social equity working group

The U.S. EPA EJSCREEN: A Resource for Social Equity Design

By Bradley Guy on 01 Aug 2017 • 4 minute read

The U.S. EPA’s EJSCREEN: Environmental Justice Mapping and Screening Tool is an invaluable resource for understanding the environmental justice context of a proposed land-use or building project. It uses publicly available data that is linked to a dynamic Geographic I …

Addressing Human Rights through Architecture

By Raphael Sperry on 02 Mar 2015 • 2 minute read

As a member of USGBC’s Social Equity Working Group and as president of the independent nonprofit organization Architects/ Designers/ Planners for Social Responsibility (www.adpsr.org), I was very excited to see the New York Times cover the question of human rights in …

Whose Health Matters?

By Joel Ann Todd on 17 Feb 2015 • 1 minute read

We are making huge strides in figuring out what makes materials “healthy” (or not) and encouraging building projects to specify these healthier alternatives. We cite studies that demonstrate benefits to building inhabitants and visitors, as well as their employers. …

GHG Emissions Stabilized and Declining! Imagining the Post-Game Debrief

By Heather Joy Rosenberg on 03 Feb 2015 • 2 minute read

Last month on the radio, as I listened to the post-game of President Obama’s State of the Union speech, radio commentators discussed who could rightly take credit for the recent economic recovery and the prevention of another recession. Obama and the Democrats certain …

Social Equity: LEED Meets SEED

By Bradley Guy on 19 Nov 2014 • 2 minute read

A new set of credits in LEED for Social Equity has recently been incorporated into the Pilot Credit Library and were presented at Greenbuild 2014 by the social equity pilot credit working group co-chairs and USGBC 2014-15 Ginsberg Sustainability Fellow, Susan Kaplan, Jo …

What If? Toward a More Equitable World

By Susan Kaplan on 02 Jul 2014 • 5 minute read

Editor's Note: Article originally posted on USGBC.org. Since you're reading this, you probably work hard every day to make the projects you are involved in more environmentally sustainable. The industry has made great strides in doing so, as well. But can we say the …

Place Matters: How the Green Building World Can Support Income Mobility

By Heather Joy Rosenberg on 15 Apr 2014 • 2 minute read

Place matters. Where you grow up largely predicts how you will do economically relative to your parents, according to a several studies released earlier this year exploring the links between economic mobility and geography. This correlation underscores the importanc …

Looking for Leaders: The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

By Heather Joy Rosenberg on 12 Mar 2014 • 4 minute read

The lives of over 350,000 people in Los Angeles are better because of the work of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE). LAANE, a non-profit advocacy group founded in 1993, is a leader in creating the “New Economy,” which is essentially a triple bottom …

Hollywood and Highland Center. Los Angeles, CA

Welcoming Social Equity into the Big Tent of Green Building

By Heather Joy Rosenberg on 16 Jan 2014 • 1 minute read

Greenbuild this year was abuzz with talk about social equity issues. From the special sessions like the Sustainable Community Summit and the Affordable Housing Summit to a wide variety of educational sessions, people asked hard questions about how the green building mov …

Social Equity in the Built Environment

By Heather Joy Rosenberg on 18 Nov 2013 • 1 minute read

If sustainability is defined by the triple bottom line of environmental, economic and social benefits, the green building movement has a long way to go on the road to creating sustainable projects. Programs like LEED have transformed the market on environmental metrics. …

Mercy Corps' headquarters in Portland, OR

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