LA's Chief Resilience Officer on Pandemic's 'Reveal' of City's Vulnerabilities

A recent report found that last year’s Ridgecrest Earthquake tripled the odds of a major earthquake on the San Andreas within the next year. In light of this news, The Planning Report spoke with LA City Chief Resilience Officer, Aaron Gross, to discuss how the pandemic is shaping the city’s understanding of resilience and the cascading impact that overlapping disasters of earthquake or wildfire could have on the city’s already limited resources. Gross shares the city’s progress on implementing the 2018 “Resilient Los Angeles” plan—which lays out 15 goals and 96 actions to make Los Angeles more resilient to a wide range of systemic shocks and stressors—and how COVID-19 has highlighted the acute vulnerabilities faced by communities across Los Angeles.

It’s No Longer A Viable Option For Capitalism To Ignore Carbon Impact

In our current model of capitalism, carbon emissions and environmental harm resulting from business operations are externalities that can be largely ignored by businesses and investors. But, as consumers, policymakers and society at large begin to call on companies to operate more sustainably, the costs associated with business as usual are mounting—and investors are taking notice. 

Better Buildings: Top 10 Efficiency Solutions for August

The 10 most-viewed resources from the past month include new solutions from Better Buildings partners Sprint and DWS on waste reduction and resiliency, as well as toolkits on high-efficiency RTU replacements, financing, and more. Check them out!

Register to Attend USGBC-LA's 19th Annual MGBCE

Since its inception in 2001, MGBCE has become the longest-running and largest gathering of leading sustainability and green building advocates within both the public and private sectors of Southern California.

This year, over 1,000 attendees across two days will join in a virtual setting from local government agencies, the building industry, and the public, all gathering to learn about green building principles, practices, and products. The conference will feature live streaming, interactive exhibitor and community partner booths, virtual tours, digital networking, recorded content, and much more.

When: August 21-22, 2020

Webinar: Today's Buildings, Tomorrow's Grid

One of the oldest and most complex machines ever made, the grid is responsible for delivering reliant and resilient energy to power our lives. And buildings, including the highest performing ones, depend on it.

However, that energy comes with significant carbon emissions. And a decarbonized future depends not only on building the greenest buildings, but doing so on a greener grid.

In this month's Cleantech Live event, Frank Joseph Schwamborn of Verdical Group will be examining today's grid and presenting a case for why buildings meant to last decades should be built or retrofitted today to meet tomorrow’s grid.

When: August 11th, 8am PDT