TEDxSoMa

The Green Economy Needs a New Real Estate Model

Dr. Kevin Danaher, Global Exchange

From the program: Described by The New York Times as the “Paul Revere of globalization’s woes,” Dr. Kevin Danaher’s analytical expertise, sense of humor and blunt eloquence make him an exceptionally dynamic speaker. Dr. Kevin Danaher is a co-founder of Global Exchange (1988), founder and Executive Co-Producer of the Green Festivals (2001), and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center (2004). Dr. Danaher has spoken at universities and for community organizations throughout the U.S. He conducts workshops on issues ranging from the dynamics of the global economy to how we can replace the power of transnational corporations with local green economy networks. A longtime critic of the so-called “free trade” agenda, Dr. Danaher explains how we must work with other countries to reduce poverty and inequality if we want the cooperation of the world’s people in ending terrorism. Dr. Danaher has published numerous articles and is the author and/or editor of twelve books, including his latest, “Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots”.

The environmental crisis we’re in requires new institutional models. Houston and Miami are going to go under water no mater what we do, deforestation, topsoil is eroding, glaciers and polar ice is melting. And there are a lot of green movements, but they’re taking place in silos, so we have to bring them together. And for him, this consists of new real estate model with three components:

• Urban, transit-oriented mix: affordable housing for teachers and green commercial space with green retail and offices
• Eco-industrial park producing green goods and services for the local market
• Rural property that combines a working farm, a teaching farm, a retreat center for the two urban groups, a green careers training camp, and an intentional retirement community for green baby boomers

Urban combination of green residential and commercial space

• Affordable green housing
• Well-paid green jobs
• Teaching the community to restore our balance with nature
• Unites retail event space, offices, gardens supplying the food court, eco-gym, youth center, theater

They’re in eight high schools with an environmental learning initiative, and these are the kids who are going to be running the world when we have environmental impacts we can’t even imagine now.

His real estate model has offices of green companies, environmental groups, city agencies, etc (green festival partners). The greenhouse and terrace gardens grow food for the food court and teaching urban agriculture. They also have a lending library of power tools and expensive appliances.

Green Building Materials Showcase

The building can be an exploratorium of green building technology. Imagine a giant glass-front building with nothing but green inside — it’ll look like you’ve taken a chunk of mountain and dropped it in the city. The convergence of cutting-edge green building techniques will make the building a tourist attraction, with regular tours of the building.

Eco-Industrial Park

Reclaimed urban ‘brownfields’ producing ecological products for the market. Green building supplies showroom, nursery promoting urban agriculture, etc.

Social Justice Farm

Working farm/teaching farm, retreat ccenter for urban groups, training camp for green career skills, intentional retirement community for aging leftists. Each sector cross-pollinates the other. Synergizes the two other real estate models.

Connect the three models: growing raw materials on the farm that are manufactured into finished products at the eco-industrial park and sold in the commercial space. Youth from the urban centers can get out of the city for training at the farm, etc.

Can we transform military bases into eco-development centers? There are 865 military bases outside the US. The force structure of the US military is all wrong; it was designed to fight a Soviet tank army but the new threat is a zealot with a suitcase bomb. Now winning hearts and minds is more powerful than tanks and bombs. Eco-development centers would protect better than tanks and bombs.

Most Americans don’t realize we’re an empire. We could transform Guantanamo into an eco-development center.

He closes with a prime directive from William McDonough: “How do we love all the children of all the species for all time?”