The Intersection of Buildings, Energy, and Emissions Reduction
November 15th, 2023 Via Green Money, commentary on the intersection of buildings, energy, and emissions reduction: Buildings use energy. Lots of energy. Buildings account for 30-50% of building energy use globally; in [...]
Parking Garages: Significant Potential Urban Heat Source
November 15th, 2023 Via Anthropocene Magazine, a look at how waste heat from over 5,000 underground parking lots in Berlin could meet the demand of of 14,660 average German households, scientists found, while helping [...]
After its Hottest Summer On Record, Phoenix’s Mayor Outlines the City’s Future
November 13th, 2023 Via Inside Climate News, an interview with Phoenix’s Mayor Kate Gallego, looking at how the city is looking to address extreme heat and drought to build a more sustainable city: The Phoenix [...]
Heat Pump Installations Slow, Impeding Biden’s Climate Goals
November 9th, 2023 Via the New York Times, an article on heat pumps – devices which can heat and cool homes more efficiently than furnaces and air-conditioners – but their sales have slowed because of [...]
Cement and Concrete That Could Help Builders Get Greener
November 9th, 2023 Via Fortune Magazine, a look at Holcim, whose cement and concrete could help builders get greener: Construction workers build with 3D-printed cement at a housing complex in Kenya. Structures built [...]
How Ailing Strip Malls Could Be a Green Fix for U.S. Housing Crisis
November 8th, 2023 Via Yale e360, a report on urban designer Peter Calthorpe’s plan for the shuttered and financially troubled strip malls that dot the suburban landscape: Convert the malls into housing that [...]

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.