Bali Shows Why Bamboo Still Matters
October 17th, 2024
Courtesy of Nikkei Asia, a look at how new-generation structures celebrate an enduring construction material: Made of bamboo with a copper roof, New Moon House is a crescent-shaped one-bedroom villa on the outskirts of Ubud, Bali’s spiritual capital. It features a spring-fed private pool. Nearly two decades have passed since treated bamboo began making headlines as an […]
Read more »Engineers 3D Print Sturdy Glass Bricks For Building Structures
October 17th, 2024
Via MIT News, a look at innovative new glass bricks which can be repurposed many times over, and withstand similar pressures as their concrete counterparts: The team made strong, multilayered glass bricks, each in the shape of a figure eight, that are designed to interlock, much like LEGO bricks. Pictured is a glass brick being […]
Read more »DARPA Thinks Walls of Oysters Could Protect Shores Against Hurricanes
October 11th, 2024
Via Wired, a report on how the US defense research agency is funding three universities to engineer reef structures that will be colonized by corals and bivalves and absorb the power of future storms: On October 10, 2018, Tyndall Air Force Base on the Gulf of Mexico, a pillar of American air superiority, found itself under […]
Read more »Sustainable Building Effort Reaches New Heights With Wooden Skyscrapers
October 10th, 2024
Via Knowable Magazine, a look at how wood engineered for strength and safety offers architects an alternative to carbon-intensive steel and concrete: At the University of Toronto, just across the street from the football stadium, workers are putting up a 14-story building with space for classrooms and faculty offices. What’s unusual is how they’re building […]
Read more »Baltimore Is Investing in Wetlands Restoration, a Climate Line of Defense
September 28th, 2024
Via Inside Climate News, a report on wetlands restoration and shoreline rehabilitation efforts in South Baltimore which promise to make communities resilient against climate change and severe weather while spawning new green spaces. Scientists say it’s a new science that needs careful and closer scrutiny. Brad Rogers and Brett Berkley stepped carefully on the gravel […]
Read more »Green Roofs and Solar Chimneys Are Here
September 28th, 2024
Via The Guardian, a look at how builders already have the tools needed to build cooler homes for an increasingly hotter world: The US sweltered under record-breaking heat this year, with new research suggesting that air conditioning is no longer enough to keep homes cool. Spiraling energy demands and costs of indoor cooling now have planners looking […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.