The Passive Home Trend Is Booming
November 1st, 2024 Courtesy of The Washington Post, a look at passive homes, green homes designed to be as energy efficient as possible. New incentives aim to make them more budget-friendly. On the morning of June 7, [...]
The AI Boom Rests on Billions of Tonnes of Concrete
October 31st, 2024 Via IEEE’s Spectrum Magazine, a look at the impact that concrete is having upon the climate challenge: Along the country road that leads to ATL4, a giant data center going up east of Atlanta, [...]
People Rebuilding Their Homes With Earth
October 25th, 2024 Via BBC, a report on efforts by some homeowners to prepare for/avoid wildfire damage: Melanie Glover rebuilt her home in Superior, Colorado, using earth bricks (Credit: Nick Aspinwall) These people [...]
Here’s What the Sustainable Cities of Tomorrow Could Look Like
October 23rd, 2024 Via Wired, a look at how – around the world – seeds of regenerative cities have already been planted. As they grow, they will shape the metropolises of tomorrow: The Pan Pacific Orchard [...]
Heat Pumps Were Supposed To Transform The World, But It’s Not Going As Planned
October 21st, 2024 Via The Washington Post, a look at why heat pump sales, critical to the transition to clean energy, have slowed in the U.S. and stalled in Europe: Sales of solar panels, batteries and electric [...]
Bangkok Turns To Urban Forests To Beat Worsening Floods
October 20th, 2024 Via Mongabay, a report on Bangkok’s use of urban forests to address flooding: Bangkok is launching city forests to help beat flooding by soaking up excess rainwater runoff. A new park slated to [...]

ABOUT
BLACK SWANS GREEN SHOOTS
Black Swans / Green Shoots examines the collision between urbanization and resource scarcity in a world affected by climate change, identifying opportunities to build sustainable cities and resilient infrastructure through the use of revolutionary capital, increased awareness, innovative technologies, and smart design to make a difference in the face of global and local climate perils.

'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.

'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.

It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.