KYA Sustainability Studio

Raising Honolulu’s Building Height: Sustainable Density or Vertical Sprawl?

Sean — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:31:13 +0000

“We cannot continue on a path of urban sprawl. 690 Pohukaina will offer increased value because of its height and density as well as the mixed-use approach that takes advantage of its location. This project is about enhancing the way we live. Sustainable urban density is the future.”–Governor Abercrombie

My initial reaction to mixed-use urban redevelopment is generally one of excitement. In theory, it’s good for our economy, society, and environment. It can create opportunities for jobs, affordable housing, and optimizes the use of urban areas to preserve agricultural and conservation lands. I agree with the Governor’s statement that we must end sprawl in favor of mixed-use redevelopment. Sustainable urban density is indeed the future.

However, I cannot agree that 690 Pohukaina—planned to become Hawai’i’s tallest building at 650-feet—is the correct solution to sprawl, at least for Hawai‘i. Even though I commend its specification for LEED Silver green building certification, 690 Pohukaina does not fully exemplify the type of sustainable urban density necessary to safeguard Hawai’i’s future. There are better solutions to urban sprawl than simply raising Honolulu’s building heights to new extremes.

690 Pohukaina is a form of vertical sprawl and should stir up just as much anxiety as projects like Ho’opili and Koa Ridge. These projects signal an incomplete understanding of how to achieve a “sustainable urban density,” and together represent an overall lack of a cohesive, place-based vision for urban design, planning, and development in Hawai‘i.

We are caught in a disagreement to go up or go out. We fear the loss of prime agriculture lands, increased traffic, and struggle to decide if we should spend billions of dollars on rail to support such urban expansion. The solution? To raise the building heights in Honolulu, right? Yes, urban redevelopment does make sense, but only to reasonable building heights. We cannot let our fear of urban sprawl push us to the extremes of 60-story buildings like 690 Pohukaina. What kind of precedent will a 650-feet tower set for other future high-rises in Honolulu? Preserving our agricultural lands does not have to come at the cost of Honolulu’s mauka-makai vistas that so strongly define our relationships with Hawai’i’s natural environment. This depends on how well we implement urban densities that are truly sustainable.

Sustainable urban density is more than increasing the height and population density of high-rises. It’s about balancing the inputs and outputs of a system within the capacity of that given system to achieve as close to neutrality as possible. Just as good farmers replant what they harvest, so too should good buildings replenish as much of the resources—energy, water, carbon, food—its occupants consume. Jason McLennan of the Living Building Challenge—the world’s most progressive green building certification program—suggests this balance is like a bell curve, and that there is a sweet spot between building height and population density. He identifies an optimal range for a building’s height is between 4-to-8-stories with a population density of 30-100 dwelling units per building. Anything below 3 stories or over 12 stories becomes less and less efficient, which is especially tricky when considering the returns on investments necessary to finance urban redevelopment.

690 Pohukaina (60-stories) raises some fundamental questions about building for Hawai’i that everyone should consider as we strive to overcome sprawl and achieve a sustainable urban density.

Does the project achieve energy & water sustainability?
Ideally, the energy or water consumed and wastewater generated within a building is matched by the amount of energy or water the building generates, harvests, treats, and recycles. This is otherwise known as zero energy and zero water—the ultimate future of sustainable “green” building and the direction that Hawai’i needs to go as an isolated land mass rich in energy and water resources. Will the proposed height and density of the project make energy and water sustainability more difficult to achieve?

Does the neighborhood’s transportation infrastructure have the capacity for increased traffic?
High-rises that increase urban density also increase the traffic within its surrounding neighborhood. Although 690 Pohukaina is being promoted as a “transit-oriented development,” it is not guaranteed that its residents will utilize the public transportation, especially considering that 690 Pohukaina is scheduled for completion in 2019 and the rail will not be in full operation until 2030. How much traffic will the project create in the meantime?

Does the project block solar access to surrounding areas?
A fundamental goal of zoning and building codes is to ensure access to sunlight for both the building and its neighborhood. This requires a thoughtful design that considers different angles of the sun at different times to the year to minimize unwanted shadows on surrounding areas (also known as a solar envelope). What kind of unwanted shadows will the project cast?

Does the project promote urban-agriculture?
Over 90% of Hawai‘i’s food supply is imported, a problem that is amplified by our current land-use paradigm, which promotes a physical separation between where people live and grow their food. Yet, food production is an essential component of Hawai’i’s culture and key to the future sustainability of Hawai‘i. With advancements in technology that can support aquaponics, rooftop gardens, indoor vertical farming, and on-site food cultivation, urban-agriculture is now a reality. Will the project enable residents to grow their own food, or supply on-site restaurants with fresh local produce?

Does the mixed-use designations favor local business?
A key to sustainability is a thriving, local small business culture that provides a diversity of community services (i.e. cafe, grocery). Mixed-uses are key to building this culture and necessary for creating vibrant neighborhoods. Will the mixed-use spaces of the project favor local businesses over chain restaurants and national retailers?

Will the project overburden existing municipal utilities infrastructure?
With a centralized utility infrastructure, increases in population density require increases to our infrastructure capacity. Honolulu’s largely centralized wastewater and sewage infrastructure is aging and already overcapacity, with toxic spills into our oceans with almost every heavy rain. A sustainable way address this is to improve the building’s independence (i.e. on-site wastewater treatment and greywater recycling), thus minimizing its impact on the municipal infrastructure. Will the project minimize its impact on the current utility infrastructure? Or will it necessitate costly municipal upgrades?

Is the project within an area potentially affected by sea-level rise?
Despite pipe dreams to redevelop Kaka‘ako as Honolulu’s “third-city” with consideration to receding shorelines, climate change, sea-level rise, and long-term planning, perhaps the government should actually be redirecting development away from this area, not intensifying it. Is the project within an area that may be affected by sea-level rise over the next 50-100 years?

Does the project impact views & wayfinding
Views of the natural environment are among Hawai‘i’s most treasured resources, for both residents and tourists. It influences the relationships between people and the environment, playing a large role in our culture and our mauka-makai sense of place. We must be strategic about our skyline from various vantage points (both near and afar), designed in relation to mauka-makai and in proportion to recognizable landmarks. For O‘ahu’s south shore, that landmark is Diamond Head, which has two critical heights: the crater rim, at roughly 440 feet, and the summit, at roughly 760 feet. Currently, the tallest building in Honolulu (First Hawaiian Bank) already comes close to the crater, at 429 feet. 690 Pohukaina is programmed to exceed the crater rim by 210-feet, falling just 100-feet below the crater summit. Perhaps no building should ever be taller than the crater rim of Diamond Head? The skyline already dominates the geographic feature that so many people around the world love.

Sustainable urban density is a critical issue. How we choose to develop and redevelop land in Hawai’i will shape the culture that future generations inherit tomorrow. In our quest to save our agriculture lands, we must remain aware of the delicate tipping point after which a building surpasses a sustainable urban density and becomes vertical sprawl. It’s going to be tough, but we are ready for a larger discussion to uncover the kinds of buildings and developments that will appropriately achieve sustainability for Hawai‘i, and what it will take to make it a reality.

We must establish a vision for what a sustainable island urbanism can look like. We must reevaluate our current housing typologies and land-use paradigms, and remake them in a way that is forward thinking, yet affordable and tied to the history and ecology of Hawai’i. We must look at alternatives for financing urban redevelopment to ensure the best decisions are being made for all forms of life, for future generations. In the meantime, please lower the proposed height of 690 Pohukaina.

Introducing Hawai’i Futures: advancing sustainable island urbanism.

Sean — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:08:33 +0000

Check it out! Hawai’i Futures, an evolving online resource for the advancement of sustainable island urbanism is officially up and running.

KNOW YOUR AHUPUA’A!

400 Bags + 365 Days = Unsexy Habit

Amy — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:09:39 +0000

The average person uses about 400 single-use bags a year. Yikes. Check out this visual on the Hawaii State Capitol lawn set up by Sierra Club volunteers. Click here to read about the visual and the plastic (and paper) bag problem at Leilei Shih’s Capitol Watch blog.

Sierra Club Volunteers Display The Problem of Single-Use Bags

The Art of Rebranding…Teachers?!

Amy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:29:15 +0000

Like most Americans, I appreciate a good lawyer joke. As a recent graduate from law school, I still do…with a little cringe. But the legal field is not alone; other fields come with stereotypes: plumbers are known for their too-low pants, stay-at-home-moms/dads (yes, that is a job) for their mini-vans, and baseball players for their spitting. What about teachers? In this recent article from Co.Design, designers at Hyperakt came up with a campaign to rebrand teachers. The article’s author, Suzanne Labarre, begins with an honest appraisal, “It’s a crappy time to be a teacher. The budget cuts. The overcrowded classrooms. The infuriating constraints of No Child Left Behind.” She goes on to describe the two extremes that teachers are stereotyped as: “secular saints with apples on their desks or lazy union-enabled incompetents who hate your children.” Can rebranding teachers help fight stereotypes embedded in our society? Check out Hyperakt’s work on InspireTeachers.org where anyone can download and use the images to do justice to a very important profession. Now, if only lawyers could be rebranded…

Cool K-12 Sustainable Art Contest

Amy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:06:42 +0000

Single-use plastics into eco-friendly designs

Tamara and I visited Momi from Mālama Hawaiʻi and Fine Arts Associates a cool art contest is kicking off in Hawaii. K-12 students interested in taking single-use plastics in their home and turning it into an eco-friendly design can participate in this event starting on February 9th through May 18th. That fits nicely into your semester, don’t you think, prof? Students can turn in drawings or computer-generated images of their designs for prizes of all kinds. For instance (drumroll!), the 5 winners will have their designs made into actual prototypes, get to tour the Sea Dragon when she pulls into port in July, spend a week in the Czech Republic at Art Mill, and exhibit with Safe Planet at the Rio+20 Global Conference in June. Kids, Momi is looking forward to seeing what you can do. Don’t disappoint! For teachers interested in getting involved, see www.artmill.edu or send your questions to artcontest@artmill.eu.

Sponsors: Safe Planet //Art Mill //5 Gyres //Pangaea Explorations //Mālama Hawaiʻi //Ethical Profiling // Surfrider Foundation

Strategies for Land Preservation

Sean — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:58:17 +0000

The O’ahu Resource Conservation and Development Council (“a non-profit organization assisting farmers, ranchers, and communities on Oahu to sustainably manage island resources”) recently held a statewide symposium, Land Preservation in Hawai’i. The symposium covered a variety of topics, including conservation easements, legal aspect of land transactions, funding strategies, and planning for green space. It was great to see a diverse crowd of planners, lawyers, land managers, non-profits, landowners, students, and community members interested in preserving Hawai’i's lands for future generations.

A majority of the conference focused on the possibilities and logistics of land trusts and conservation easements (descriptive information sheet attached), which are forms of legal agreements that work to cooperatively protect and conserve land for its natural, recreational, scenic, historic, or productive value. More information on land trusts can be found on the Land Trust Alliance website.

There are several land trusts in Hawaii. One in particular includes the North Shore Community Land Trust, which serves to protect, steward, and enhance the natural landscapes, cultural heritage, and rural character of ahupua‘a from Kahuku Point to Ka‘ena.

Other resources from the event include:

Hawaiian Island Land Trust

Molokai Land Trust

The Trust for Public Land

Nature Conservancy

Open publication - Free publishing - More land trust

Welcome 2012

Sean — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:55:14 +0000

It’s easy to say 2011 was a year of tremendous growth and fulfillment for the Studio.

Highlights:

We published the Sustainable HNL Elements Baseline report and supported the HNL Sustainability Committee in advancing of the program into a statewide initiative–Sustainable DOT-A–endorsed by Governor Abercrombie.

We launched our official website.

We kick-started the process of getting our building LEED Existing Buildings and Operations and Maintenance certified through our very own sustainability program called KYA LAB.

We partnered with Kanu Hawaii in training the residents and staff of an affordable housing community, Kukui Gardens.

We coordinated Hawaii’s very first carrotmob to help the Wine Stop raise $6912.43 in 4 hours.

We participated as a key stakeholder in the grant-writing process that awarded the University of Hawaii Community College System $24.6 million dollars towards workforce development.

We look forward to all the good things to come in 2012.

Carrotmob Hawaii–The Wine Stop

Sean — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:42:53 +0000

CARROTMOB COMES TO HAWAI’I; HELPS A LOCAL BUSINESS BECOME SUSTAINABLE
Responsible drinkers support sustainability retrofits at a local wine store.

Honolulu, HI—The next best thing from a sustainable building is a sustainable business. Local wine and beer boutique, The Wine Stop, has been selected by KYA Sustainability Studio to create Hawaii’s first Carrotmob event. Carrotmob is a new way to support local business through consumer purchasing power. The name comes from the idiom “carrot or stick,” and is based on a consumer activism tactic where buyers influence positive changes within a business by spending money (carrot), opposed to a boycott (stick). In a Carrotmob, a large group of people mobs a store, making mass purchases so the business can use the extra revenues generated to implement sustainability-related changes.

Who: A mob of cool, conscious people who love wine, beer, and Hawai’i.
What: Carrotmob Hawaii at The Wine Stop
When: Come buy a bottle between 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM, Saturday November 19
Where: The Wine Stop Hawaii, 1809 South King Street, Honolulu, HI, 96822
Parking: KYA Sustainability Studio, 934 Pumehana Street, Honolulu HI 96822

KYA Sustainability Studio has chosen to work with their neighbor, The Wine Stop—a Hawaiian, woman owned local business—because of their desire to pursue the sustainable business philosophy that investing in what is right for our community is what is right for business. The Wine Stop has agreed to direct 80% of their sales generated from the Carrotmob to implement a full retrofit of the building’s energy system, to help Hawaii become energy independent.

Come over and buy some holiday beers and wines to help the Wine Stop take responsible drinking to the next level!

Foraging for Invasives

Sean — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:51:01 +0000

Forests are among the single most important sources of culture and sustenance in Hawai’i. They regulate climate, provide habitat, and are the main natural resource for collecting fresh water–a source of life.

What is the reality to see?

Beautiful greenery? Or…

Environmental degradation?

Here, the dotted line marks the invasive growth of strawberry guava (native to Brazil) overtaking the more fragile forest above. It is unreal. This kind of massive overtaking of an invasive species illustrated above is common all around the islands and kills the native plants that create biodiversity in Hawai’i–the unique array of flora and fauna that make a place abundantly unique. The guava (as with many other invasives), form dense, monotypic growths that suffocate the growth of native plants.

For me, native forests are important because they remind me of at least four states of being: tenderness, patience, humility, and pleasantness. Sounds a bit new agey, but whatever, it’s real.

The forest reminds me of fragility and smallness. This instills a need to walk and behave gently, which informs a sense of tenderness and yields patience. Hiking in general can be a pain if in a rush, so having patience serves well—to prevent damage to the trail and avoid any potential injury/death if I were to slip and tumble down the ridge. Patience and smallness reminds me of humility. There is something about an appreciation for being small and shrouded in the immense thick of trees, winds, rains, and views…a viscous feeling that becomes an all-encompassing sense of pleasantness. All this is even better when in the company of great and happy people!

By the state of this ridge, it looks like we have less than a decade left until this portion of the Ko’olau becomes “Little Brazil.”

“Come to Hawai’i, the Brazil away from Brazil!”

NO! What are we going to do? Currently, there are a lot of great conservation initiatives to protect and perpetuate ecosystems in Hawai’i, but in scale to the immensity of invasive species in the islands–they need more support tenfold 24×7. If I could, I’d just cut down and uproot all the invasive plants at once, although that would destabilize the soil and cause erosion problems.

Maybe it’s time to innovate space-age robots to harvest every last invasive out of existence? I envision tripod-like creatures that would be equip with precision lasers that identify invasive plants to harvest as biomass, and alternative energy resource. Meanwhile, they would replant native plants and dispense an array of seeds appropriate to the region. These groups of robots would be a part of a larger effort to “fight” invasives, and would be organized into specific groups, at least one for every single ahupua’a, or mountain-ocean ecosystem, on every island.

Until then, one thing we can do to is forage invasives for their edible parts. Idea from native plant expert, Rick Barboza, eating the invasive plant gets rid of their reproductive mechanisms. Below, the flower of a verbanum weed tastes just like mushrooms, but don’t worry it’s not hallucinogenic. (If trying this on your own, please do not eat poisonous plants, duh!)

A Perfect complement to a Chinese chicken salad.

Give it up for the underdogs!

*Photos taken at Kulepeamoa in Niu Valley.

Studio helps UH secure $24 million Grant

Tamara — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:12:29 +0000

The Studio is proud to have been apart of a grant effort that has secured $24,653,118 in funding for the Hawaii Community Colleges green workforce development. The award amount is the largest received in the nation.

For the official news release, click here