Climate Infrastructure Toolkit

This in-progress topical project focuses on strategies for land-based climate change adaptation and mitigation.  The project developed a simple, easy to use tool based on the four ways that design projects can address climate change in order to scale up and speed climate action within SWA’s professional services.  With 700 projects a year, it is not feasible to pursue time intensive certification programs like LEED or SITES for all SWA projects.  This tool lowers the barriers to action for individual project teams, clients, and enables better firmwide annual goal tracking.  The tool is three tiered, with four impact areas, 20 sub-strategies, and multiple tactics that provide best-fit options.  These include both quantifiable design choices and those based on precedent, which have typically been excluded from sustainability accounting.  In addition, the tool is to be implemented at the start and end of each project for goal setting and accountability as part of a firmwide challenge to make every project a climate infrastructure project.  The team used literature review, existing certification programs, peer review, and case studies including resilience, net zero carbon, and performance-based sustainable options to inform the tool.  The project extends SWA’s work and research on climate change.