This research project focused on strategies for land-based climate change adaptation and mitigation. The project developed a simple, easy to use toolkit 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 intensive certification programs like LEED or SITES for all SWA projects. This tool lowers barriers to action for individual project teams and clients, as well as enabling 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 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.
RESEARCH TEAM
Principal Investigator: Anya Domlesky, Director of Research, SWA
Jonah Susskind, Research Associate, SWA
Kristen DiStefano and Denay Kamdar, Atelier Ten
Phi Diep, Landscape Designer, SWA
Mariana Ricker, Associate, SWA
Sarah Fitzgerald, Associate, SWA
Alejandra Hinojosa, Climate and Sustainability Specialist, SWA
Ren Conger, Intern, SWA
Tejas Saiyya, Urban Designer, SWA
Cloe Cousineau, Associate, SWA
Ray Zhao, Associate, SWA
Jerry Shang, Associate, SWA
Adam Scott, Associate, SWA
Olivia Pinner, Associate, SWA
THANKS TO
Chris Hardy, Sasaki
Pamela Conrad, Climate Positive Design
Jack Rusk, EHDD
Natalia Beard and Andrew Watkins, SWA
Workshop participants from all eight sessions
Rene Bihan, Marco Esposito, Raymond Siu, Alison Ecker, Sergio Lima, Andrew Gressett, Ben Waldo, Elvis Wong, Shuyao Zhang, Guanyi Wang, Zhilan Song, Daniel Cunningham, Yuling Chen, Claire Adams, Paul Wehby, Bill Tatham, Mark Schumacher, and Anna Helms, SWA
FEATURED
Digital Landscape Architecture Conference Keynote
“Hybrids: Designing for a Different Future”
Technology/Architecture + Design volume 8:1
“Enabling a Future-Focused Practice in an Uncertain Age”
University of Virginia Myles H. Thaler Public Lecture
“Enabling a Future-focused Practice in an Uncertain Age”
American Institute of Architects (AIA) Conference on Architecture
“Integrating Climate Research into Design Practice”
City Parks Alliance Greater Greener Conference
Research Lab
Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
“Affecting Landscape Performance with Material and Detail”
The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
Practice & Research Panel
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Climate by Design lecture
ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture
“Realizing Climate Action Ambitions: Pathways to Decarbonization”
NC State University College of Design
“Not All Green is Gold: Appearance and Performance in Scaling Up Climate Action”
swagroup.com
Designing for Extreme Heat
The Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture (JoDLA)
“Hybrids: Designing for a Different World”
International Federation of Landscape Architecture (IFLA) World Congress
FINDINGS
Climate Infrastructure Toolkit poster
Climate Infrastructure Toolkit card deck
Climate Infrastructure Toolkit app (quiz and resources)
Climate Infrastructure Toolkit checklist (forthcoming)
Climate Infrastructure portfolio of example projects
RELATED PROJECTS
Carbon Sequestration Analysis
The Edge of Paradise: Landscape Strategies for Living with Fire
California Wildland Urban Interface Research
Resilience Performance Case Study: Coast
Resilience Performance Case Study: River
The Future City: Urban Sensorium
Research Supporting SWA Resilient Cities Project: Miami