Sustainability is often cut when budgets tighten, but it doesn't have to be. Michigan's Kalamazoo College made climate strategies non-negotiables by aligning value (e.g., cost, incentives, performance) with values (e.g., equity, resilience, student dignity).
Join us for an interactive workshop highlighting project examples from Kalamazoo, such as a parking lot that became a rain garden, solar canopy, and geothermal wellfield. (Even when costs rose 10%, the college never considered dropping geothermal.) Plus, take part in a value-alignment exercise, mapping design moves across financial, social, and ecological layers to build "sticky" sustainability that survives volatility.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate how regenerative design strategies can deliver multiple layers of value (e.g., financial, ecological, cultural) beyond performance metrics alone.
- Review a case study in which climate action measures survived major cost escalation through value alignment.
- Learn how to apply incentive tools such as the IRA Investment Tax Credit to strengthen economic feasibility of resilient systems.
- Practice facilitating a value-alignment exercise that equips clients to protect climate and justice strategies during cost escalation.