2023 Louisville Sustainability Summit

Livable Louisville:

Addressing local climate risks through planning and design.

Across the country Americans are facing the effects of a changing climate with increased extreme weather events like hurricanes, tornados, and heat waves causing poor air quality, dangerous forest fires, and flooding. Recent studies predict Kentucky’s risk of extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and inland floods will increase significantly. At the 2023 Louisville Sustainability Council Summit, we explore the risks and stressors our region is facing and how our buildings and cities can adapt to this new normal and address the problems.

Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at Louisville Visual Art 1538 Lytle St

Listen to the recording of the 2023 Sustainability Summit

Keynote Speaker

Jennifer Bloom Leone, AIA, Chief Sustainability Officer
New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development

As Chief Sustainability Officer for New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development (“HPD”) – the largest municipal developer of affordable housing in the country – Jennifer’s work includes setting a holistic sustainability agenda and policy for the agency - ensuring that HPD projects and portfolio can meet New York City’s ambitious climate goals while addressing the unique health and safety needs of the vulnerable populations they support.

Jennifer serves as NYC’s affordable housing liaison on critical climate policy and legislation, in addition to developing policies and programs to support building decarbonization and electrification. Key initiatives include development of HPD’s low carbon and climate resilient Design Guidelines, HPD’s $24 million Retrofit Electrification Pilot, the $15 million Future Housing Initiative, and HPD’s Solar Where Feasible Program, which as of August 2023 supported over 12 MW of cost-effective solar across HPD’s development projects.

Keynote: Sustainability Lessons from NYC to KY

Jennifer Bloom Leone, AIA, LEED, Chief Sustainability Officer NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), oversees the strategic development and implementation of HPD's standards, programs and policies to meet the goals of the Mayor's Climate Action Plan "PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done” to tackle climate change and other strategic initiatives. Jennifer will discuss how HPD’s new standards, policies and programs ensure that NYC’s affordable housing can meet New York City’s ambitious climate goals while addressing the unique health and safety needs of the vulnerable populations that HPD supports. She will also discuss next steps and lessons learned and how businesses and non-profits can work together to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.


Housing for a Changed Climate

The impact of climate change affects all Louisvillians. The places where we live and work have a significant impact on our ability to respond to the anticipated shocks and stressors. Panelists will discuss the need for and benefits of healthy, sustainable, and affordable housing. Learn about local and federal financial incentives, design strategies, and development approaches necessary to deliver healthy housing equitably while adding value to our city.

PANEL SPEAKERS

  • Cassia Herron is a proud Kentuckian and as a community development professional and public policy activist has over 20 years of experience working on projects at the intersections of community and economic development, food and the built environment that transform local food systems and the energy economy. She has organized farmers markets in West Louisville with Community Farm Alliance and later served as Board Chair. When she worked in the Economic Development Department for Louisville Metro Government, Cassia was instrumental in establishing the Farm-to-Table initiative. As the President of Louisville Association for Community Economics, she led the organizing efforts to incorporate the Louisville Community Grocery - a community-owned grocery store in one of Louisville's downtown neighborhoods. As Board Chair of Kentuckians for The Commonwealth, she has been engaged in energy reform - including advisor to President Biden’s Justice 40 Initiative - voter engagement, racial justice issues and was critical to its organizational change initiative to center people of color in KFTC’s leadership. Cassia works as a planning and strategy advisor and freelance writer with expertise in organizing and community engagement, fundraising, strategic planning and policy development. Most recently, Cassia served as the Director of Government & Public Affairs with TBAIN & CO and is a consultant and member-owner of Columinate - a cooperative of cooperative development consultants. Cassia is a graduate of the University of Louisville and has a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.

  • Marilyn S. Harris is the Director of the Office of Housing and Community Development at Louisville Metro. She has previously served as the Director of Develop Louisville, and the Director of the Office of Housing. Marilyn is National Development Council Certified, and a Housing Development Finance Professional.

    She holds a Bachelors of Science in Sociology, and a Masters of Social Administration from Bellarmine College.

  • Ben Eilerman, is the Director of Real Estate Development for Over-the-Rhine Community Housing where he leads affordable housing development projects from initial concept, through funding, construction and occupancy, furthering the mission of the organization to “develop and manage resident-centered affordable housing to build inclusive community and benefit low-income residents”.

    Ben also brings professional experience as a LEED certified, licensed architect, having practiced in the Cincinnati region for over 10 years.

  • As GBBN’s Director of Sustainability and Resilience, Tiffany provides strategic leadership for sustainable design across the firm’s portfolio of projects and spearheads initiatives related to resilience and well-being, including the GBBN Sustainability Action Network. Her work includes sustainable design on projects from international supertall mixed-use to existing building renovations in 20+ countries. Tiffany is focused on creating low-carbon, healthy spaces at GBBN and advancing a circular economy regionally.

    She practiced architecture, worked as a sustainability consultant, and developed education for the green building industry, for over 15 years in New York City before returning to the Midwest. She also earned an M. Arch Sustainable Environmental Design from the Architectural Association in London, complimenting her B. Arch from the University of Kentucky. Tiffany serves on several non-profit boards and committees including the Greenbuild Summit Advisory Board, Fitwel Advisory Council, Louisville Sustainability Council, and Cincinnati 2030 District Health Strategy Committee.

Global Crisis, Local Response

As the number of dangerous heat days, periods of drought, risk of flooding, and wildfires increase throughout the state, city leaders grapple with how to improve community resilience and quality of life. Our moderator and panelists - from key community institutions: government, academia, and planning and land management - will identify Louisville-specific climate risks and key strategies for addressing these issues and to improve the livability of Louisville.

PANEL SPEAKERS

  • Allison Smith holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Louisville where she studied aquatic ecology. Her dissertation investigated climate change effects on freshwater foodwebs including zooplankton and freshwater jellyfish in lakes and the Ohio River. After graduating, she took a post-doctoral research position at the Center for Environmental Policy and Management and worked on brownfields remediation, environmental justice, and housing policy. In October 2015, she joined Louisville Metro Government in Kentucky as the Brownfields Program Manager where she oversaw the identification, assessment, remediation and redevelopment of contaminated sites. In 2020, she became the Assistant Director of the Office of Advanced Planning and Sustainability where she oversaw all climate change and sustainability initiatives for the city. In this role, she worked to advance the city’s renewable energy, emissions reduction, and energy efficiency goals through policy, programs, and collaboration with community partners. In 2022, she joined the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as a Project Manager where she provides technical assistance on energy transitions to states, local governments, and Tribes in the Accelerated Deployment and Decision Support Center. Her research interests include inclusive community engagement and the effects of green technology on housing justice.

  • Sumedha Rao is the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. She is committed to catalyzing robust, inclusive, and collaborative solutions for a greener Louisville!

    Sumedha has a background in urban sustainability, environmental policy, and green building in the United States and India. In 2022, Sumedha was named a Future Leader by the Aspen Institute, among 100 climate leaders in North America under the age of 30. Sumedha holds a master’s degree in Sustainability Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from St. Joseph’s College in India, and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED AP, accreditation.

  • Brooke Pardue is the President & CEO of the Parks Alliance of Louisville, a nonprofit supporting more than 100 of our public parks and recreation centers, two-thirds of which are located in underserved neighborhoods. She believes public parks are powerful green infrastructure that strengthen communities, improve health and the environment, and spur economic revitalization.

  • Patrick is the Director of the Urban Design Studio at the University of Louisville. For more than 15 years he has been driven to improve the quality of place through the development of programs and projects that activate and pre-vitalize underutilized spaces. He has a particular focus on exploring ways to integrate nature into cities, understanding how the design and function of cities impacts health, and engaging the community with the goal to rebuilding the fragmented urban fabric of cities. Over the past seven years, Patrick has also worked as an urban designer for Hyphae Design Lab out of Oakland, California, YARD & Company out of Cincinnati, and the Louisville Downtown Partnership.

The following AIA CEU Learning units will be available:

  • Local Response, Global Crisis 1 LU/HSW

  • Housing for a Changed Climate 1 LU/HSW

  • Sustainability Lessons from NYC to KY 1LU/HSW

After Party + Art Exhibit

Join us immediately after the Summit from 5-7 pm for a reception across the street at PORTAL @ fifteenTWELVE. The after party will include heavy hors d’oeuvres provided by Farm to Fork Catering and included with your Summit ticket, as well as a cash bar.

A new special exhibit titled "The Sustainability Compass - N, E, S, W" curated by Rebecca Norton & Clare Hirn will make its debut. Works by: Nathan Smith, Clare Hirn, Gwen Burke, Rebecca Norton, Danica Novgorodoff, Jim Weaver, Fran Kremmer, Katy Marshall, and Julia Coash.

Curated for the Louisville Sustainability Summit, ‘The Sustainable Compass; N,E,S,W’ brings together a diverse group of individuals whose work is informed by the history and practices in sustainable thinking and design. This exhibit uses the language and framework of "The Sustainability Compass" to build a discussion about the sustainable practices in the built environment.

-Rebecca Norton, Curator

The Artists

You can get a preview of what to expect at the 10th Annual Sustainability Summit by listening to Louisville’s Forward Radio WFMP-LP 106.5 FM to hear all about what our guest speakers will have to say about the Built Environment this year. Listen now on Soundcloud.

Thank You 2023 Sustainability Summit Sponsors!

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