Climate Positive Design

As Founder of Climate Positive Design, Pamela Conrad, ASLA, seeks to positively impact the climate and biodiversity crises through advocacy, education, and design of the exterior built environment. Pamela began to develop the free online Pathfinder app to assess carbon footprint of landscape projects during her time as a 2018-19 LAF Fellow. Since then, she has significantly advanced her work to advocate locally and globally for climate and nature-positive solutions within landscape architecture and the broader built environment industry. Pamela is lead author, with Kotchakorn Voraakhom as contributing author and many additional contributors, of the recently published WORKS with Nature: Low Carbon Adaptation Techniques for a Changing World, which features 100 low-carbon landscape techniques to address global challenges. The guide includes 23 projects that are Case Study Briefs in the Landscape Performance Series. In this Collection, explore Pamela’s favorite high-performing projects included in WORKS with Nature alongside tools for landscape architects and others to implement Climate Positive Design principles in their work.  

1. Case Study Brief

   

   Eliseo Collazos Fog Water Farm-Park and Gardens

   Lima, Peru

   “Presented in WORKS with Nature as a nature-based and low-carbon technique for addressing drought in resource-scarce communities, this project features a unique fog collection technique for an informal community outside of Lima, Peru. ”

2. Benefits Toolkit

   

   Pathfinder 3.0

   Climate Positive Design

   “Pathfinder remains a key tool for estimating performance for sites and infrastructure during the design process. It also makes recommended adjustments to help users achieve a more climate and nature positive outcomes. The newest update to Pathfinder (3.0) expanded the carbon material dataset, enhanced climate-related metrics, and added new tools for biodiversity, water use, cooling, and equity. ”

3. Case Study Brief

   

   Environment and Natural Resources 2 Building (ENR2)

   Tucson, Arizona

   “Included WORKS with Nature to illustrate a low-carbon solution to extreme heat, the interior courtyard of this University of Arizona campus building uses achieves passive cooling along with native and adapted plants that are irrigated using a unique water harvesting system. ”

4. Case Study Brief

   

   Riyadh Bioremediation Facility

   Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

   “An energy-saving approach to wastewater management, these low-carbon treatment wetlands manage Riyadh’s sewage passively by working with nature. 132 biocells oxygenate water and support diverse organisms to break down wastewater. ”

5. Case Study Brief

   

   Hardscrabble Wind Power Project

   Fairfield, New York

   “Renewables have a significant place in low-carbon conversations, but they will only be successfully adapted with support from communities and a thorough understanding of environmental impacts. WORKS with Nature features this rural New York wind farm to illustrate the important role of visual simulations in community acceptance of renewable energy projects. ”

6. Case Study Brief

   

   Ballast Point Park

   Birchgrove, New South Wales, Australia

   “Materials reuse is a key aspect of low-carbon landscapes. This Sydney park implemented widespread use of gabions baskets containing about 22,000 tons of construction rubble to create a park that draws inspiration and form from the site’s former state as a quarry. ”

7. Benefits Toolkit

   

   Carbon Conscience

   Sasaki

   “This tool, developed by 2022-23 LAF Fellow Christopher Roth Hardy and Sasaki, is an excellent complement to Pathfinder. It focuses on a planning scale and is appropriate for earlier in the design process—where decisions can have a major impact on potential carbon emissions, storage, and sequestration. ”

8. Case Study Brief

   

   Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, Phase 1

   Houston, Texas

   “While included in WORKS with Nature to illustrate flood-management, this Houston arboretum also used a low-carbon technique to (re)design with nature. When the site’s tree canopy sustained significant damage over a series of natural disasters, portions were restored to endemic grasslands instead of just replanting trees. This approach speaks to the importance of respecting natural ecosystems as part of a lower-emissions approach. ”

9. Case Study Brief

   

   Eagle View Camp

   Naboisho, Kenya

   “An important aspect of land-based low-carbon techniques is eco-stewardship and local agency. A public-private partnership fully owned by the indigenous Koiyaki Maasai people, this lodge was restored with minimal impact on the existing landscape of the Mara Naboisho Wildlife Conservancy. ”

10. Case Study Brief

    

    Chicago Riverwalk, Phases 2 & 3

    Chicago, Illinois

    “Introducing and restoring biodiversity in highly urban environments is also key to low-carbon approaches. WORKS with Nature highlights this Chicago project for its floating wetlands, nature-based constructed systems that rise and fall with water levels and provide habitat for a variety of wildlife while improving water quality. ”