Redesigning surburbia for a climate friendly future
Located on the West Coast and sharing its northern border with Canada, Washington is wildly susceptible to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. This is because it sits among settlements along the Pacific Ring of Fire which is a horse-shoe shaped belt on the Pacific Rim that is 40,000km long and 500 km wide. Earthquakes have occurred before with its associated toll on lives and property but the last one was in 2001. That aside, the state’s contribution to the economy of the USA ($725,513,000,000 / nominal GDP), and its footing in the drive for technologically climate resilient infrastructure is at global star status. Seattle’s climate is the most attractive facet of its proposition to tourists and its hilly landscape proves to hold promises for the future, not just for technologists but for immigrants as well.
From the number of technology big shots (Amazon) and technology startups (Stormsensor, Chomp, Madrona) that call the state of Washington home, in particular, Seattle, one can surmount that the ethos of the modern community that was once Duwamish and Suquamish Native American tribes is at present a pot-pouri of nationalities, tastes, and culture.
Because of the super climate conscious policies at the top level of government in the West Coast in recent years, enterprise and technology have solidified their place in second, tailing the people factor in the fight against climate change. From the way homes are built to how infrastructure like roads are developed, Seattle is innovating and providing solutions that meet new societal objectives. Within this unique value chain for sustainability, activities to meet the water shortage issue that isn't even peculiar to the city are commonplace simply because of the sheer amount of rainfall that the city experiences. Average annual temperature in the Seattle area typically presents a record low of 8C and a high of 16C, meanwhile recorded average annual precipitation in Seattle is 39.3 inches in a 156 days period. You’d imagine nylon and polyester to be a major source of revenue for the state but that's a tirade for another long write-up.
To meet the sustainability opportunity that rainfall brings, the city has set up a number of drives with one in particular called 10,000 Rain Gardens at Puget Sound. As the name of the program implies, it seeks to hit the milestone of 10,000 rain gardens in Puget Sound. Rain gardens in homes, schools, and communities will beautify the surroundings, ensure lower water pollution (runoffs and greywater) and prevent flooding. A major win for estate developers will be the increase in home value. The 10,000 Rain Garden drive is currently at 6,207 gardens as of September 2023.
The value chain for water stewardship isn't complete without censoring, monitoring and reporting capabilities. Drinking water and its sources is just as important as wastewater and drainage in Seattle, thus, in order to create effective policies to manage its susceptibility to flooding, a plethora of climate technology startups in the city are operating at an impressive scale. A number of these companies, including state owned and state managed agencies are; Seattle 2030 District, which is a platform for developers to collaborate for the development of high-performance buildings in the downtown Seattle area. The public-private partnership company serves as a model for modern and urban sustainability and boasts a community of 1,650 members who provide a support system by way of funding and other means. Their goals include reducing water consumption or water wastage, greenhouse emissions, and energy savings in downtown Seattle and environs.
Contamination of water from food waste is an issue that is being addressed by another local Washington company called Chomp. Chomp has included water conservation in their food waste disposal invention with a novel anaerobic digestion process which entirely takes place in self contained vessels. The byproduct of the technology is energy production and biofertilizer while circumventing the need for landfills or incineration.
Urban city planners typically integrate a good amount of eco-friendly measures into road construction, municipal waste and drainage, and landscape management. The metering and monitoring component earlier mentioned is an important part of any modern development plan. The ability to churn out a report on the temperature of waste water to detect chemical contamination, and the capability to use software to measure pressure in drainage pipes and waste water levels is directly being capitalised on by a company called Stormsensor. Companies like Stormsensor boast of interdisciplinary teams that know all about the water issue from a denizen perspective because the c-suite are locals. nZero is another startup in the Seattle area that has an inspiring network of professionals and consultants that essentially analyse corporate policies for carbon footprint and the carbon reduction measures that a company may have adopted.
Lastly, Green Canopy NODE, a construction technology company in the water stewardship value chain provides eco-friendly and climate inclusive sustainable homes by meeting the housing crisis head-on. It addresses the climate as one of its societal objectives in an urban circular economy with patented designs for easy deconstruction, if customers opt for relocation. It addresses SDG goals 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, & 17. Phew!
In conclusion, Seattle's population grew by 2.4% between 2021 and 2022, the fastest rate of growth among the largest states in the US, while also hitting the mark as Washington’s largest city in 2022. With statistics like these, it is no wonder that jobs, the economy, and the water resilience lifestyle of the city makes it an attractive honeypot.