Have We Overlooked Equity in the Sustainability Movement?

For more than 60 percent of our population, living a healthy life can be a challenge.Communities bounded by interstates, located near industrial areas releasing toxic particulates, and ground water infiltrated by pollution such as lead have shown higher rates of asthma, cancer, seizures, and learning disabilities. Add to that a missing urban forest canopy and lack of green space in many of these communities that contribute to the heat-island affect, and the stress of living day-to-day can take years off of one’s life. In both urban and rural communities like these there are zip codes where the life expectancy is years lower than those in zip codes with more green space and better zoning separating residential areas from sources of pollution. People living in these areas, on average, are heavily people of color and systemically have little political clout. All of this is despite a two-decade movement to focus on sustainability aimed at reducing our impact on the environment and improving our air and water quality. Like all systems in America, the sustainability movement has often overlooked how equitably it’s focused, and this past year demonstrated why a broader lens is needed. In those communities where pollution is so prevalent, COVID-19 infection rates are 40 percent higher than in other communities and mortality rates are 19 percent higher. In this episode, BWBR’s James Nutt, AIA, LEED AP, and Sara Goenner Curlee, AIA, LEED AP, join Stephanie Leonard from the U.S. Green Building Council to discuss sustainability through the lens of equity: how should we own our oversights in the past, and what does this journey look like that can put us on the right path towards benefitting all through better design…all forms of design? Hosted by James Lockwood  If you like what we are doing with our podcasts please subscribe and leave us a review!You can also connect with us on any of our social media sites!https://www.facebook.com/BWBRsolutionshttps://twitter.com/BWBRhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/bwbr-architects/https://www.bwbr.com/side-of-design-podcast/