What was that good thing? The US federal government under took to mobilize the intellectual assets of the younger generations to meet the challenge of technology and engineering symbolized by the Russians launching a menacing, volleyball-sized satellite.
I was a direct recipient of that federal initiative. To my surprise I was tagged as a potential learner and was pushed forward in my education. I have never-ending gratitude to the public school system in the State of Iowa.
Well, here we are again nearly 70 years later…. challenged by the Russians in another European regional war and more contemporaneously facing a global climate crisis. I am a lifelong engineer and designer of buildings as well as related components of a man-built environment. Unfortunately, my industry does not score well in it's application of a applied technology to help design and construct solutions to reduce 30% overall cost of energy for buildings in the United States.
Without going to further afield here, I suggest that leveraged solutions lie at the heart of this market society; “market society” means a society that in part runs on raw financial mechanics. Further, these raw financial mechanics are managed and directed by boards of directors, and executives that make financial decisions and provide leadership. This can be viewed as an opportunity.
Anecdotally, over the past several weeks and in my consulting practice, I have watched a series of decisions concerning a large real estate investment which unfortunately could not be more damaging to the environment. Not a single choice seemed to grow from a deep and effective awareness of the consequences of these middle-management decisions. The opportunity is executive investment leadership.
In my industry, organizations who wish to influence these decisions are often “selling” to the wrong parties. While design professionals and contractors are tactically in the middle of these processes, they do not put these processes in motion. Consequently, without these upstream hearts and minds being informed and called to action, our market society fails to mobilize in response to the “Sputnik” of this era.
So indeed, the solution seems to lie in focused public dialogue that ultimately brings investment in the tactics that will meet the climate change head-on. As one of my wise colleagues once quipped: major shifts in societal momentum are often spear-headed by government action. Sadly, last week the federal government failed to act (again). That federal government failure is coincident in time with the local, ill-informed investment choices described above.
Make no mistake, appropriations are essential. However, effective discourse and learning in this market society come first. I hope you will post this letter; I am anxious to see what responses it might provoke.
Postscript:
The image at the top of is the post is the new USAA facility in Dallas and is an example the application of innovative and applied building technology: a hybrid steel and timber building. The hybrid uses crosslaminated timber ("CLT") for walls and an efficient steel frame for the roof. The CLT is approriate for the wall and is both energy effective and beautiful. Clearly mission at USAA led the way. Well done!
Also see: https://kalesnikoff.com/projects/cross-laminated-timber-warehouse/ and https://kalesnikoff.com/