Adapt: Climate Change and the Built Environment

Mónika and Jessica interview Jason Glaser, CEO of La Isla network, an occupational health research organization and consultancy dedicated to protecting workers in a warming world. La Isla Network studies the effects of heat on workers and advices organizations on how to adapt to extreme heat while protecting workers health and staying productive. We talk about the risk that extreme heat poses to the construction workforce, and the industry as a whole, and what can be done about it.

Resources and links discussed include:

Temperature conversion: 26 celsius = 78.8 farenheit

Documentary - HEAT-SHIELD Film Showing the Effect of Climate Change on Manual Laborers: https://laislanetwork.org/release-of-heat-shield-film-showing-the-effect-of-climate-change-on-manual-laborers/

Time Article - Chronic Kidney Disease Is Poised to Become the Black Lung of Climate Change: https://time.com/6303020/chronic-kidney-disease-climate-change/

The Guardian Article - France investigates deaths of four Champagne workers in heatwave: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/14/france-investigates-deaths-of-champagne-workers-in-heatwave

Vice Article - The Silent Epidemic Behind Nicaragua's Rum: https://www.vice.com/en/article/qkxv7v/the-silent-epidemic-behind-nicaraguas-rum

Mónika and Jessica interview Susanne DesRoches, Vice President, Clean and Resilient Buildings, at New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), about how New York is modernizing its building stock to be both sustainable and resilient in the face of climate change. This work involves not just new builds, but also updating existing buildings and communities to prepare for our future climate. Susanne describes three specific projects NYSERDA is focusing on to address resilience in the built environment.

Resources and links discussed include:

New York State Climate Impacts Assessment: New York State Climate Impacts Assessment – Understanding and Preparing for Our Changing Climate (nysclimateimpacts.org)

NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence: Buildings of Excellence Competition - NYSERDA

NYSERDA IRA: Inflation Reduction Act - NYSERDA

Book Recommendation: Not Too Late (nottoolateclimate.com)

Mónika and Jessica talk to Dr. Klaus Jacob, geophysicist and Emeritus Research Professor at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Dr. Jacob takes us back to basics, defining climate mitigation and adaptation, discussing synergies between sustainability and resilience (renewable energy!) and some of the challenges of adapting to climate change (can flood walls have unintended consequences?). Also, can building retrofits incorporate climate resilience? How urgent is adapting buildings and infrastructure to a changing climate?

Dr. Jacob's has taught graduate courses in Disaster Risk Management and Sustainable Urban Resilience at Columbia's Earth Institute, and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He served on NYC Mayor's New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC, 2008- 2019), and U.S. HUD's post-Sandy Competition "Rebuild by Design" (RBD); prepared climate change adaptation plans for the New York MTA; and coauthored the U.S. National Academy's report on "Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation". TIME magazine named him one of globally 50 "people who mattered in 2012" for forecasting the impacts of a SANDY-like coastal storm on New York City, just one year before hurricane SANDY eerily verified his forecasts. More recently he has consulted with non-profit organizations and helps local governments and communities to address their climate change adaptation challenges.

Mónika and Jessica talk to Shalini Vajjhala, the Executive Director of Pre Collective and a nationally recognized infrastructure and climate resilience expert with more than 15 years of experience designing, funding, and financing community-centered resilient infrastructure solutions. Shalini discusses the questions she likes to ask every client at the beginning of a project, the different "colors of money" that can be available for a project, and the ways in which adaptation and preventative healthcare struggle from the same problem–it's hard to measure successes when they're measured by problems avoided.

Over the last decade, Shalini founded and led the design firm re:focus partners and co-founded The Atlas, an online platform for local government collaboration and innovation. Previously, Shalini held multiple positions at the US EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She is currently a Board Member of Smart Growth America and a nonresident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution Metro Program. Shalini holds a B.Arch in Architecture and PhD in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.

Resources and links discussed include:

Pre Collective: About – Pre Collective

The Atlas: Atlas - a free online community for local government leaders (the-atlas.com)

Hoboken and Flooding Disasters Avoided: A Climate Change Success Story? Look at Hoboken. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

This trailer sets the stage for the first season of Adapt: Climate Change and the Built Environment, a podcast devoted to discussing the importance of, challenges of, and issues to address in incorporating resiliency into the built environment in the face of climate change. Hosted by Monika Serrano, a construction resilience manager, and Jessica Mederson, a construction and business litigator.

Music for the trailer and the podcast provided by AudioCoffee: https://www.audiocoffee.net.