05: An ARPA for Climate Adaptive Urbanism

A few months ago, Larch Lab was contacted to start discussions of an ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) focused on climate adaptive urbanism, influenced by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

With the effects of climate change becoming more frequent and intense than anticipated – we can no longer wait ten to twenty years to adapt to this new normal. Larch Lab believes we need an ARPA-esque project to facilitate the research and development necessary to rapidly roll out high performance, decarbonized buildings, ecodistricts, and cities.

This episode of the Livable Low-Carbon City is a download of themes and topics that we will be discussing in detail over the coming months...

Further reading...

Car-light Ecodistricts:
The 5 coolest trends in urbanism ... in Europe, Michael Eliason's guest op ed in Dave Roberts Volts Substack.

Let’s Build a Dense, Climate-Resilient EcoDistrict in Seattle’s Interbay, Michael Eliason's op-ed in the Urbanist.

Passivhaus:
What is a Passivhaus, the Passivhaus Trust's intro to the standard that should be the baseline of all buildings.

Seattle Must Require Public Buildings Meet Passivhaus Standards to Lead on Climate, Michael Eliason's op ed in the Urbanist.

Zoning reform:
The Impact of Upzoning on Housing Construction in Auckland, Ryan Freenaway-McGrevy and Peter C.B. Phillips paper on upzoning effects.

Upzone the Side Streets!, Henry Grabar's Slate piece on effects of focusing housing on arterials.

Building Code reform:
Unlocking livable, resilient, decarbonized housing
with Point Access Blocks, Larch Lab's report on Point Access Blocks for the City of Vancouver.

Beyond Zoning: Building Circulation Reform and Infill Housing, UCLA Lewis Center's roundtable on unit access and code reform.

Active Solar Protection/Climate Adaptive Buildings:
Throwing Shade at How Buildings Must Adapt to the Climate Crisis, Michael Eliason's in Treehugger on climate adaptive buildings.

Prefabrication & Robotics:
Energiesprong, the Dutch retrofit masters utilizing prefabricated exterior panels.


New forms of Collective Urban Housing:
Larch Lab's page on Baugruppen, self-developed urban multifamily housing.

Bring On the Clusterwohnungen, Michael Eliason's op-ed on cluster apartments.

Productive Cities:
Radical mix of uses incorporating production and industry in cities (Europan).

Sponge City/Blue Green Infrastructure:
 ACEEE's report: Cool Policies for Cool Cities: Best Practices for Mitigating Urban Heat Islands in North