Sustainability

High-performance Buildings, Neighborhoods and the Seattle 2030 District

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Sustainability and community are at the core of our practice. Achieving sustainability at the scale of the neighborhood is achieved over time and as the Portland Sustainability Institute reminds us and "...is the legacy of a generation, not the outcome of a single initiative or investment." At Schemata Workshop, we are engaging our community to build and steward long-term commitments to not only sustainability, but truly regenerative design by which we can actually improve the ecology of a place.

Toward this goal, we aspire to empower citizens to create and manage design and sustainability efforts in our community. Our work with the community on Design Recommendation Guidelines for the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station proved that this is possible and that residents are ready to take part in shaping our community. While boundaries are often blurred, the neighborhood is a scale at which citizens are empowered and impacts (both positive & negative) are readily visible. Our interest in positive change in our community continues to be the core reason for our involvement with the Capitol Hill (CH) community through the 12th Avenue Initiative, CH Chamber, CH Community Council, 12th Avenue Transportation Safety Committee, Seattle Central Community College Advisory Board, among others.

People matter most. We all will generally admit that, but it’s been strengthened over the past decade through our work with cohousing communities, our experience on the board of the National Cohousing Association, our work on a variety of community centers, our participation at Housing Washington, and our work in support of local housing developers. A sense of community is critical to achieving social cohesion and connections to people committed to sustainability goals.

Schemata Workshop, and I personally, have signed on as a founding member of the Seattle 2030 District as my commitment to helping the City, and building owners in particular, achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. While Capitol Hill was identified as Phase 3 of the district expansion, the opportunities here are great, the time is right and I continue to advocate for including Capitol Hill as the group moves forward with Phase 2.

www.2030district.org/seattle

Here's a link to a short video describing the efforts of a number of individuals and organizations (Don't blink, but Grace & I show up just before the 3:00 minute mark):

Keep an eye on our website and blog for more on the topic as we begin to articulate what we're up to on issues related to sustainability.

Mike

City Chickens Part One: Taking the Chicken Plunge

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[caption id="attachment_1882" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="Rosie (Rhode Island Red), Buddha (Brahma), Butch (Americauna), Lemon (Buff Orpington). Not shown: Star (Silver Laced Wyandotte), Zebra (Cuckoo Maran)"][/caption] Two months ago my housemates and I felt inspired to take our desire for local sustainable food to the next level; we got four baby chickens.  These four new household members took up lodging in our office in a new 94 quart plastic tote lined with some wood chips. Apparently baby chickens are not very picky about their housing and were happily chirping and scratching away within minutes of arriving.

Four soft downy baby chickens huddled in a pile under a brooding lamp is just one of those irresistible sights. So irresistible, we quickly had two more baby chickens to add to the United Nations of Chickens. The city limit is eight chickens after all! One of my housemates, affectionately know as the chicken guru, can tell you the breed of each chicken but the rest of us know them as: Rosie, Buddha, Butch, Star, Zebra, and Lemon.

There were a lot of decisions to be made about how to raise our little girls even in the early stages. Do we give them the antibiotic feed recommended for little baby chicks? What kind of bedding should we use? Do we give our babies bird electrolytes? How warm do they need to stay? Will there really be dust everywhere? How do we keep them from getting their food clogged with shavings all the time? Should we really feed them eggs?

...........to read about how we answered these questions link to the full blog post on my gardening project Edible Dirt.

[caption id="attachment_1884" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="The chickens got a temporary upgrade from their original plastic tote while we start to make plans for coop building."][/caption]

Stenciled Bikes

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[caption id="attachment_1774" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="Bike lane outside Schemata Workshop on 12th Avenue."]Bike Lane[/caption] Much like Katherine I decided that May, official Bike to Work month, was a great opportunity to recommit to biking to work.  I was a fairly regular bike commuter five years ago when I worked downtown and lived in Greenwood but since then I’ve either worked close enough to walk to work or was on the road traveling for work.  The biggest difference I notice about biking now versus five years ago is all the new bike lanes, green bike lanes at intersections and sharrows (shared-lane markings) painted on the city streets.  These white stenciled bikes painted on the streets definitely make me feel like a more ligitimate user of the roadways.  As a biker I’m always hyper-aware of the dangers present when on the road.  Simple things can lead to dangerous accidents when you are on your bike such as a car door opening while passing parked cars, a car turning right across my path without noticing me, a car pulling out of a hidden driveway, the unaware driver at the four way stop who hasn’t noticed me, a newly formed pothole waiting to devour my bike, and the list goes one.  There are some drivers out there that get frustrated sharing the roadway with bikes but thankfully I have personally found those few and far between. The more common problems I’ve encountered with cars are that we bikers are just not super visible.  The good news is the image of my bike painted on the street seems to go a long way to remind my fellow car-driving road users that I and other bikers are also using the road. Seattle bike system may not be perfect and we have some ways to go before I would truly call us a bike friendly city but I am one biker that is happy with the direction we are headed.

On one of my evening rides home this month I decided to take a detour through downtown and head home along Dexter. It was fun to see the new road improvements currently underway that will create more buffered space between cars and bikes.  Later when I was looking up information about the construction I was surprised to learn that Dexter is one of the highest used bike lanes in Seattle but currently does not actually meet SDOT bike lane guidelines.  This is soon to be changed! The upgrade to Dexter will provide a substantial buffer between cars and bikes.  Most studies show buffers decrease serious bike-car accidents.  Dexter was originally slated for a Cycle Track, a two way bike lane separated from car traffic, but there was  debate on how much added safety (if any) these Cycle Tracks provide and if they were a actually a good fit for Dexter given the uses and layout of the street.  After community feedback the Dexter design was ultimately changed to provide buffer space between cars and bikes but not a Cycle Track.  That said SDOT has other Cycle Tracks proposed throughout the city. Community groups and SDOT are currently working to develop Cycle Tracks in a way that both increases bike ridership while providing added safety.

[caption id="attachment_1775" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Dexter road improvements currently underway will add buffered bike lanes."]Dexter Road Improvements[/caption]

Dexter and the proposed Cycle Tracks are not part of my daily Greenwood to Capitol Hill commute but I’m still very excited for these projects.  New bicycle road improvements encourage more car commuters to become bike commuters. More bike commuters increase bike awareness for drivers and bikers alike. More awareness leads to better and more creative solutions that keep bike commuters safer.  Safer bike commuters lead to more bike commuters…. It’s a feedback loop that will continue to lead us towards a more bike friendly Seattle. And this ultimately leads to a more environmentally friendly way to get all of us to work!

Bike to Work month

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As many of you may know the month of May is Bike to Work month. The Schemata Workshop crew reflects on the past month and concludes that we put in a solid effort to reduce our offices carbon footprint. John Feit led our team and road to work every day, as he always does;  Dominique came in second with her commitment of biking 75% of the time and I came in last but not least biking to work 40% of the month due to a bike accident (faulty new tire) at the end of the second week. Although the rest of the Schemata Workshop crew might not be biking they arrive by either walking or taking the bus. You will typically only find one car parked at our office, our company Prius.

With my bike and body on the mend from my accident I was part of the commuting via foot group. This is certainly a commendable and sustainable approach but I reminisce about my experience riding to work. When riding not only do I decrease my commute to approximately 9 minutes, I also gain a better perspective at the start of the day. I can’t help but smile as I whizz past all those waiting at the bus stop near my house. Instead of riding along my regular walking route on Roy to Broadway then up to 12th Ave E via E John Street, I snake my way up the hill from Bellevue Ave. E on all the back streets, listening to the birds and admiring the old apartment buildings along the way, as I slowly but surely take on the hill. When I cross Broadway I gain a sense of accomplishment as I make it to the top leaving only one small hill up to 12th Ave E to go. Then the last small jaunt goes slightly downhill giving me a moment of no pedaling and a small breeze before I arrive at work - ready to tackle the day. 

Beginning my day after my energizing morning routine has been very rewarding and I look forward to being fully healed and my bike repaired so I can extend the Bike to Work month to become Bike to Work year and so on. My colleagues are going to continue to do the same. With such popularity and commitment from the Schemata Workshop crew there’s talk that our office will be creating a shelter to lock up our bikes as the entry space at our office isn’t quite big enough for 3+ bikes but more on this later....