Heat Pumps Were Supposed To Transform The World, But It’s Not Going As Planned
October 21st, 2024
Via The Washington Post, a look at why heat pump sales, critical to the transition to clean energy, have slowed in the U.S. and stalled in Europe: Sales of solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles have soared over the last few years — helping to slow global warming and take dangerous pollutants out of the atmosphere. But […]
Read more »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 »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 »When Hurricane Helene Hit, This Disaster-Proof Florida Neighborhood Kept The Lights On
October 7th, 2024
Via Fast Company, a look at a new development on Florida’s coast was designed to be as hurricane-proof as possible. So far, it’s working: Last Thursday, when Hurricane Helene hit the small town of Cortez, Florida—about four hours south of the eye of the storm—a storm surge filled the streets with waist-deep water near a […]
Read more »How To Build An AC That Will Get The World Through Hotter Summers
October 6th, 2024
Via The Washington Post, a look at how – in order to combat stickier weather – air conditioners need to go from cooling machines to humidity gulpers: In this tropical city, where humidity levels oscillate between muggy and oppressive for most of the year, Santosh Naykar’s only defense against the stickiness is a 14-year-old window […]
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.