KYA Studio

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

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!

Left to Right: PAR38, PAR30-Long Neck, PAR30-Short Neck, PAR20-8Deg, PAR20-25Deg, A19, MR16

The Studio has partnered with Hawaiʻi Energy to roll-out a lighting program called Lighting the Future.  As a partner, we are a distribution center for free LED lamps.  The program, which focuses on energy efficiency for small business and non-profits, was created in alignment with Hawai’i clean energy goals to achieve 70% clean energy with 30% from energy efficiency measures by 2030.

So far, the program has received good response.  Applicants from restaurants and retail stores to large high-rise buildings and churches, have come to pick up their free LED–a great opportunity for the studio to hear about what other businesses and organizations are doing to become more sustainable.

More to come!

Busy week!  The studio presented at two of Hawaii’s leading events for design, construction, and landscape: the Pacific Building Trade Expo and Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii Conference.

For both events, the Studio was asked to present as part of the sustainability track, focusing on implementing the ahupua‘a as a framework for urban design and redevelopment.  The presentations generated lots of good discussion, and while the presentation explores an ‘out of the box’ approach to island development, many in the audience left asking with enthusiasm, “what next?”

Food.  It is the building block of community in Hawai‘i and core to our culture.  The Studio had the pleasure to participate in a special tour of He’eia, sponsored by Kamehameha School as part of the first annual Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.

We went on the tour, which explored the ahupua‘a of He‘eia—from the fishpond up to the restored lo‘i in Waipao, and also volunteered behind the scenes, helping with the preparation of the ‘ono Hawaiian food.  A good number of locals and residents of the area were there to attend…it was good fun and a great way to celebrate the bounty of our island and the importance of sustaining our local food culture.

The image above is just a small sample of the food that we ate.  Lucky we live Hawai’i.

Born and raised in Hawai‘i, Charlie Repuun has played a crucial role in water rights issues and has become a respected knowledge resource for agriculture and farming.  It was an honor when the Studio was invited to his farm to present to a soils science class on the ahupua‘a and how it can be applied for urban redevelopment in Honolulu.  Because of the nature of the class, the importance of soils science was highlighted, particularly for the concepts of place-based land-use and zoning and urban-agriculture.  The land-use and zoning of the future will have direct correlations with the soil types and qualities of our island watersheds.

Vance's Green Watch

Check out Vance’s watch from WeWOOD, an Italian company producing these eco-luxury timepieces.  For each watch sold, WeWOOD plants a tree.  Right on!

If the USGBC Green Gala is any indication of what is in store for the rest of this decade, red carpet events are like, so 2000.  This green carpet event was all style and zero waste. Seriously. The house was packed with over 275 of the best looking folks in the green building industry and the waste left over amounted to a couple of trash bags, thanks to the folks from TR3EES.

The generous sponsors* and invaluable volunteers joined their guests (including Rep. Chris Lee, Councilman Stanley Chang,  and DOH Deputy Director Gary Gill, to name a few) for an amazing menu from Ginniberries Catering.  And how about some organic wine from the Naked Grape, anyone?  Or maybe some tasty beverages from Ty-Ku Sake and brewing companies Hawaiʻi Nui and Mehana?  Yes, please!  After the silent auction, emcee Howard Dicus handed out awards to the very deserving :

Re-Use Hawaii : The Outstanding Community Award

James Stone : The Pioneer Award

Kaupuni : The Green Team Award

Pankow : The Legacy Award

*Hunt, Hagadone, Pankow, KYA Design Group, Kiewit Building Group, R.M. Towill Corp., Group 70 Int., Nordic PCL Construction, Bowers + Kubota, Richard Matsunaga & Associates Architects, The Vanguard Theory, Blue Star Design, Louis Vuitton, Watts Constructors, Kokua Hawaiʻi Foundation, Bonterra Solar

The three-in-one conference kicked off by Governor Abercrombie (with his usual enthusiasm) compelled its lengthy title: 2011 Hawaii Build & Buy Green + Brownfields Redevelopment + Hawaii Green Workforce Development Conference & Expo.  Some highlights:

1. Hearing Jason McLennan talk about living buildings.  What does Hawaii look like with living buildings?  McLennan uses the metaphor of a flower to provide an image of ultra-green construction maximizing the natural resources in the immediate vicinity to thrive, and thrive beautifully.

2.  Learning about brownfield development.  Ever wonder why some lots sit vacant for so many years, while the land around is fully-maximized?  It could be a brownfield site, a property contaminated by a hazardous substance.  Consultants working on the old GASCO site (near the Iwilei Costco) shared the horrors of developing one of the worst brownfields in Hawaii.

3. Finding out how to save money and the world with green purchasing.  The Environmental Purchasing session proved to be one of my favorites.  Did you know you can save water and money when your company chooses the soap dispensers that foam?  And when you use the push-operated dispenser, rather than the battery-operated hands-free dispenser, you save green and go green by eliminating the need for batteries?  Did you know custodians have some of the highest rates of work-related asthma because of the unnecessarily toxic cleaners used at work?  Did you know you could cut water use for mopping by 95% by switching to microfiber mops?   Thanks to Alicia Culver of the Responsible Purchasing Network for sharing these nuggets and all the Responsible Purchasing Guides available for free on your website, making it easy for businesses to integrate great, green choices in purchasing!

What do trash, climate change, and shave ice have in common?  KYA EARTH DAY.  This year KYA hosted an office-wide neighborhood clean-up to pick up trash, raise awareness on climate change, and remind ourselves of the effect sea level rise may have on existing parts of our community.  The path of our trash pick-up followed the projected edge of a one meter rise in sea level, which we outlined in blue chalk.

With the theme “I Love Hawai’i,” the event concluded at the famous Waiola Shaved Ice, where we cooled off and enjoyed the sweet goodness of flavored ice, that so many of us grew up loving.  Next year, we’ll have to see if we can bring our own reusable cups to enjoy this local favorite!

PAU