(A02) Environmental Justice – Start Here

For any project coming into being in this age, social equity cannot be an add on. Environmental justice is part of every decision we make on a project, whether consciously or not, and addressing it at all phases can make the difference between a project that ignores opportunities and creates risk, and one that can have long and lasting positive effects for all involved. There is a tool that can help you accomplish this on any project, even if you are just starting to consider equity. It starts with a checklist of questions we need to think about if we want to truly affect social equity. It moves to the tools needed to actually move the discussions further, all the way through design, construction, and beyond. The checklist is the newly-updated LEED Checklist for Social Impact, and the tool is the new Building Environmental Justice Tool (EJ Tool) created by Autocase, with financial support from the Large Firm Roundtable and additional input from members of the NAACP as well as other large & small AECs. Not only does the EJ Tool help you identify the issues that could be addressed, it brings together the tools to implement strategies you decide on. After presenting the checklist and the array of other resources that are part of the EJ Tool, we will conduct a live, interactive session exploring the metrics, questions, and think through project applications. This tool not only can help you achieve BD+C v4.1 LEED credits, it can create a place for all involved to come together and understand how social equity can and must seamlessly fit into every project.