesting people. I cap off the workday by giving a lecture to a
packed house.
10
WIN WIN issue no.1
Ferris Kawar
WE BELIEVE IN ANGELS:
A CASE STUDY
You may believe in angels, but do you believe in bike angels?
The city of Burbank does. In fact, Burbank now has more than 200 Bike Angels.
The Beginning
Each year the city of Burbank partners with the Salvation Army to provide local
families who are experiencing financial hardships with gifts for their children.
An “Angel Tree,” decorated with tags listing gift requests, is set on display at
municipal buildings and at the local Burbank shopping mall. Generally, the
requests include what the children need, such as clothing, shoes, and the most
basic necessities. In 2009, however, city employee Elaine Pease noticed that
11
WIN WIN issue no.1
there were also some requests for bicycles. Enlisting the help of fellow workers,
How it Works
this small group calling themselves the “Bike Angels” collected and restored
The Bike Angel program is easily replicable and scalable since all the bikes
about a dozen bikes to gleaming condition.
are donated and the labor to fix them is volunteered. The only hard costs are
for additional parts, which commonly include brake cables, tires and tubes,
Little did they know what they were starting. Three years later their growing
seats, grips, helmets, locks, grease, oil, and scouring pads. Parts can usually
band of volunteers restored and donated more than 200 bicycles to overjoyed
be purchased at discounted prices through cooperating local bike shops, or
children and parents. Not only were the recipients of these bikes moved by the
wholesale through bike parts distributors. Many of the Bike Angels’ costs last
generosity of others, but the more than 200 people who either donated bikes or
year were covered by generous donors, including a $1,000 donation from a
volunteered their time to help restore them are just as fulfilled by being part of
local credit union.
the process.
Starting a similar program requires a place to work and store bikes, tools, a
A Place for the Bike in the City of Angels
couple of dedicated and knowledgeable bicycle tinkerers to direct and teach
In the US less than 1 percent of all trips are made by bike compared to 13 percent
willing volunteers, as well as a method to solicit bikes that have been collecting
in Germany. Even wet and hilly places, like San Francisco and Portland, have
dust and rust in garages and back yards. This can be as simple as submitting a
stronger bike cultures than Los Angeles where we enjoy year-round sunshine
flyer to local elementary and middle schools and posting requests on Craigslist
and mostly flat terrain. However, things are changing rapidly as evidenced by
and other on-line forums.
the number of new bike shops, the consistent massive turnouts for Los Angeles’
past three CicLAvia street closure events, the expansion of bike lanes and the
One of the challenges each year is making sure the bikes fit and match the size
inclusion of bike routes in every city’s long-range plans. Another positive sign
and gender of the people requesting them. For Burbank, this has meant the
is the number of Safe Route to Schools projects that are being developed,
Bike Angels have had to collect far more bikes than requested because they
a federally funded program to improve children’s safety while walking and
never know what is going to be donated. Other programs can solve this problem
bicycling to school. The Bike Angels hope to get more children to use the new
by fixing what they get and offering the restored bikes to worthy recipients
biking infrastructure, which will increase motorist awareness, improve safety on
(think Boys & Girls Clubs or local organizations that serve families in need).
the road for everyone and help children shed pounds while reducing the amount
Additionally, it is helpful to get non-profit status to make it easier to accept
of automobile exhaust, which is attributed to climate change and respiratory
donations.
ailments such as asthma.
12
WIN WIN issue no.1
Getting the Word Out
Bike donations and offers to help have expanded thanks to positive media
coverage in local newspapers, online listserves, newsletters and word of mouth.
The Burbank downtown mall even hosted two weekend bike collection events,
which netted more than 60 bikes.
Bike Angel volunteers, who dedicate many hours after work and on weekends,
come from many walks of life including City employees, residents, students
and folks from area businesses and community organizations. Even the Burbank
Police and Fire Departments give their time, resources and money to make the
program work. This has included the donation of impounded bikes, loaning
tools and contributing cash to make sure each bike leaves with a helmet and
lock. Parents bring their children to learn about giving, as well as to learn how
to repair bikes. Volunteers include all skill levels from “I want to do something
nice for others” to professional businessmen and bicycle mechanics. There
is a team spirit that bonds everyone together as bikes are restored, chrome is
polished and tricks of the trade are shared.
This program is a way to give the gift of wings otherwise known as “mobility”.
“We actually have as much fun … doing this as the kids are going to have when
they receive these bikes on Christmas morning,” said Pease.
However, Lt. Eric Rudd of the Salvation Army may beg to differ.
“Parents who never thought they could provide their child a bike, they get to
be a hero,” he said. ”You see people crying when they come in because of the
generosity of the donors.”
13
WIN WIN issue no.1
Health, Air Quality and Family Ties
The entire Burbank community benefits from the Bike Angel program. Some of the
benefits you could provide to your community by starting your own program, include:
•Learning all aspects of bike repair
•Experiencing increased independence and mobility – as much as 20 percent of all morning traffic congestion is generated by parents driving their children to school
•Exercising to combat obesity and reduce health care expenses
•
Participating in an activity for the whole family
•
Promoting reuse and recycling through the restoration of used bikes
•Transforming land use as 20 bikes can be parked in the same space as one car
•Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and expensive road wear
•
Saving Time – studies show that biking is faster than driving during rush hour
For more information contact the Burbank Recycle Center (818) 238-3900.
Ferris Kawar is the recycling specialist for the city of Burbank and a LEED AP. Among his
past accomplishments Ferris is most proud to have been a co-founder of Greenopia,
a consumer-friendly guide to green businesses, residential program coordinator
for Sustainable Works, a non-profit environmental education organization, and for
his work on multimedia projects about climate change. Ferris sits on the Board
of Advisors for Sustainable Works and is a steering committee member of Green
Business Networking. He bikes his daughter to day care and rides to work every day
– rain or shine.
Bike rainbow photo by: Richard Hammond
All other photography: Courtesy of Burbank Bike Angels
14
WIN WIN issue no.1
Gerard McCaughey
CASE STUDY:
Building One of the World’s First Net-Zero Energy Homes
Los Angeles, with its moderate Mediterranean climate, ample sunshine and greenconscious residents, possesses the ideal market conditions for constructing netzero energy homes. To make this transition cost-effective for both builders and
homeowners, Angelenos can look across the Atlantic for examples of European
efforts that achieved carbon neutrality for residential structures. Europe is
approximately a decade ahead of Los Angeles and the rest of the United States in
the adoption of increased energy-efficiency standards for homes, as a result of the
European Union’s signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 and its ratification in 2002.
The Kyoto Protocol, a legally-binding agreement, committed to reducing greenhouse
gas emissions throughout the continent by eight percent of 1990 levels by the
year 2012. Each of the 15 ratifying countries had to develop its own roadmap
for reaching their individual targets – or run the risk of being fined for failure.
The planning process for many countries quickly turned to reducing carbon with
greener residential structures; in the mid-1990s European homes accounted for
approximately 25 percent of annual carbon dioxide emissions.
The United Kingdom passed their own legislation requiring that all new public
or social housing be carbon-neutral or net-zero energy by 2013 and new private
15
WIN WIN issue no.1
homes by 2016. To this end, the British government implemented a number of
initiatives, including a challenge to the construction industry to build a house
that would meet its 2016 green building standards.
In response to this challenge, my former company, Kingspan Century, unveiled
one of the world’s first net-zero energy houses at the premier event of the
Building Research Establishment in 2007. We named it “Lighthouse,” as it was
inherently light on the world’s resources. Lighthouse was the only structure
unveiled at that event which met the “Level 6” building standard – the highest
level – of the UK’s Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH).
The two-story, two-bedroom, single-family residence achieved its net-zero
energy certification and six-star (Level 6) rating with a combination of key
The UK’s Code for Sustainable Homes
(CSH) is an environmental assessment
system of one to six stars for rating and
certifying the performance of a new
home. It is an element of BREEAM –
the BRE’s Environmental Assessment
Method, a green building rating system
that measures environmental performance
against established benchmarks.
design and construction considerations. Lighthouse achieved the CSH Level 6
rating based on its performance in nine categories: energy and CO2 emissions;
water; materials; surface water run-off; waste; pollution; health and wellbeing;
management; and ecology.
•From a design standpoint, the layout of the house upside down from
conventional homes maximizes the use of day lighting and passive solar
heating. The living areas are placed upstairs for natural light and enhanced
natural ventilation. The bedrooms, which require less daylight, are located on
the first floor.
•
BREEAM was established in the UK in
1990, and it has grown in scope and
has been adopted by other countries,
including Germany and Spain. Many
aspects of BREEAM were adapted for the
US market with the introduction of LEED
in 1998.An important distinction between
BREEAM and LEED is that BREEAM
is a government-defined standard,
which aided policy makers in creating
legislation that encourage both the use
of the assessment tool and sustainable
A biomass boiler that uses wood pellets provides the heating. The boiler,
which also heats the water in the winter, is located in the utility room on the first
floor. This placement provides another energy-saving benefit: the occupant
has a dedicated area in which clothes could be hung to dry as an alternative to
using an energy-sapping clothes dryer.
16
WIN WIN issue no.1
•
Dependence on the biomass boiler for heating, as well as the amount of
wood used, was minimized by the solar thermal panels placed on Lighthouse’s
dramatic sloping roof. These panels provide all hot water in the summer and
some in spring and fall.
•The strategic placement of triple-glazed, gas-filled windows maximizes
lighting and ventilation while minimizing the number of windows installed.
•
An electrical whole-house ventilation system with heat recovery provides
the background ventilation in the home – particularly during the winter months,
when it extracts heat from warm stale air to heat incoming cool fresh air.
Photovoltaic panels generate power for the system.
•For energy efficiency during the summer, the mechanical system is
complemented with a passive natural ventilation system that employs a “wind
catcher” on the chimney. When open, the device admits cooler outside air
to displace warmer inside air and can be used in conjunction with operable
windows for enhanced cross ventilation.
•The wind catcher, which provides secure ventilation at night, also
functions as a light funnel to illuminate both floors of the house with natural
lighting during the day.
•
Adjusting both the passive ventilation devices and the shading on
windows allows the occupant to create the desired indoor environment in terms
of both thermal and luminous comfort as the outdoor temperature rises.
17
WIN WIN issue no.1
•Other considerations to lower the indoor temperatures during the warmer
precisely assembled to exacting specifications and further strengthened with
summer months include the installation of low-energy appliances, which are
the insertion of more nails, the resulting components create an airtight structure.
low-heat emitting and the use of “thermal heavyweight” ceiling surfaces. These
This process can reduce heat loss by potentially two-thirds of a standard house.
ceiling surfaces, which include phase change material plasterboard, absorb the
heat in the house and provide natural cooling when the microscopic capsules
As California looks to achieve carbon-neutrality with all new residential
embedded in the board change from solid to liquid. At night, the process
construction by 2020, there are many that consider this target to be merely
reverses to extract the heat absorbed with the help of the wind catcher.
a lofty goal. Yet the climatic conditions in California – and Los Angeles, in
particular – are probably the most favorable in the world for such a mandate.
•The estimated annual cost to heat Lighthouse – in the temperate maritime
With Lighthouse, builders have a proven example of a net-zero energy structure
climate of the United Kingdom – is approximately $80. The house also has a
that could be easily replicated, and many of the sustainable technologies
smart metering system to record energy consumption and help the homeowner
employed in its construction are actually over-specified for a warmer-weather
identify areas in which consumption could be reduced.
market like Los Angeles. The highlighted model would allow Angelenos to
reduce the carbon footprint of both the construction and ongoing operations of
Because minimizing the energy required to heat and cool Lighthouse was a
their homes.
critical factor in achieving carbon neutrality and the Level 6 rating, the manner
in which the structure was constructed – using offsite construction (OSC) –
played a significant role.
Lighthouse was manufactured during a six-week period in a factory-controlled
environment using robotics and other modern methods of construction (MMC).
Tremendous gains in quality are achieved when building a house using OSC and
MMC. MMC enhances the structural integrity of a home, because materials are
being cut and assembled with far more precision than is humanly possible.
With MMC, tolerances are significantly reduced to less than the width of a
fingernail – much narrower than even a saw blade – and nails can be driven
into structural materials at the rate of six per second. When materials are
cut to more uniform lengths and machine assembly ensures that elements are
Gerard McCaughey is Chief Executive of Infineco LLC, a firm specializing in providing
executive-level services to US businesses developing and funding emerging green
technologies related to both sustainable building and renewable energy. McCaughey
previously co-founded Century Homes, Europe’s largest offsite building manufacturing
company with five plants in Ireland and UK, producing more than 8,000 units per year. He
sold the company in 2005 to Kingspan Group Plc. McCaughey is regarded in Europe as
being one of the leading figures in the green building movement and he was at the forefront
of regulatory reform in both Ireland and Britain. He has spoken and written about green and
offsite construction in many countries around the world and is a previous winner of Ernst
and Young’s Industry Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
© Infineco LLC 2012
Photography: Courtesy of Gerard McCaughey
18
WIN WIN issue no.1
Vladimir Yelnif
THE SIMPLE ROI FALLACY
Why using ‘payback period’ and ‘simple ROI’ as a test for building energy efficiency upgrades is wrong-headed
Energy efficiency upgrade investments are being instigated by the PACE (Prop-
If you posted a sign that said “Car Runs Great, Got My Money Back, Free to
erty Assessed Clean Energy) LA program, the growing LA 2030 District and by
Take”, would it be a challenge to give it away?
state AB 1103-mandated energy use disclosure. This will set a lot of folks in
the Los Angeles basin thinking about whether spending money on high-perfor-
“Of course not!” you say, “heck this car is still delivering benefits so it should
mance building upgrades makes financial sense. The following discussion con-
be reasonable and credible (worthy of belief) that the car will have some value
siders a commonly used approach to this decision called the “simple payback”
to the next guy who should pay me something for it.” The world of finance
or simple ROI (Return On Investment).
would call this “two-tier repayment” for ownership: first, the “return on the
investment” (or ROI) for the stream of benefits over time, and second, the
Think about when you buy a car and drive it a few years and it’s a good car that
“reversion” or the value at the end of the holding period. This is at one time
gives you the ability to do things. Let’s call them benefits. And when you want
very basic stuff that anyone who ever owned a car can grasp, and simultaneously
a new car, do you just park the old one somewhere and walk away? Or drive it
can be familiar to any MBA student with a degree in finance.
off a cliff?
19
WIN WIN issue no.1
“Payback period” or “simple ROI” has a tragic flaw as it does not include the longterm value creation. The simple payback timeframe is a common test applied
to energy efficiency building upgrades but only focuses on how long it will take
savings alone to pay for the investment. What about the value at sale? Is that
really zero? And if it is not zero, why would it not be included it in the energy
upgrade investment analysis? Total cost of ownership works for cars and finance
MBAs, but why does it not apply to energy efficiency upgrades to buildings?
Cost vs. Investment
A key difference is thinking of an investment, like solar panels or new windows,
that pay benefits and also last a long time vs. a simple cost with only shortterm benefits and zero value at the end, like a fancy dinner or an advertising
campaign. To identify if something is an investment or a cost involves answering
the following three questions:
•How long will I be getting benefits?
•How much are the benefits?
•How much will the “value at sale” be (also called “reversion” in finance/appraisal parlance)?
Quick rules of thumb are common and practical as a way to make relative
comparisons between choices, but might be a poor approach for energy efficiency
investments. The presumption with rules of thumb is that they are applied to
simple situations and operate on a level playing field. Using simple payback
is a very blunt tool addressing the fear that if an investment is not repaid during
the holding period and the market value at sale is zero the investment is a bad
decision. While rules of thumb like simple payback are common — and in some
situations practical — with energy efficiency upgrades, ignoring the future value
can lead to overlooked opportunities.
20
WIN WIN issue no.1
An Example
Said in another, classic way, if two adjacent older homes were alike in every way,
Let’s focus on why the value at sale is so vital to the investment decision
except one had $10,000 worth of new windows and the other home did not, would
analysis. For argument’s sake, let’s use a window upgrade to an older home
a majority of well-informed or well-advised buyers attribute any value for the new
costing $10,000. Perhaps the window manufacturer/ installer ran an energy
windows? If zero dollars is not credible or worthy of belief, this disproves the
savings simulation showing a simple payback of 15 years. The improvement
null hypothesis and therefore the upgrades indeed have value. This proves that
will last a long time, improve comfort and add soundproofing, plus it should
the “don’t-know-equals-zero” argument is not only wrong, but knowingly wrong.
add something to the home value. But how much?
So if the window upgrade is worth more than zero, how much more? In an ideal
The first thing to dismiss is that the window upgrade adds nothing, to disprove
world the home with the better windows and the one without would both sell on
the “null hypothesis.” The question is basically: is it reasonable or possible
the exact same day in identical fashions and we could see the difference as due
that at sale a typical buyer would give zero value for the upgraded windows?
only to the window upgrade. This would be the Sales Comparison Approach used
21
WIN WIN issue no.1
in every home appraisal, which is logical and reasonable and also impossible
between cost and market value to a generally estimated 99% statistical accuracy
in the real world. But when the market does not deliver this kind of pure sales
for 35 significant home remodel projects in 80 different cities and aggregated
comparison data does the market just stop? Of course not, as there are other
into nine regions.
ways humans value things without exact data.
With some regional variation the study shows a consistent pattern that long lived,
Nearly every appraisal confronts the dilemma of property features like pools,
bona fide building upgrades have a value at sale directly related to cost. Very
kitchen remodels, views, etc. without specific market data based on close,
few upgrades in the list show a value at sale below 60 percent of cost and
recent and similar sales. The collective performance of buyer and seller
many between 70 percent and 90 percent, a few higher in some regions. There
actions regarding different physical upgrades provides experienced real estate
are location variations and the overall trend tracks the general economy where
agents and appraisers a sense of what upgrades are worth. Some of these value
upgrades are worth more in good times than bad. Costs must be reasonable and
opinions are driven by cost or, more correctly, depreciated replacement cost.
mainstream for their markets.
What this means is that for a recent bona fide upgrade the first question is often,
“What did you spend on that new roof?” or “How much was that bathroom
An answer can be found in the study for our question of “what does the $10,000
remodel?”
worth of new windows add to the home value?” It is that since there is almost
no upgrade in any city that is valued at less than 50 percent of its cost, this can
Cost seldom equates to equal value, but behavioral economics has shown that
serve as a practical “not less than” reversion value. Value and cost are most
it can be an important part of the buyer/seller thought process. So wouldn’t it
related with new construction so the relationship would be strongest in the first
be great if there were a highly reliable national study showing the relationship
few years after construction.
of cost to value for different kinds of standard building upgrades?
So it is not unreasonable to consider a market value of a bona fide, professionally
Cost vs. Value Study
done, relatively recently and correctly priced upgrade to be no less than 50
To anyone who ever says “there is no way to tell what that $10,000 window
percent of its cost. If an upgrade is valued by an appraiser or buyer or real estate
upgrade is worth in the market so I am making that zero” you should ask them
agent at less than 50 percent of its cost, the question becomes “what information
if they are familiar with the highly reputable national study of cost vs. value
are you using to justify this conclusion that refutes the cost vs. value study floor/
done every year over a decade by a research firm associated with “Remodeling
no less than value?”
Magazine,” a Hanley Wood publication. This study publishes the relationship
22
WIN WIN issue no.1
Talk To Your Local Professional
looked” or does it mean, “I conducted legitimate due diligence of XYZ and my
Talking to local professionals to check opinions about value at sale is important.
research shows there is no value.” If it is the former, there is a competency gap
Legitimate arguments to go lower (or higher) for upgrade value contributions
and that value conclusion is not in fact the “market value” as defined in federal
might exist, such as “I interviewed five real estate agents and four of them told
bank lending regulations. Key to the market value is that buyers and sellers are
me it was only worth $X” or perhaps, “The replacement cost new has dropped
assumed to be well informed or well advised. Once again the “don’t-know-
since that upgrade, it now costs less than you paid.”
equals- zero” position is not admissible, at least not for any appraisal done for a
federally guaranteed lending institution.
But if an appraiser states that “there is no market data to support a value addition”
you need to ask what research has been done to support a position that refutes
Obviously the argument to reject the simple ROI/payback is disruptive, the
the universal national pattern of the Hanley Wood study. Does the “no market
alternative more complex. It is more work so effort will need to reflect that
data” remark just mean “I am not aware of any in my experience and have not
and a number of stakeholders will have to be convinced to change their current
23
WIN WIN issue no.1
thinking. For this reason anyone interested in a correct outcome may need to
be proactive providing buyers, sellers, appraisers, bankers or anyone in the
value chain information about the cost vs. value study. Make it clear that taking
a “don’t-know-equals-zero” position is knowingly wrong unless it is stated in
an appraisal or investment analysis that value at sale for the upgrades was not
considered in the value. Using a legitimate cost basis is a way to disprove the
prove-the-null hypothesis and to provide a quick route to estimating a not-lessthan value at sale.
Human behavior regarding matters of money is often not rational, but driven by
convention and habit. The Simple Payback test for energy efficiency upgrades
could be an example and whose time has come for a modification, perhaps using
the quick and dirty 50 percent of replacement cost reversion. This thinking will
be a change in business as usual and additional discussion and dialog about it
will be needed.
While rules of thumb like
simple payback are common
- and in some situations practical with energy efficiency upgrades,
ignoring the future value can lead
to overlooked opportunities
Vladimir Yelnif is a pseudonym that the author used in order to not violate his
employer’s corporate policy. The author is a banking professional and long standing
member of the USGBC-Los Angeles community.
Photography: Courtesy of Stock.XCHNG
Illustration & title page graphic by: Heidi Konieczka
24
WIN WIN issue no.1
Jack Eidt
POLY-HUMAN LOS ANGELES:
People Live Here (With or Without Cars)
The Subway to the Sea and other public transit manifestations presage a mighty
potential for Los Angeles: community-generator. Yes, they require billions of dollars
in investment and years of construction dust and detours, and they never quite
solve traffic congestion. Yet, alternative transportation that creates living, walking
and working hubs can transform this unsustainable, fossil-fuel addicted, smoggedout polycentric megalopolis. Despite losing ballot Measure J and redevelopment
funding, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority seeks to finance
construction of a dozen planned transit projects, which will draw people out of our
gridlocked cars and allow us to navigate with our senses and interface with our
millions of neighbors.
Our multilane traffic-centric thoroughfares paved over floodplains, foothills and
valley bottoms, spreading people about into master-zoned, segregated land-use
districts relying on the car to connect us with each other. Orchards and coyote
wilderness became homes and parking lot-encased shopping centers. Developers,
planners and other decision makers forgot the center cities where communities
once congregated, worked, played, created, arrived on trains and buses and lived
and shopped next to one another.
As people clamored to escape the urban miasma, ever-expanding sinking pools
of landfill-going trash piled up on newly-paved street corners adorned with pre25
WIN WIN issue no.1
Perfection is never an option when it comes to
20 million of us looking to get to work on time
26
WIN WIN issue no.1
chosen tree species and pansies to make it all look lovely. Single-use zoning
comes at a premium. Third Street Promenade, named for its anomalous foot traffic-
created the too-many-sleepers with nowhere to go; city centers that emptied
shopping-dining-experiment, necessitates an extensive parking scheme, while
of life after the 5 p.m. bell rang; massive shopping centers that required a
Lincoln Boulevard and the McClure Tunnel remain to be unclogged, someday,
shuttle bus from the overflow parking to the big box superstore. Consider
although not soon enough.
that LA has few local parks, communal bikeways or public gathering points.
Walking is something you have to drive to do. Elysian Park, Griffith Park, Santa
Consider how LEED environmental standards reshaped the Neighborhood
Monica Beach and Topanga State Park all exist on the margins and they are too
Development dialogue. Codified, easily-understandable approaches to sustainable
SigAlert-breakdown-construction-detour far. People are communal animals
green building infused urbanism and now allow developers, planners and citizens
and they need to be able to come together unobstructed by ignition switches,
to work together toward smart growth that includes natural resource protection,
gas stations and freeway ramps, but how?
housing affordability, social justice, climate concerns and public health.
A City In Need of A 1,000 Communities
Take, for example, how the Gold Line is a catalyst for the Chinatown-adjacent LEED-
No one solution exists to remedy our sprawling suburb-opoli. We can, however,
ND-sanctioned Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan. The plan aims to transform 650
recreate our city. We can grow up, which signifies maturation as well as density
acres of industrial land into an environmentally friendly residential and business
by living above shops, working in lofts doubling as offices and sharing parks
community along a greenified Los Angeles River and Arroyo Seco. Parking will be
instead of private backyards.
rented or sold separately, hopefully not at all, allowing new residents to save money
by biking or taking public transportation. Without strict affordability standards,
When the Metro Gold Line wound through historic South Pasadena, the city
however, one worries that another luxury enclave will surround downtown where
conceived a transit-oriented village to meet the community’s concern for
lower-cost housing has long been available. Given the challenges of funding and
neighborhood integrity and conservative revitalization. Cafes and boutiques
the stagnant economy, the final story has yet to be written.
anchored the Mission-Meridian station, flanked with higher density
condominiums, live-work lofts, pocket parks and Craftsman-style single-family
Sharing a city for all economies and ethnicities takes work. LA always was privatized,
homes. Parking went subterranean. Walkers, bikers, shoppers and commuters
its mythos dependent upon possessing our own Cypress trees and tropical palms.
followed.
The consequence is, if we build public transit, they will come and we will have to
walk to exit. No backyard is necessary. Our neighbors will stroll to the station with
Old Town Pasadena, the Downtown Arts District and Hollywood Boulevard
us, we don’t have to talk, we don’t even have to glance at each other, but we’re
fulfilled the even wider notion of walkable urban communities, yet subway
there, together.
access remains limited to a fraction of the metropolis and automobile disposition
27
WIN WIN issue no.1
A New Kind of Old City
The Subway-to-the-Sea and its Exposition Line precursor is a multibilliondollar baby step, yet central to our sustainable future. It may be a bloated
project, subject to major cost overruns. It might supplant funding for many other
projects and regions. It could cause significant impacts during the protracted
construction phase, but it will transform neighborhoods and lives. Not all the
changes will be good, but for once, one might walk somewhere, then board a
train that may not even be powered by oil and be whisked somewhere else to
continue walking.
Coming together in urban (dis)harmony sounds trying. Yet, with those neighbors
come events, music, friends, commerce, connection, caring and community,
which provide a better living environment by creating a stronger sense of
community. Yes, it also brings noise, annoyance, invasion of privacy, forced
respect and maybe even a dose of tolerance and acceptance. It’s often a decent
exchange. Should you think not, the Palmdales and Laguna Niguels are only a
couple hours of stop-and-go traffic away.
How to Make “Smart Growth” Smart
The benefits of funding transit construction through federal, state and local
sources cannot be overstated, when integrating LA’s disjointed and illogical
transit network to connect with the Westside, San Gabriel Valley, Central and
South LA. Providing viable alternatives to sitting on the 405 Freeway would have
economic and quality-of-life benefits for the entire county. LEED-ND standards
could be used to guide development of more transit villages while retaining
architectural character and neighborhood integrity. Century City’s high-rise
condomania and drab office-islands might function as 24-hour destination
urbanism with the infusion of subway connections. Maybe someday even LAX
28
WIN WIN issue no.1
The benefits of funding transit
construction through federal, state and
local sources cannot be overstated
29
WIN WIN issue no.1
will join the 20 other US cities with airport rail service, instead of stranding new
arrivals at the rent-a-car desk.
Be advised, rail service never pays for itself per se; it generates wealth by
energizing neighborhoods and facilitates commerce and less resource intensive
commutes. Forward-thinking European capitals developed as compact, public
transport-oriented cities with pedestrianized central business districts and
segregated bicycle routes. Do not forget the less-expensive, high-capacity
long-distance buses, such as those in Bogota, Colombia and Sao Paolo, Brazil,
where land uses and routes have been integrated and streamlined. Our Orange
Line Bus Rapid Transit in the San Fernando Valley is an excellent example that
could be replicated in other underutilized right-of-ways throughout the county.
There is no one-solution, only multi-modalism for the polyhuman LA. Perfection
is never an option when it comes to eight million or 20 million of us looking to
get to work on time. But maybe we can learn to say “hello” along the way.
Jack Eidt is a writer, urban theorist, environmental advocate and director of Wild Heritage
Planners, an organization based in Southern California dedicated to urban planning and
design. He is the founder and editor of WilderUtopia.com, dedicated to environmental
sustainability, urban design and planning as well as culture and traditions.
© 2013 Jack Eidt
Photography this page: © Jack Eidt
Titie page photography by: Richard Hammond
Freeway & downtown night photos by: Tam Tran
Expo line train photo by: Dan Hampton
30
WIN WIN issue no.1
Mia Lehrer + Associates
MY CITY MY RIVER
This accessory, originally created for A+D Architecture + Design Museum > Los
Angeles (A+D) highlights Mia Lehrer + Associates passion for the Los Angeles
River. This succession of bracelets represents 70 sections cut through the heart of
downtown Los Angeles, and illustrates the intricate relationship between our city’s
topography and the LA River channel. Here the river is the jewel framed by the
topography of its watershed. The bracelets can be worn individually or in a group
– they are statement for protecting and loving our river. Each bracelet is made of
laser cut aircraft plywood with brass inserts. They are available on demand.
Mia Lehrer + Associates is a landscape architecture firm based in Los Angeles. Principal and
founder Mia Lehrer leads a team of talented designers and technically skilled professionals on
a diverse range of public and private projects, from inspirational gardens to large urban parks to
master plans for highly complex and controversial sites. They have dedicated the past 10 years
to raising awareness through various projects and actions including developing the Master Plan
for the Los Angeles River Revitalization and adjacent sites. The “My City My River” artwork is a
recent creation. Mia Lehrer, Michelle Frier, Astrid Diehl and Margot Jacobs designed and lead
this latest effort in making the river “visible”.
© Mia Lehrer + Associates
Photography: Courtesy of Mia Lehrer + Associates
31
WIN WIN issue no.1
32
WIN WIN issue no.1
Michael Roy
BROWNFIELDS AND ADAPTIVE REUSE
In Los Angeles many of our industrial buildings, like the products or components
At first, the easy solution was for developers to avoid these locations and build
of the products they manufactured within, were built to be disposable. As the
or develop somewhere else. However, if we are to “establish a restorative,
products became obsolete, so did the buildings. The motto “take, make, waste”
long-term relationship” in a sustainable way, what better way to show it than
of the industrial age left behind economic, environmental, and social issues
by the reuse of these existing buildings or redevelopment of these properties?
yet to be resolved, which is the theme of this inaugural issue of Win:Win. As
Incentives, such as brownfields redevelopment, along with LEED Sustainable
a consequence, we are left with a legacy of underutilized and vacant buildings
Sites Credit and tax incentives and credits provide additional incentives for
and properties, many of which are located in less desirable locations of the city.
redevelopment.
33
WIN WIN issue no.1
This article provides an overview of the environmental, economic and social
advantages of redeveloping these properties. There’s also a glimpse into the
future by comparing “the before”, the City of Huntington Park, with “the after”,
the successful adaptive reuse of the industrial properties in the Hayden Tract in
Culver City, as well as a discussion about some of the challenges facing future
redevelopment projects.
Since the prior use of many industrial properties caused surface or sub-surface
site contamination, the properties can be designated as brownfields. A brownfield
is defined as a property on which expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be
complicated by the presence, or perceived presence, of contamination. The
US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EVA) Brownfields Program provides
grants of up to $200,000 to fund environmental assessment, cleanup and job
training activities at designated sites. Brownfield sites do not include properties
that are the subject of a planned or ongoing removal action and are listed on
the National Priorities List as Superfund Sites, or are proposed for listing; or
properties that are the subject of a unilateral administrative order, a court order,
and an administrative order on consent or judicial consent decree.
The redevelopment of brownfields sites may require the participation of many
stakeholders inside and outside of the community such as local community
officials and members, local, state and federal governments, private developers
and non-profit organizations. A successful development of a brownfields site
necessitates that all these stakeholders work together to assess and clean up
the property and achieve a common redevelopment goal.
According to the EPA, brownfield redevelopment benefits include:
34
WIN WIN issue no.1
•
$17.39 is leveraged for each EPA brownfields dollar expended at a
LEED Sustainable Sites Credit 3, Brownfield Redevelopment awards one point to
brownfield.
rehabilitate damaged sites where development is complicated by environmental
•
contamination and for projects where asbestos is found and remediated, to
7.45 jobs are leveraged per $100,000 of EPA brownfield funding. As of
Sept. 2001, 72,250 jobs have been generated through the Program.
reduce pressure on undeveloped land.
•Brownfield sites tend to have a greater location efficiency than alternative
development at greenfield sites, resulting in a 32 percent to 57 percent reduction
There also are many federal, state and local tax incentives and credits that allow
in vehicle miles traveled associated with these sites and a reduction in air
brownfields redevelopment to use resources normally spent to pay taxes for
pollution emissions.
other purposes, which can help save the cash needed to address contamination
•Residential property values increased between two percent and three
issues. The extra cash flow resulting from a tax break also can improve a
percent once a nearby brownfield was assessed or cleaned up. 1
project’s appeal to lenders. Several examples of tax incentives and credits
[ 1. Anatomy of Brownfields Redevelopment, Brownfields Solutions Series, EPA-560-F-06-245, October 2006]
35
WIN WIN issue no.1
include the Federal Brownfields Tax Incentive, where environmental cleanup
The “Before”
costs are fully deductible in the year that they are incurred; the New Markets
Our example of “the before” is the city of Huntington Park, which is located
Tax Credit program; and the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits Incentive, which
approximately six miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. In the northeastern
offers private investors a tax credit that can be claimed for the year in which
part of the city lies approximately 100 acres of underutilized and vacant properties.
a renovated building is put into service. Under the incentive, there are two
These properties represent a small percentage of the total land area of the city,
separate tax credits - one for the restoration of certified historic properties and
which is approximately three square miles. The history of Huntington Park is
one for the rehabilitation of older but non-certified properties. Many states also
quintessential California, starting with Spanish explorer Francisco Salvatore
adopted their own financing programs and approaches to enable integration
Lugo, arriving in Southern California, claiming the land in the name of the king
of traditional state development programs into the brownfields financing mix.
of Spain, and later naming it Rancho San Antonio in the early 1800’s. At the
Such programs include tax incentives and credits, targeted financial assistance
beginning of the 20th Century, the real estate firm of Burbank and Baker offered
as well as direct brownfields financing. These programs provide the tools for
lots of land south of Randolph Street for sale at $75 to $350 each. In an effort
reclaiming these properties and reusing them for our future needs as we transition
to lure a railway through their development, Burbank and Baker called the tract
from a manufacturing-based economy to a knowledge-based economy.
Huntington Park in order to convince railroad tycoon Henry Huntington to run
his Pacific Electric Red Cars through the city. Huntington Park was incorporated
In addition to tax credits and incentives, brownfields sites may also benefit
as a city on Sept. 1, 1906.
from the city of Los Angeles Adaptive Reuse Program. The goal of this program
is to encourage the development of live/work housing in the city to reduce
The benefits of redeveloping brownfields properties in Huntington Park include
commuter miles and create a “24/7” inner city. Under this program, adaptive
their proximity to downtown Los Angeles and the Port of Los Angeles via the
reuse is defined as the conversion of existing economically obsolete buildings
Alameda Corridor rail line, and its demographics. The city possesses a young
to new residential uses,\ including apartments, condominiums, live/work
population where almost 67 percent of the residents are between the ages of
units and hotels. The program streamlines the permit and approval process
five and 44 years. Also, if the Alameda Corridor is converted to a passenger rail
by relaxing parking and density requirements as well as fire and life safety
line, it could provide public access to this area from other parts of Greater Los
measures. Historically significant buildings are always eligible and must be
Angeles, much the same way the Red Line did in the early 20th Century. There
listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of
are signs that the redevelopment process is already underway with construction
Historical Resources or the Los Angeles List of Historic Cultural Monuments.
of the new Los Angeles United School District’s South Regional High School
More than 10,000 units of housing have been completed or are in the planning
#7 and the adjoining Community Center at the corner of Gage and Cottage
stages since the Adaptive Reuse Ordinances went into effect in 1999.
streets. The high school and the community center are located within a half-
mile of the proposed brownfields redevelopment location.
36
WIN WIN issue no.1
The “After”
used a portion of property tax money to partner with developers to encourage
The Hayden Tract is Culver City ‘s largest and oldest industrial area. It was
development in blighted areas, controlled approximately $5 billion in state
transformed into an eclectic group of businesses ranging from traditional
revenue. The second challenge we face will be to address the social aspect
manufacturing to design and entertainment-related firms that are now studios
of sustainability - overcoming the stereotype that these former industrial and
and offices for people like graphic designers and software engineers. Los
manufacturing locations are “dangerous’” or “undesirable,” which can affect
Angeles architect and Southern California Institude of Architecture Director
their ability to attract businesses to relocate or start up in these locations.
Eric Owen Moss, whose studio is in the Hayden Tract, built a collection of
experimental buildings called Conjunctive Points, which occupies a large
When these challenges are overcome, re-developed buildings and properties
portion of the tract. Featured businesses include Ogilvy & Mather, Animax
where the disposable products of the industrial age were once manufactured
Entertainment, Allen Dance Studio and Smashbox Cosmetics.
will be the sustainable businesses of the 21st Century.
The Hayden Tract is a product of the city’s Redevelopment Plan. The plan
identified four project components that the Redevelopment Agency works on to
not only improve, but to prevent the spread of blight throughout the community.
The Hayden Tract, which consists of 1,286 acres, or 42 percent of the Culver
City’s land area, is located in Redevelopment Zone No. 4, in the northeastern
area of the city. The success of the Hayden Tract has proven to be a nationwide
model of successful and creative urban redevelopment.
New Challenges
Brownfields redevelopment and adaptive reuse offer us many opportunities
to reverse the trend of the disposable and create a permanent legacy for the
community and the environment. There are environmental, economic and landuse incentives in place including brownfields redevelopment, LEED Sustainable
Sites Credit and tax incentives and credits. There are challenges, however, one
of which being the loss of Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRA). In
2011, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of a state law resulting from
the passage of Assembly Bills 26 and 27 that abolished CRAs. CRAs, which
Michael Roy is a Senior Associate for Building Sciences at Citadel Environmental Services
Inc. in Glendale and Valencia, where he collaborates with architects, engineers, industrial
hygienists, geologists and safety specialists to provide environmental management services
for public agencies and private industry. He received his B.S. in Architecture from the
New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, New York and his Certification in Global
Sustainability from the University of California, Los Angeles. Citadel is a corporate sponsor
of UCLA’s Institute of Environment and Sustainability. Roy is a member of the US Green
Building Council, a member of NetImpact.org, and a former docent at the Heritage Square
Museum in Pasadena.
© Michael K. Roy 2013
Graphic by: Heidi Konieczka
Hayden Tract photo by: Scott Hampton
Fence photo: Courtesy of Stock.XCHNG
37
WIN WIN issue no.1
Rebecca Ansert
SUSTAINABILITY IN PUBLIC ART:
THREE PROJECTS
1
Title: Hyperion-Son of Uranus at the Environmental Learning Center
Artist Team: Freya Bardell and Brian Howe; www.greenmeme.com
Location of installation: Hyperion Treatment Plant - Los Angeles, CA
Client: City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works
Dimensions: 22 ft (H) x 35 ft (W) x 5 ft (D)
Materials: Caltrans road signs made of high grade aluminum
Construction techniques: Laser-cut aluminum signs, pre-assembled, bolted to
concrete wall
Contractors: Flix Fx
Budget: $75,000 (hundreds of signs donated by Caltrans)
Project Completion: 2011
Hyperion-Son of Uranus is an installation for the new Environmental Learning
Center at the Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant. The south facing exterior wall
is treated as a 3D map of Los Angeles broken into a grid of squares proportional
to the Thomas Guide mapping system. Its distance from the wall is determined
38
WIN WIN issue no.1
39
WIN WIN issue no.1
by pipe dimensions within the wastewater network of each grid square. The
grid-like structure bulges where pipes are largest, creating a unique topography
from volumetric waste water data. This map visualizes a new topography for
Los Angeles based on experiencing the invisible infrastructure beneath us that
handles our waste – a topic that typically leaves our thoughts once we flush
the toilet. Reclaimed Caltrans road signs were used as the sculptural material,
which was inline with both the theme of the work – mapping the underground
network and being able to place this amongst the city’s grid of streets – as well
as the context as an environmental learning center advocating the principles of
the waste hierarchy: reuse, reduce, recycle.
Photography: © Greenmeme (Freya Bardell and Brian Howe)
40
WIN WIN issue no.1
2
Title: Riverside Roundabout
Artist Team: Freya Bardell and Brian Howe; www.greenmeme.com
Location of installation: Riverside Bridge and Roundabout
Client: City of Los Angeles / HNTB Engineering
Dimensions: 100’ diameter
Materials: Stone, Landscape, Cisterns, LED Lighting, Permeable Pavers, PV
panels,
Budget: $1.2 Million
Project Completion: 2014
This artwork, part of the Riverside Drive Bridge Improvement Program, will be
sited in the first roundabout in Los Angeles. Stone sculptures will be cut with
faces of individuals from the community, randomly chosen over a period of
the next two years. The sculptures also capture storm water coming from the
bridge and process it through a series of fountains, where it will then be filtered,
stored and distributed throughout the landscape.
Images: © Greenmeme (Freya Bardell and Brian Howe)
41
WIN WIN issue no.1
3
Title: Orit Haj
Artist Team: Jenna Didier and Oliver Hess; www.didierhess.com
Location: Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park; Agua Dulce, CA
Client: Los Angeles County Arts Commission
Architect: Gruen Associates
Dimensions: 4ft (H) x 7ft (W) x 22ft 10in (D)
Materials: Rammed earth from the excavation preparation for the Interpretive
Center foundation, bronze and concrete
Contractors: Andreas Hessing, Scrubjay Studios; Seth Ernsdorf, Ernsdorf
Design
Budget: $52,000 (installation labor contributed by the community)
Project Completion: 2012
Orít Haj are indigenous words from the Tataviam language, which translate to
river and mountain. Much the same way the Tataviam culture and its language
dissolved into inspiring artifacts and legends, so too this artwork will transform
and dissolve with time. The sculpture evokes the shape of the unique formations
at Vasquez Rocks and bridges the natural earth forms to the angular language
of a man-made Interpretive Center. Community members helped build the soil
layers of this slow release time capsule, embedding personal artifacts within it
as they labored. These artifacts will reveal themselves over time as the rammed
earth slowly erodes. Hidden deeply within the form is a bronze sculpture,
designed by the artists, for a generation to discover far into the future. As
people return to the site at various points in their lives, the sculpture, like the
rocks, will be changing – contours and the artifacts they contain will gradually
alter in response to human and natural forces.
42
WIN WIN issue no.1
Photography: © Patrick McElhenney
Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art Consultancy, is an art consultant who specializes
in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, and
creative community involvement for private and public agencies. She earned a Master’s in
Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and she has a unique interest in
how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques
in LEED-certified buildings. She founded her Los Angeles-based firm in 2009 in an effort to
advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building.
43
WIN WIN issue no.1
Carmen Suero
NEXT STOP: SUSTAINABILITY
(TRANSIT IN LA)
With the passing of Measure R in 2008, $40 billion in transportation upgrades
will be injected into Los Angeles County over the next 30 years. Some of the
most visible projects, specifically new rail lines, will cut through many sections
of the city, dramatically changing the way we experience it.
At the same time, an overall increase in the public’s awareness and advocacy
for environmental issues resulted in state laws that mandate how to address
sustainability in the future development of communities. In California, laws such
as the CAL Green building code, which sets minimum mandatory sustainability
guidelines for buildings and SB 375, which requires all regions to include a
STING METRO EXISTING METRO
LINES AND STATIONS
S AND STATIONS
POSED METRO
PROPOSED METRO
S AND STATIONS
LINES AND STATIONS
ENTIAL SUSTAINABLE
POTENTIAL SUSTAINABLE
NSIT COMMUNITIES
Sustainable Communities component in their Regional Transportation Plan,
are now the baselines to which planning and building initiatives must adhere.
Cities are augmenting these state mandates with new planning strategies, which
address the concern and demand for sustainable development at the local level.
TRANSIT COMMUNITIES
ENTIFIED IN THE “FRAMEWORK FOR
(AS IDENTIFIED IN THE “FRAMEWORK FOR
INABLE TRANSIT COMMUNITIES
RT” PRODUCED BY THE
OFFICE OF TRANSIT COMMUNITIES
SUSTAINABLE
AYOR)
REPORT” PRODUCED BY THE OFFICE OF
THE MAYOR)
44
WIN WIN issue no.1
This intersection of increased local transit funding, expanding cultural awareness
development of a more comprehensive plan in which stations are thoughtfully
and sensitivity to environmental issues, along with updates to many of the city of
woven into the fabric of the community and designed with a more acute
Los Angeles’ community plans, creates an opportunity to develop an integrated
sensitivity to character and context.
planning approach for the city. This, in turn, will lead to the creation of more
sustainable communities, which will be better equipped to take advantage of
The convergence of local financing, citywide planning changes and heightened
the various benefits offered by the development of public transportation.
environmental awareness is creating a unique opening for Los Angeles to not
only strengthen its infrastructure, but also to provide a comprehensive roadmap
The city of Los Angeles created a task force charged with developing guidelines
for economic vitality and livability. While the concept of sustainable transit
for the development of Sustainable Transit Communities (STC). STC’s extend
community plans is still in its infancy, it provides the necessary foundation for
beyond transit-adjacent zones and encompass the redevelopment of much
the development of a far-reaching transportation system that meets the needs
broader areas to more effectively create vibrant, livable communities. This
of the general public, our communities and the city’s long-term viability.
STC methodology has been further developed into the city of Los Angeles
Transit Corridor Strategy, which now groups adjacent transit communities
acknowledging the potential for synergies among communities.
These new strategies re-examine the prevailing approach to planning in which
transit and transit-adjacent planning occur separately due to differences
in sequencing, financing and ownership. At present, the incorporation of
sustainability primarily revolves around the transit-adjacent areas and rarely
extends to the design of the transit system, or station design. It is a missed
opportunity for developing a wholly integrated system, which ultimately comes
at the expense of the surrounding communities.
In contrast, these new strategies lead to transit planning that is informed by
and developed in conjunction with STCs, instead of separate and in isolation.
Neighborhoods that previously would have objected to a new station or shown
contempt for the lack of inclusion in the planning process will benefit from the
45
WIN WIN issue no.1
New rail lines will cut through many
sections of the city, dramatically
changing the way we experience it
© Carmen Suero 2013
Map Graphic: Courtesy of Carmen Suero
Gas station photograph: Courtesy of Stock.XCHNG
Metro photograph by: Dan Hampton
Carmen Suero is a lead designer with Parsons Brinckerhoff in the Architecture and Buildings
Group in Los Angeles. She has more than a decade of experience in mass transit architecture
and sustainable design. Carmen was responsible for the design of transit stations and the
incorporation of sustainability practices on such noteworthy projects as the Metro Gold Line
Eastside Extension Light Rail Project, Exposition Light Rail Transit Project Phases 1 and 2 in
Los Angeles and the MidCoast LRT in San Diego. Carmen is a LEED Accredited Professional
and holds a Masters in Metropolitan Research and Design from the Southern California
Institute of Architecture, she resides in Los Angeles.
46
WIN WIN issue no.1
George Wolfe and Thea Mercouffer
Sustainability & the LA River:
A Top 10 List
George Wolfe and Thea Mercouffer are a husband/wife team living in Venice, California,
who have, somewhat accidentally, gotten involved in the LA River revitalization movement.
George led an historic expedition down the entire 51-mile river in 2008 to demonstrate
its navigability, which helped win federal protections for the watershed. He initiated, and
continues to run, canoe and kayak trips for the general public via his organization LA River
Expeditions. Thea filmed the 2008 Expedition and she has gone on to create a full-length
documentary that tackles our relationship to water in Southern California. “Rock the Boat:
Saving America’s Wildest River” had its LA premiere in October 2012, and it has won
several festival awards, including People’s Choice, Best Feature, etc. George and Thea
share their Top 10 list of things they’ve learned about the river by way of their involvement
with the cause.
47
WIN WIN issue no.1
1
First and foremost, it’s a river — not a ditch or a flood control channel.
That’s the first thing that everyone needs to get educated about and get
over, whether you grew up here or you are a transplant. The flood control
measures don’t negate the river’s preeminence. You can’t seriously address
new solutions to managing our increasingly concerning water-supply problems
without learning to treat your river like a river again.
2
Arguably, it’s not illegal to access the LA River. The haphazard jumble
of communications about the “flood control channel” is just one reason
we’ve all been led to believe that the public isn’t allowed to access its own
river. In several places, signs on chain-link fences say you could be fined by
LA County, while other sections are open and inviting. Public access is key to
river revitalization, so threatening fines is counterproductive to sustainability.
And when the few people who do get ticketed (e.g., fishermen, bird watchers,
etc.) end up in court, the judges routinely throw out the citations (usually just
a loitering charge). The California Constitution’s section on water supports the
2,000-year-old set of public trust doctrine laws going back to Roman times,
which reiterates the public’s inalienable right to access its waterways. In short,
with regard to the LA River, this continues to be a legal grey area that has yet to
be properly tested in court. Granted, when people do access the river, they’ll
need to be careful to use it safely and responsibly.
3
Plenty of cities have revitalized their rivers, and in a relatively short period
of time, put them on the balanced path of sustainability. In Seoul, South
Korea, the mayor found the resolve to save their hometown river by substantially
altering the degraded downtown riverfront; now it’s a thriving, handsome
destination that’s a boon to businesses and the pride of its citizens. Munich,
48
WIN WIN issue no.1
Germany, did a similarly dramatic transformation of its channelized Isar River,
turning it into a model of sustainability and urban design. San Antonio’s River
Walk is viewed as a successful redesign that brings in money while continuing
to nurture a sustainable river corridor for residents and tourists alike. From the
Hudson River in New York City to the Platte River in Denver, urban rivers are on
the move. If we can succeed here in LA, there’s no river in the world that can’t
be transformed, healed and put back on the path of sustainability.
4
LA’s situation with the river isn’t hopeless, we just have to get over our
dysfunctional history with water. LA’s first 100 years of non-native settlers
relied solely on the LA River as the chief water resource. It was why the Spaniards
settled inland instead of the bay, and so it became our city’s foundation. But
since the floods of the early 20th Century and the river’s partial channelization,
we developed an aquaphobic mentality, nurtured by flood control bureaucracies
and a drama-addicted media.
5
We throw away the equivalent of 1,541 Rose Bowls full of fresh rainwater that
drains through the LA River each year. The impact of throwing away free and
clean water is that we turn around and then spend, literally, a billion dollars to
import fresh water from elsewhere, including Owens Lake, the Colorado River,
the Sacramento River Delta, the Sierra Mountain range, etc.
6
River revitalization doesn’t have to be expensive. We’ve often heard that
the key impediment to river revitalization is the lack of money to implement
things like the city and county river master plans. That’s not true. The 2011
excursions that we pioneered with the “Paddle the LA River” pilot and all its
coalition partners showed that municipalities needn’t spend a dime to get
49
WIN WIN issue no.1
We throw away the equivalent of 1,541
Rose Bowls full of fresh rainwater that
drains through the LA River each year
50
WIN WIN issue no.1
results. They simply need to get in sync with their motivated citizenry — or just
get out of the way. People clamoring to use the river, even as it is today, illustrates
that we don’t need to wait 15 to 50 years, as some municipality representatives
estimate, to see change. Angelenos are creative, and once they can indeed plan to
use the river without onerous hoops to jump through, they will find manifold uses
to make it an increasingly vital connecting space.
7
“Chinatown”—the classic film about the conflict of power, profit and water
in pre-WWII Los Angeles—continues today in that there are now roughly 500
water management agencies in Southern California, each vying for increasingly
limited resources. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, however, troubling
signs are emerging. San Diego has seen their water rates double in each of the past
two years. Now, imagine this situation going on all over the world, throughout the
21st Century. There will inevitably be fierce battles over water, and it’s likely that
only the most powerful entities will control access to the best water resources.
51
WIN WIN issue no.1
8
Some agencies that could benefit most by utilizing the river better are
a few friends and associates stuck their necks out to demonstrate that the whole
sometimes their own worst enemy. LA County opposed state legislation
river was navigable in order to win protections for it. Years later, the mayor,
(SB 1201) that sought to open up public river access to include educational
city council members and Army Corps brass followed suit and got in boats in
and recreational considerations. That near-sighted view fails to account for the
support of this type of recreation. In 2013 it looks as if another stretch of the
help that would otherwise come their way by the citizenry and businesses eager
river, the five mile Glendale Narrows, will be officially opened for recreational
to reinvent LA along its river corridor, and so they stand to lose out on future
use. And, of course, Thea’s film is now poised to have a great influence locally,
cost savings resulting from that help. The Army Corps of Engineers made
and with festival audiences around the world. Each of these ventures began with
some great strides starting with the 2011 pilot program and other conservation
individual gumption to make a difference in the world.
project, but they could make a much bigger commitment. If only the Army
Corps would apply the same zeal to restoring the river (while still retaining
flood protections) that they applied to pouring all the original concrete!
9
10
It’s just a matter of time before we get our river back. Why did we nearly
bury our namesake river? Because the mentality of that time was that we’d
always have infinite sources of cheap water to pull from. Why is it important
You can have a great deal of influence by simply declaring something
for us to have a revitalized river — socially, environmentally, economically?
you want and going for it — one person or a small group of committed
Because the mentality of our time is that we understand our natural resources
individuals really can make a huge difference. In Thea’s film, poet, journalist,
are finite and that changing our ways is not just a choice but a necessity for
filmmaker and political activist Lewis MacAdams tells of how, back in the
our long-term survival. Now the public really needs to get energized and be
early ‘80s, he and some friends cut a hole in a fence and declared the river
proactive in terms of asserting their rights and creating their own river projects.
open. Lewis went on to found Friends of the LA River, the most recognizable
The revitalization of the river is an idea whose time has come, and there’s a great
name associated with the river’s revitalization. Similarly, in 2008, George and
amount of power in that.
Canoe photographs: Curtosey of George Wolfe & Thea Mercouffer
Bridge photograph by: Scott Hampton
Other photography: Courtesy of Stock.XCHNG
52
WIN WIN issue no.1
THANK YOU
to our Sponsors...
Congratulations on a true
from California’s premier private and
public construction law firm.
www.aalrr.com
Gensler congratulates the Westside Branch of
the United States Green Building Council Los
Angeles Chapter on their inaugural issue of
Win:Win. We look forward to the ongoing civic
and regional dialogue this publication prompts.
Softfirm loves to see exciting things get started.
We congratulate the Westside Branch of the USGBC on
the release of the first issue of Win:Win and we look
forward to more transformational issues in the future.
Great design does not always
equal great performance.
We make sure it does.
Pasadena Convention Center Expansion, Pasadena, CA — LEED® Gold
The “LEED Certification Mark” is a registered trademark owned by the U.S. Green Building Council and is used by permission.
Architectural Energy Corporation (AEC) is a leading energy and sustainability
consulting firm delivering high performance solutions for the built environment.
We offer a full suite of high performance building services for new and existing
buildings — for energy savings, cost savings, and long-term sustainability:
„ Integrated Design Process Management
„ LEED® and CALGreen Consulting
„
„
„
„
Energy & Daylighting Modeling
Commissioning
Measurement & Verification
Energy Audits & Retro-commissioning
„ System Assessments & Performance Testing
We are excited to announce that we now have a local Los Angeles team!
So, drop us a line or email to learn more.
Tasha Halevi, Account Executive | 310.279.3062 | [email protected]
CONTRIBUTING TEAM:
With a goal to foster the advancement of green building and healthy communities,
Julie Du Brow - Managing Editor | dubroWORKS PR/Marketing
the Westside Branch of the USGBC-Los Angeles is committed to the future of
Erin Gehle - Creative Director | softfirm
Shawn Gehle - Instigator | Gensler
Michael Gottlieb - Copy Editor | Advanced Green Solutions
Heidi Konieczka - Production Director | Gensler
Lauri Lappin | Pacific Cove Development
Nancy Levens - Associate Editor | Veneklasen Associates
Andrew Paden | Environmental Science Associates
sustainability.
Our online journal, Win:Win, is dedicated to models and methodologies that
inspire us to achieve transformative change in the built environment. Each issue
is dedicated to one core topic or theme. Content quality and variety are key, with a
goal to push the boundaries of both critical thinking and presentation.
All authors have granted the USGBC-LA chapter the non-exclusive right to use
their submission including pictures and graphics in its online journal, educational
programming, advertisements and any other means the USGBC-LA chapter chooses.
Our articles are available under the Creative Commons license, and we hereby
Scott Sachs | Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo
grant permission to our authors to reprint their work, as long as they acknowledge
Audrey Vuong | Loescher + Meachem Architects
in the reprint that the piece first appeared in Win:Win and include the author byline.
For submission and sponsorship information please refer to www.usgbc-la.org.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY MEMBERS OF
THE WIN:WIN JOURNAL COMMITTEE
USGBC LA WESTSIDE BRANCH
A JOURNAL FOR THE NEW SUSTAINABLE CITY
57
WIN WIN issue no.1