by Rachel Mckay
Not only does Los Angeles, California face similar effects from climate change as New Zealand, but it also shares another problem: a housing crisis. As Matt Petersen shared at the NZGBC’s Housing Summit, LA has the most expensive housing in the US relative to income. It suffers from incredible crowding and population density, and on top of this, LA has the greenest requirements for housing of any state in the US.
Matt’s first experience in housing was volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, where he decided to focus on greening the Jimmy Carter Project around the United States. His initiative started with recycling waste from materials and construction.
His mission then on was to make green building affordable, especially for low income families who need it the most. “Why burden someone, particularly a low-income family, with high energy bills and poor indoor air quality… We need to approach these challenges together,” Matt argued.
He wrote the book, “The Blueprint to Creating Affordable Housing” to show people that it was possible to build houses that are green and financially feasible, then to provide a roadmap to do so.
Matt partnered with Brad Pitt and the Global Green organization to host a design competition and rebuild a greener New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
They created five single family homes that were the first LEED Platinum homes, which is the highest green building rating in the US. As Matt said, “We had a crazy idea, we did what people thought was impossible.”
From there, Matt pushed for socioeconomic justice in the housing sector by persuading California’s state government to allocate 25 percent of their tax credits to low income communities that disproportionately struggle with effects of climate change.
Thanks to Matt’s efforts, LA has more LEED certified square footage than any other city in America. “You have to go from seeing your code as a ceiling to being a floor,” he advised.
In California, Matt started the initiative to convince mayors to implement the Paris Climate Agreement in their cities. When Donald Trump took office, the number of participating mayors jumped. Then after the US pulled out of the agreement, the number continued to rise to 406, pledging to uphold the agreement on the local level despite resistance from the national government.
As Matt ventured into the public sector, he helped create the sustainable city plan to promote holistic green development. “We didn’t see the environment, equity, and equality as different things,” he commented. “They have to go together.”
While the plans Matt made set a clear roadmap for sustainable development, he emphasized the need to focus on certainty, by examining if changes are actually happening on the ground.
Thinking about the big picture, Matt called the audience to “think about where we are.” In the Anthropocene, humans alone have the dominant influence on climate change. Matt put this in perspective, saying, “Humanity has impacted the world so much that we have defined a new geologic age.”
Wrapping up, Matt challenged New Zealand to act now, to combat climate change and work to solve the housing crisis as Los Angeles has. “We need New Zealand to be bold,” he argued. “You are a small but mighty country… Your nation punches far beyond your weight.” He then challenged New Zealand to take this responsibility seriously, and actively unite to tackle the housing crisis with green solutions.
Matt left the audience with the secret to saving the world. He asked the audience to stand, hold up their hand and pledge the phrase, “I love my home.” If we love our home, love people and love planet earth, we will work together to take care of each other.