2019
SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN
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SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN 2019
WHO WE ARE Farr Associates is a firm of optimistic architects and planners passionate about urbanism, sustainability and leadership. We start every project with a goal of creating pilgrimage sites– innovative, forward-looking places and buildings that prove the viability of a beautiful, equitable, and decarbonized built environment. We collaborate in workshops and integrated design teams to achieve better outcomes than anyone thought possible. We lead in our core areas of expertise– stranding carbon, placemaking, and empathetic community engagement. We commit to achieving a positive and measurable impact on society through Just Label certification. Together, these actions amount to our new default, the place where our work begins. EQUITY We strive to create an equitable built environment by helping neighborhoods and communities of all types achieve their full potential. We are dedicated to improving everyday lives through expanded social networks, increased choices, and emboldened aspirations. HEALTH & HAPPINESS We work with a heightened focus on active living, healthy environments, and places that nurture lifelong connections to family and friends. We champion ever-higher standards for public health, safety, and welfare based on established research on happiness and well-being. DECARBONIZATION We design lovable low/no carbon places and buildings that accelerate change. The 2030 ChaLlenge asks that society change faster than ever before. We’re all in.
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SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN 2019
TRANSPARENCY BENEFIT CORPORATION
TRANSPARENCY & ADVOCACY
Consistent with our firm’s goals and values, Farr Associates takes great pride in its legal designation as a Benefit Corporation by the state of Illinois. As such, by legal definition, Farr Associates commits to: • Create a positive impact on society and the environment • Redefine fiduciary duty to require consideration of non-financial interests (such as society and the environment) when making decisions • Report on our overall social and environmental performance using recognized third party standards
Farr Associates is committed to leadership in the realm of corporate transparency and advocacy. We commit to a voluntary, full-disclosure policy on important organizational information and policies, including goals, governance, business operations, and our involvement in positive social and environmental causes.
In addition to the legal requirement of providing a general public benefit, Benefit Corporations are encouraged to declare specific public benefits that their business and business practices commit to provide.
AIA 2030 Commitment (http://network.aia.org/2030commitment/home)
In addition to the reporting metrics and associated with Farr Associates’ Benefit Corporation and JUST organization status, we also voluntarily commit to:
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Accordingly, Farr Associates commits to designing human environments, at all scales, that promote: • Human Health & Happiness • Social Equity • Cultural Diversity • Economic Sustainability • Environmental Stewardship
To reduce energy consumption in the built environment, member firms commit to the following: o Establish and implement a Sustainable Action Plan o Provide annual data regarding our project work’s environmental performance, including metrics on energy use, with a goal of carbon neutrality by the year 2030.
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For more information on Benefit Corporation, please see benefitcorp.net.
Establish and implement a Sustainable Operations Plan for office operations & procedures including waste management, sustainable product sources, and green housekeeping policies
1% Program (https://theoneplus.org/) •
JUST ORGANIZATION In an effort to promote transparency relative to our social and environmental performance, Farr Associates participates in the JUST™ program. Administered by the International Living Futures Institute (ILFI), the JUST™ program is a system of metrics intended to measure organization’s performance on a range of issues relative to their policies and business practices. The JUST™ program outlines 22 specific social and equity indicators that are housed with six general categories: Diversity, Equity, Safety, Worker Benefit, Local Benefit, and Stewardship.
Farr Associates is a member of the 1% Program, committing to provide 1% of our collective time to pro-bono service associated with the public good.
We report on our progress on these goals on an annual basis, with results included in our annual Benefit Corporation and JUST evaluation.
The result of participation in this program is the JUST™ label, a publicly accessible scorecard transparently declaring the firm’s current performance measured against these metrics. Evaluated on an annual basis to coincide with our Benefit Corporation reporting schedule, this label is posted both on our website www.farrside. com and justorganizations.com.
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SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN 2019
STRANDING CARBON To avoid heating the Earth more than 2 degrees C, we need to leave between 60 and 80 percent of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground, unextracted and unburned. Buildings account for roughly 47 percent of all United States carbon pollution. Consistent with the AIA’s 2030 commitment, we need to design or renovate every building in the country to approach net zero energy in the next generation. To motivate this transformation of the entire building stock, this enormous pivot is best pursued in neighborhoods, block-by-block.
O U R C O MM ITM E N T PROJECTS : •
DESIGN ALL PROJECTS WITH OUR FIRM’S AIA 2030 COMMITMENT IN MIND We utilize energy modeling software at each milestone of the design process to confirm that our designs are meeting prescribed energy reduction targets. If they are not, we will discuss with the client ways to get the project back on track.
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EVALUATE MULTIPLE ENVELOPE AND MECHANICAL SYSTEMS TO OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE To reduce our project’s energy use profile, we investigate the nexus of envelope design and building systems performance during our Integrated Design Workshops. We often find that investing in a highly-insulated, airtight envelope results in significant reductions in the size and ongoing energy use of mechanical equipment.
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At Farr Associates, we believe this urgent pivot falls on our watch. We treat net-zero energy readiness as the standard default for every project. We aim for optimal building orientation and glazing, to maximize passive heating/cooling while minimizing active heating/cooling demand, all while maintaining beauty, access to nature and natural processes, and occupant experience. We superinsulate our buildings to reduce energy demand. We weave an understanding of how data influences decisions of occupants and users to better reduce energy demand in every project. Finally, we apply district systems at their most efficient scales to leverage synergies between water and energy, food and waste, etc. with the overall goal of reducing resource consumption. Furthermore, humans seek out vibrant places. We live, work, and vacation where a critical mass of people supports a critical mass of nearby activities. Such places are good for us. We live actively—walking and biking more, while driving and sitting less. These denser places also preserve natural lands, an existential lifeline for the rest of the world’s species. A key ecological threshold identified by scientist E.O. Wilson is his Half Earth Project: setting aside 50 percent of all land on earth for nonhuman habitats to avoid cascading extinctions. This emphasizes our need to use land far more efficiently than we do now.
ACCOUNT FOR EMBODIED CARBON We use calculator tools that account for the embodied carbon in the materials and systems we specify and work with our clients to reduce and offset these carbon impacts.
To help set aside half the world’s land for Nature, Farr Associates uses strategies that help create places of vibrant density. We create places at a human scale, with agreeable building heights and lovable building designs. We unembed parking from our projects, and when we must include it, we ensure it is redevelopment-ready. We promote coach houses and other smaller-scale developments that allow for local communities to take ownership of their development, and do so incrementally. We use every project as an opportunity to fill the missing middle of housing, and provide people with a variety of housing choices, including higher-density housing, within every community.
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REDUCE AVERAGE MONTHLY OFFICE ENERGY USE (kWh) FROM 2017 BASELINE BY 10% We track our office energy use and identify strategies to reduce consumption through both active and passive strategies.
HO W WE WIL L M E A SU R E O U R P R O GR E SS:
OFFSET ALL OFFICE-, BUSINESS TRAVEL-, AND PAPER-RELATED CARBON EMISSIONS. . ENCOURAGE OUR BUILDING OWNER TO INVEST IN SMART CONTROLS FOR TENANT PLUG LOADS AND BUILDING-WIDE HEATING & COOLING EQUIPMENT We will advocate to our office’s building owner to investigate strategies to reduce the overall building’s energy use through the use of responsive infrastructure.
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PUBLISH DATA ON DESIGN AND BUILT ENERGY PERFORMANCE We submit our data on projects in phases using the AIA’s 2030 DDX reporting tool and publish a summary graphic of these data on our website. We will also include modeled vs. actual energy use for all of our projects on our firm website.
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PUBLISH DATA ON OFFICE ENERGY USE Our office energy use (kWh) is calculated monthly by our building manager on a per square foot basis; while a rough estimate, we will include this on our website as the closest thing to relevant and actionable data we have.
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CONDUCT ENERGY MEETING WITH BUILDING MANAGEMENT IN 2019 We plan to meet in 2019 with building management to advocate for more responsive energy
SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN 2019
CELEBRATING WATER Water is beautiful and essential to life, yet we waste and pollute it. Rainwater is routinely collected and piped away invisibly as waste rather than being cleansed and celebrated. Water is scarce, yet too often is it underpriced and wasted, depleting both surface and groundwaters. Water and energy are linked: supplying and treating water is energy-intensive and energy production can be water-intensive. The design of urban water infrastructure is essential to fulfilling two big dreams: becoming a nation of swimmable, fishable waters; and low-carbon living.
O U R CO M M ITM E NT PROJECTS :
At Farr Associates, we delight the senses and add value through beautiful infrastructure. We treat every project as an opportunity to process rainwater and stormwater. We make engineering beautiful, and we make beauty functional. We look for opportunities for local stormwater governance. We reduce freshwater demand by equipping communities to use non-potable water. We select low energy-consuming wastewater technologies that clean more than they pollute. We consider wastewater treatment facilities as resource recovery and power centers. We seek to offset heating demand by recapturing waste heat in wastewater.
H O W W E W ILL M E A SU RE OUR PRO GRES S : • •
PUBLISH DATA ON WATER PERFORMANCE We will include the percent of stormwater managed onsite for all of our projects on our firm website. PUBLISH DATA ON WATER REUSE We will include the percentage of rainwater and gray+blackwater reused for all of our projects on our firm website.
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DESIGN ALL PROJECTS TO ACHIEVE A MINIMUM 40% WATER-USE REDUCTION Our baseline is to specify only low-flow or ultra low-flow plumbing fixtures. These fixtures are readily available on the market and are able to reduce water-use by 40% from baseline code- compliant fixtures.
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EVALUATE EVERY PROJECT FOR RAINWATER AND GREYWATER REUSE STRATEGIES As part of the Integrated Design Workshop, we thoroughly investigate ways in which water can be reused on-site, including greywater & rainwater capture systems. We study the economics of water reuse and describe the payback on infrastructure first costs and on-going water costs. .
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INFILTRATE 100% OF STORMWATER ON-SITE Our goal is for 100% our projects to avoid contributing stormwater to municipal sewer systems. We advocate for stormwater to be 100% infiltrated on-site through both active and passive water management and landscaping strategies.
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SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN 2018-2019
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PROVIDE REUSABLE WATER BOTTLES FOR ALL STAFF FOR DAILY USE
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ENCOURAGE OUR BUILDING OWNER TO INVEST IN LOW-FLOW FIXTURES FOR COMMON RESTROOMS AND JANITOR’S SINKS We will advocate to our office’s building owner to investigate strategies to reduce the overall building’s water use through the use of responsive infrastructure.
THE NEW HEALTH, SAFETY, & WELFARE “Health, safety, and welfare” (HSW) is a somewhat vague phrase used to represent the public’s interest in the design and operation of the built environment. Despite the fact that public officials and design professionals are obligated to uphold a “liberal interpretation” of HSW, our built environment is often unhealthy, unsafe, and works against the public welfare.
O U R C O MM ITM E N T
At Farr Associates, we believe the easy choice should be the healthy choice. We invest in local, people-centered wellness. We design streets for pedestrian safety, limiting vehicle speeds to below 20 MPH. We increase both property values and time spent outdoors by filling the gaps between walk-to parks. We work to ensure the future of legacy cities through landscape reuse. We make at least one required stairwell open and inviting, and we start it in the lobby. We don’t participate in the race to build the tallest building. We stay connected to the night sky and respect circadian rhythms by eliminating outdoor blue light; using minimal, adjustable outdoor light; and make public outdoor light beautiful from every angle.
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INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF RED-LIST COMPLIANT MATERIALS FOR ALL PROJECTS The Living Building Challenge advocates for the use of Red-List Free products that contain zero of the 24 chemicals identified as known carcinogens. We are building our material and specification library with local products and manufacturers that comply with the standard, and advocate for others that do not currently comply to investigate and make a plan to comply in the future. .
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INCLUDE AT LEAST ONE ‘ACTIVE DESIGN’ COMPONENT Active design includes such strategies as bike storage and showering facilities, ‘irresistible stairs,’ and on-site agriculture.
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HO W WE WIL L M E A SU R E O U R P R O GR E SS:
INCLUDE AT LEAST ONE BIOPHILIC DESIGN ELEMENT Our projects celebrate the connection of the built environment to nature. Each project includes a minimum of one overt biophilic design element, connecting occupants to directly water, air, and vegetation.
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PUBLISH DATA ON “RED LIST FREE” MATERIALS LIBRARY We will report the annual ratio of products using “Red List Free” materials per project on our firm website.
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PUBLISH DATA ON ACTIVE DESIGN COMPONENTS We will include information on the active design components used in each project on our firm website.
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PUBLISH DATA ON MONTHLY AVERAGE OFFICE CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS ON WEBSITE We will report the monthly average carbon dioxide levels of our office on our firm website.
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COMPILE A ‘RED LIST FREE’ MATERIAL LIBRARY Our office commits to having a Red-List Free material reference library. We will deny manufacturers from providing samples or binder if they do not comply and advocate that non-compliant manufacturers up their game and provide healthier, more transparent products.
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PROVIDE OPERABLE STANDING DESKS AND LIVE VEGETATION NEAR EVERY WORKSTATION
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. COLLECT ALL COMPOSTABLES & RECYCLABLES FOR DIVERSION FROM LANDFILL We collect 100% of all compostable materials from our kitchen and recyclable paper, plastics, cardboard, glass, and metal from our office for diversion from landfill.
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MOBILITY Americans value choice in how we get around. Our walk-shed - the distance we are willing to walk to meet daily needs is between 5 and 20 minutes, depending on the quality of the walk and the appeal of the destination. Physical barriers, such as freeways, limit the distance people on their own power can travel, while mobility technology such as bikesharing can double or triple the distance. However, the biggest barrier to more mobility independence is our car-centric regulations.
O U R CO M M ITM E NT PROJECTS :
At Farr Associates, we address these complex mobility challenges across disciplines. We create and tap into bikesharing networks in every project. We respect that carsharing is dynamic place-by-place. We focus on land use and transportation design to dramatically reduce residential vehicle trips, and concurrently reduce nonresidential vehicle trips (and save money) by focusing on demand management (vs. parking supply). We reject Level of Service as a metric of transportation/mobility success. We consider urban highways as temporary; we advocate for the removal of urban highways that cannot be justified.
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LIMIT NEW PARKING PROVIDED TO THE MINIMUM ALLOWED BY CODE OR LESS We investigate ways to reduce automobile dependence on all of our projects by limiting new parking to the absolute minimum required by code or less.
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ALL PROJECTS MUST BE TRANSIT-SERVED OR PLANNED TO BE IN THE FUTURE We investigate ways to reduce automobile dependence on all of our projects by locating near public transportation. If projects are not located near public transit, we will advocate local municipalities for services to be changed or extended to serve our project sites and populations.
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EMBRACE NEW TRANSPORTATION MODES Our projects investigate the latest in transportation trends and accommodate infrastructure for emerging technologies including electric vehicle charging stations, carshare, bike-share, and rideshare services. These technologies only help to reduce individual VMT and the carbon impact of transportation.
H O W W E W ILL M E A SU RE OUR PRO GRES S : •
ADD THE CLAIBORNE EXPRESS TO THE 2019 CNU LIST OF HIGHWAY TEARDOWNS The existence of the Claiborne Express, an urban highway spur that cuts through the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, can no longer be justified. We are working with local leaders to tear down the unhealthy, unjust structure and restore vibrancy to the community. Listing it on the Congress for the New Urbanism list will elevate its importance both locally and nationally, and will likely accelerate its removal.
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PUBLISH DATA ON EMPLOYEE COMMUTES We will publish the percentage of our employees’ commutes that is taken by public transit (includes Metra, CTA, bike, and foot) on our firm website.
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PUBLISH DATA ON ACTIVE TRANSIT COMPONENTS We will include information on the active transit components used in each project on our firm website.
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100% OF EMPLOYEES UTILIZE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO GET TO THE OFFICE By locating our office in the heart of Chicago’s loop, our office space is easily accessible for employees who live in the city and suburbs.
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PROVIDE BIKESHARE MEMBERSHIPS FOR ALL EMPLOYEES As an employee benefit, all employees are provided with a membership to DIVVY, Chicago’s bikeshare network. network.
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ACCOUNT FOR AND PURCHASE CARBON CREDITS TO OFFSET ALL OFFICE-RELATED TRAVEL We will keep track of and be financially accountable for all unavoidable miles traveled by rental cars, Amtrak trains, and airplanes for office-related tasks. .
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EQUITY + EQUALITY Neighborhoods contribute to the resilience and equity of the national economy by offering people choices. For example, sustainable neighborhoods offer a variety of housing, employment, and recreational choices that can satisfy the needs of most of their members . Workforce housing and walk-to workplaces reduce the time and expense of commuting, which is a huge boost for low-paid workers. Upping the efficiency of water, energy, or solid waste systems translates into local jobs. Finally, nurturing entrepreneurship through business incubation turns personal skills into jobs and companies.
O U R C O MM ITM E N T PROJECTS : •
The design of a place can help build community by providing prompts regarding our shared humanity—our affinity for nature, our need to eat, the joys of art and of being outdoors—and invitations to engage—to organize, to celebrate, and to share our inner thoughts. These design prompts remind us to consider and welcome people as they are.
DESIGN PROJECTS THAT PROMOTE DIVERSITY We are committed to working on projects which promote diversity by providing equitable access to housing, jobs, and daily services without dependence on daily individual car travel.
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DESIGN PROJECTS THAT PROMOTE AFFORDABILITY We are committed to working on projects which provide affordable housing options to a full spectrum of ages and demographics .
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PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES PRO-BONO OR AT REDUCED FEE FOR AT LEAST ONE NONPROFIT CLIENT EACH YEAR We engage and benefit the communities in which we live and work by providing professional services for a reduced fee to non-profit organizations that share our mission.
At Farr Associates, we aim for local housing for all by providing housing attainable by working singles and couples. We believe all retail should be accessible on foot. We minimize landfills by encouraging zero waste though social norms and pricing. We use participatory art to connect people to each others’ humanity. We celebrate life with community events guided by the principles of inclusion, welcoming, and resilience. We contribute to a unique and visible food culture in every neighborhood. We turn strangers into neighbors by diversifying dwelling types in each building, and by mixing building types within every block.
HO W WE WIL L M E A SU R E O U R P R O GR E SS: •
CHANGE IN 3-STAR RATINGS IN JUST™ RATING SYSTEM For indicators where our firm achieves less than 3 stars, our board will actively identify strategies to improve performance. Our JUST™ label is proudly displayed on our firm website.
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PERCENT OF EMPLOYEES IN LEADERSHIP ROLES OF PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS We will report the percentage of staff engaged in leadership positions at partner organizations (includes board positions, committees, etc.).
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JUST™ ORGANIZATION JUST™ Farr Associates is a JUST™ organization through the International Living Futures Institute, committing to tracking our office’s performance on a number of social justice and equity indicators including diversity, pay equity, safety, worker benefit, local benefit, and stewardship.
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TARGET DIVERSE CANDIDATES WHEN HIRING FOR OPEN POSITIONS . SPONSOR AND LEAD LIKE-MINDED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS We sponsor non-profit community and industry organizations that reinforce our mission and serve diverse and under-represented communities. We serve in leadership positions in which we help expand and multiply their impact.
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CONCLUSION The core strategy of Farr Associates is the design and governance of all neighborhoods in the United States and beyond to make them each unique exemplars of community and sustainability. This document is a commitment to our long-held values. We are committed to updating this document every three years as part of our work to outsmart the status quo.
W HAT STANDS BET W EEN US AND A SUSTA IN A B LE FU TU RE? MERELY OURSELVES.
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