Green Building: David Chipperfield says “From a sustainability perspective and a resource perspective, we will be working much more with existing buildings. . .”

Mar 7, 2023 | PBS

From a sustainability perspective and a resource perspective, we will be working much more with existing buildings, not just monumental ones, and not just the obviously significant ones. But I think we are going to change our attitude towards the reuse and the refurbishment and the refitting of more ordinary buildings.

And I think this will be a big shift in the next 10 years.

Click here to read the article in full: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/renowned-architect-receiving-prestigious-pritzker-prize-questions-his-industrys-impact

Sales tax increases to improve Sacramento County keep getting rejected. Here’s why

June 18, 2023 | By the Sacramento Bee Editorial Board

It has been nearly 20 years since Sacramento County voters managed to raise the local sales tax to address transportation needs: A measure in 2016 barely missed the required two-thirds voter threshold; a follow-up attempt in 2020 was pulled from the ballot; and then there was the flame-out of Measure A last November. Measure A’s last iteration was a failed experiment to place a sales tax measure on the ballot through an initiative campaign bankrolled by builders and trade unions. The measure proposed the construction of several roads that weren’t even on the regional planning agency’s list. While it deserved to fail, Measure A represents the third unsuccessful attempt in just six years to find a combination of transportation investments that voters could approve.

Sacramento is at a tipping point. What’s the future of housing, sprawl and racial inequality?

June 12, 2023 | By Ryan Lillis

The Sacramento region is at a tipping point. And the next few years will determine what shape we leave it in for the next generation. The region’s housing is less expensive than California’s coastal cities, a selling point that motivated thousands of new residents to move inland since the start of the pandemic. Yet housing prices and rents have skyrocketed the past three years, and fewer than one-third of residents here can now afford to buy the median-priced home. Within the past few months, the Sacramento area became a “minority-majority” region, meaning white residents now make up less than 50% of the population. Still, substantial racial disparities in income, education and access to housing persist, even after the racial reckoning of 2020. Many commercial corridors remain starved for investment, especially those running through lower-income neighborhoods.

Green Building: Why The Built Environment?

From https://architecture2030.org/why-the-building-sector/

We must eliminate all CO2 emissions from the built environment by 2040 to meet 1.5° Climate targets.

The Built Environment

The built environment generates 40% of annual global CO2 emissions. Of those total emissions, building operations are responsible for 27% annually, while building and infrastructure materials and construction (typically referred to as embodied carbon) are responsible for an additional 13% annually.

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I-Street Bridge Support Letter

On June 12, 2023, ECOS submitted letters of support for the I-Street Bridge Project.

Below is an excerpt.

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) strongly supports the I Street Bridge Replacement Project for the infrastructure improvements at the Sacramento Valley Station which are only possible through this project. Quick action is needed to secure full funding for the bridge construction. Replacing the existing bridge is a longstanding regional priority for the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento which will support more sustainable and equitable mobility that will foster sustainable growth transit-focused growth for the cities and the greater region, moreover, it directly benefits the state’s investment in our passenger rail service.

Click here to view our letters.

AB 1052 Sacramento Regional Transit District’s Ballot Authority (Support)

On May 30, 2023, ECOS submitted a letter of support for AB 1052, Sacramento Regional Transit District’s Ballot Authority.

Below is the text of our letter.

On behalf of the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS), we thank you for authoring AB 1052 and express our support for the bill as it moves through the legislative process.

Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT) continues to face reduced ridership and higher costs originally driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of those negative impacts continue today, along with the lasting societal changes the pandemic caused.

We strongly believe that a robust, efficient, and cost-effective SacRT transit system benefits all people within its service area, but some projects provide more benefits to a subset of the residents living within that service area. However, if SacRT wants to place a measure on the ballot to increase a sales or use tax, or property tax, that measure must cover its entire service area.

In the wake of these changes and the ongoing financial uncertainty, AB 1052 would give SacRT the authority to ask a subset of its service area to support paying for projects that would more directly benefit that area. Many much-needed community and SacRT projects are more localized, impacting and delivering the most benefits to a geographically specific region as opposed to the entire widespread, 440-square mile SacRT service area.

We know that efficient public transit provides tremendous regional benefits. SacRT services reduce traffic, improve air quality, boost regional economic growth, create jobs, and connect neighborhoods. It also offers residents a cost-effective way to get to and from school, work, medical appointments, and essential services. In addition, it provides mobility equity, by providing greater access to opportunities and services so all members of our community can connect, thrive, and prosper.

ECOS was founded in 1971 as a visionary and action-oriented coalition for our region.

Today the organizational and individual members of ECOS work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, promote smart growth land use and transportation principles, promote equity in housing, promote sustainable regional water supply for all users, public health and opportunities, and promote regional habitat conservation.

We are pleased to offer our support for AB 1052 and I thank you again for carrying the bill.

Click here to read the letter in PDF.