Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Fall 2008 - (Page 15)

Q: First off, congratulations on all of your achieve- ments, but particularly, getting a us $4.50 per square-foot tax abatement for green roofs in New York City. This is a victory for the green roof industry, not to mention the planet and the citizens and inhabitants of New York State. A: Thank you. Q: What was the genesis of swim? A: swim grew out of a grassroots environmental justice movement that has been working toward improved water quality for decades. Residents of the Bronx have taken ownership over the Bronx River. Over the last several decades, community efforts have resulted in the construction of parks and greenways, and the creation of environmental stewardship jobs to improve and maintain the river. Green roofs are attractive for their capacity to provide multiple benefits that can help us reduce the Bronx’s childhood high asthma rates (25 per cent) through improved air quality along with the opportunity to create meaningful jobs which can help reduce our high poverty rates. Groups such as the Bronx River Alliance were formed to coordinate much of the on-the-ground improvement that was occurring along the Bronx River. At the same time, environmental groups such as Natural Resources Defence Council and Riverkeeper have been litigating the City for decades over the need to improve water quality in New York City. What brought us all together in late 2006 was the fact that the City of New York was not adequately incorporating green infrastructure into its stormwater management plans. In New York City, combined sewage overflows release 27 billion gallons of raw sewage and polluted storm water into our city’s waterways. Due to water quality problems nationally, the u.s. Federal Clean Water Act mandates that local municipalities enhance water quality for existing uses—which, in New York City, includes both fishing and swimming. Despite grassroots efforts urging the use of green infrastructure and United States epa documentation encouraging the use of green infrastructure for stormwater management, the plan submitted by the City relies entirely on end-of-thepipe solutions that are not cost-effective and will fall short of adequately improving water quality. Because swimmable and fishable waterways are important to New York City’s vitality, we joined efforts and formed swim – because Storm Water Infrastructure Matters. Q: Why did you personally become involved “We run a job training program that creates pathways out of poverty, in which we train participants in green roof installation and maintenance.” A: Professionally, co-founding swim was a natural extension out of the work that I had been performing at Sustainable South Bronx to advocate for the implementation of green infrastructure. It became apparent that a broader coalition was necessary for us to impact change at a meaningful scale. On a personal level, working as part of swim enables me to live out my Quaker values of peace, integrity, equality, simplicity, community and stewardship. Q: How is swim funded? A: swim does not receive independent funding. Our organizations raise funds individually even though we work collectively as part of this coalition. Q: Do you have a sense of how much it cost collec- tively to get this legislation passed ultimately? A: It’s difficult to say because swim costs are folded into the costs of independent organizations. The concept of a tax abatement was announced as part of the city’s sustainability plan (planyc 2030) in April 2007. In terms of time, once the passage of the green roof tax abatement was swim’s primary policy goal in January, 2008, it took about six months to see this tax abatement get passed through our state legislation in Albany. Q: One of the amazing things about this legisla- together tremendously enhances our ability to affect policy. swim includes environmental and land use attorneys who understand the technicalities behind legislation, environmental justice groups that understand how the legislation can impact communities and green jobs, developers and architects who are interested in implementing these strategies. We also worked very closely with the green roof industry which helped us to understand many of the specifications and considerations that needed to be included in green roof-related legislation. One reason we have been successful is that we have established clear roles, which are defined such that each organization focuses on its strengths. It also helps that we have developed team chemistry. We’ve increased trust through working and succeeding together. We are patient with one another. Plus, we have a sense of humour and are a community of learners. I am grateful for working with and learning from such supportive colleagues. Q: What were some of the challenges of working with swim? tion is the amazing number of people behind it — more than 50 organizations. Can you tell us more about the process of collaboration with such a large number of organizations? How did you work together? A: We are focused on our common goal of greening nyc to improve water quality. Working with many stakeholder groups representing a diverse spectrum of missions and interests? A: We have taken issues that typically are challenges for coalitions and used them as opportunities to enhance our work. We have a transparent decision-making process for how we prioritize our issues — and a steering committee, comprised of representatives from eight key organizations, guides this process. Through the steering committee we are able to react quickly, work with the broader coalition where relevant, and host biannual public forums for stakeholders, from throughout the city, to collaborate together. Having LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR FALL 15

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Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Fall 2008 Contents From the Founder: A Robust Economy Letters Strata - People, Products & Projects: Austin's Hotspot for Habitat & Baltimore Hilton Goes Green A Green Roof for a County Courthouse Research Grant for Design Tool On the Roof With... A New Vue on Downtown Open Space Sound Transmission Loss of Extensive Green Roofs On Target Optimizing for Sustainability First GRHC Green Roof Symposium in Florida Welcome New Corporate Members Professional Calendar Experts Reflect on the Value of the GRP

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Fall 2008

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