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A COMMUNITY-
CENTERED CARBON
STRATEGY FOR
AMERICAN
MANUFACTURING

COVID-19 PSPL We studied how people's urban behavior changed in four cities in
Denmark during the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 22, 2021

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John Bela

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will require an order of magnitude change of mindset world, for over Francisco
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way Americans get to work, heat and cool their
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homes, and operate their factories. Gehl has been
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working with
3 Soft City principles – click and learn more
electric automobile manufacturers in
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the midwest, and along with a talented team of

experts has devised a community-centered carbon
GEHL LIVE strategy that could be a catalyst for ecological and
BLOG economic
PROJECTS regeneration
NEWS for theTALKS
community and
TOOLSthe BOOKSHELF CONTACT GUIDE

region.

A Community-Centered Social
Over the last several years media
as part of our and social and Mobility
Transportation TheandFuture of Stephen
Carbon Strategy for
Masterplanning space:
and Design studying
service offeringspublic Avenue, Calgary, Canada
in the US, Gehl has begun
to work with some major
American Manufacturing automobile
life manufacturers
in the time of COVID and mobility service
providers such as Ford and SPIN. Recently, we began working with a US-
based electric automobile manufacturer on a masterplan for a
midwestern campus expansion effort. Like many manufacturing
locations in the US, the site is in a relatively rural area, adjacent to a
small town embedded in an agrarian landscape.

Gehl is part of a multidisciplinary team that includes RIOS, Atelier Ten,

Applied Ecological Services, Inc (now RES), Buro Happold and others.
Gehl led the Visioning and Program Definition phases of the
masterplanning effort using our Vision Framework to focus on innovation
Designing the Future of Stephen Avenue is
in the domains of Culture and Society, Ecology, Architecture and about much more than a street re-design
Landscape, and Mobility and Infrastructure. Overall, the masterplan project. Faced with the challenges of a ...
focused on creating a human-centered factory. One of the key principles
that emerged from the visioning process is that the campus could be A alook at Downtown
President Biden’s new pledge to tackle
catalyst
America’s greenhouse gas ecological
for over
emissions the and economic regeneration for the communityWest’s Social
andanthe
coming decade will require region.
order ... Infrastructure Plan
Talks

HEALTH EQUITY At a time when we are living more locally and

not traveling, how can we continue to explore
INITIATIVE (HEI): people’s perceptions and ...

COMMUNITY- Bookshelf
DRIVEN URBAN
PLANNING TO
PROMOTE HEALTH
EQUITY AND
ADDRESS BIAS
Adriana Akers

Jun 10, 2021

We are thrilled to share our work for San José’s
Online Downtown West Social Infrastructure Plan.
Downtown West is a ...

News
Talks
Inclusive Healthy Places

C40 & BLOXHUB

The Gehl Vision Framework
DEBATES: THE RISE Talks
What has been particularly exciting about this effort is the company’s
OF THE “15-MINUTE
intentional investment in American manufacturing and what it means for
CITY” EIT URBAN
the future of the American manufacturing campus. The project highlights
and counterpoints the differences in the type of work and health
Helle Søholt
outcomes for workers
MOBILITY:
from these new
MOBILITY
manufacturing jobs. The project
Jun 16, 2021
also highlights the company’s
Online TALKS EPISODE
unique commitment 9
to a community-
'Moderating centered carbon strategy that goes beyond typical commitments to
debate 'How
urban societiessocial and environmental sustainabilityAndreas
are becoming for theRøhl
company, its workers, and
May 27, 2021
more healthy,the region inand
resilient which the factory is located.
Online
accessible in their recovery
from Covid-19'' ''Transforming our streets
Growing investments in electric
and spaces: how isvehicle
the public Philabundance and Gehl are teaming up to study
public life in NorthEast Philadelphia. We need
production realm moving?'' your help in measuring how ...
The global auto manufacturing industry is undergoing a rapid transition
News
from reliance on internal combustion engines (ICEs) to battery electric
PA S T E V E N T
vehicles (EVs). This shift is essential for cutting greenhouse gas Talks
emissions in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate
You Can’t
change and presents a major Disrupt
opportunity for thethe U.S.City
auto manufacturing
industry. However, U.S. public and private sector investment in EVs lags
2021 STATE OF
behind that of other countries, threatening both the United States’ ability DOWNTOWN
to reach climate goals and the long-term competitiveness of the DENVER: RISING
domestic auto industry–a sector which has long been a source of high-
quality, unionized jobs that support a strong middle class. Growing THROUGH
Investments in EVs and charging infrastructure can help mitigate the RECOVERY
climate crisis, deliver a win for American workers, and ensure national
Jeff Risom
competitiveness in key areas of economic growth, decarbonization, and May 19, 2021
technological innovation. 1 Online

''Future of Cities''
The HOPE Clinic and Gehl are teaming up to
study public life in Southwest Houston. We need
PA S T E V E N T
your help measuring ...

Mobility disrupters go wrong when they think

News of cities as hardware searching for better
software This ... Talks
Public Spaces: A platform to
connect during COVID-19 and
build equitable cities beyond INDY DESIGN WEEK
2021
Growing Investments in EVs and charging infrastructure can ensure national competitiveness in
key areas of economic growth, decarbonization, and technological innovation. Image credit: New Julia D Day
York Times Apr 23, 2021
Online
Nationwide, electric automobile manufacturers are poised to add
thousands of jobs to areas of the country that have struggled with high ''The Indiana State of Design
unemployment and lack of economic opportunity. In meeting with Excellence''
workers from the company, we were struck by the tremendous pride they
shared in in being part of the new, sustainable mobility economy and how
We're searching for a talented and experienced The pandemic has shown how public spaces are
today’s jobs and
German-speaking Project Manager for our
workplaces are radically improving conditions for
more than just nice amenities; they are vital PA S T E V E N T
Copenhagen Office. Withworkers,
an ... the transparency in relationship
community to management
hubs. Through a ... and executive
leadership, as well as the desire to provide leadership in decarbonizing
News manufacturing in the US. Bringing Micromobility Equity
Talks into Focus
Managing carbon
KONVENT DER
A key component of the masterplan framework is the campus’s carbon
strategy. As an electric automobile manufacturer, the company is a
BAUKULTUR IN
leader in the growing trend towards zero emissions vehicles, but what
POTSDAM
about the carbon footprint of constructing and operating the campus
itself? The massive manufacturing campus has significant energy
demand to heat and cool the buildings
Rasmusand keep the lights on. And once
Duong-Grunnet
We know there is more to mobility equity than
May 19, 2021
we have tackled the basic campus operations, would it be possible discounting
to
Potsdam, Germany rides. In 2019, Gehl led a process to
reduce and or offset emissions from the energy intensive auto- help rethink Spin’s ...
manufacturing process itself to deliver carbon negative vehicles?
''Städte und Öffentliche News
Räume neu
Greenhouse gas emissions are categorized denken''
into three groups or ‘Scopes’
by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol–the most widely-used
international accounting tool. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from
As Gehl continues to work for cities and
communities to become owned orhealthy
equitable, controlled
and sources; 2 coversPA indirect
ST EVENemissions
T from the
generation
sustainable for all people ... of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling
consumed by the reporting company; and 3 includes all other indirect
春节快乐，万事如意 emissions Happy
that occur in a company’s value chain. 2
Chinese New Year! Talks
Our project team crafted a comprehensive strategy that includes a
phased move towards building and operations electrification to reduce
CHICAGO COUNCIL
energy demand and water use, on-site regenerative agriculture and
ecosystem restoration, a robust on-site renewable energy program
ON GLOBAL
combining wind, solar and direct carbon capture technology, and
AFFAIRS
partnerships with the local utility provider to use the company’s muscle
as a major employer to direct the utility to source more green power as
part of its portfolio. Using this combination of approaches the company
Maki Kawaguchi
Mar 25, of
would be able to reduce a significant portion their Scope 1 and Today marks the culmination of arguably the
2021
Online (Invite Only) most contentious US election cycle for
building-operations related Scope 2 emissions. generations. With its spiralling rhetoric ...
''Designing the Post-Covid
Today, we celebrate Chinese New Year! To our
many friends, partners, collaborators, and
City: Urban Spaces for Health News
clients around the world, and ...
and Equity''

PA S T E V E N T
Talks

Homelessness in public
FESTIVAL OF space: A toolkit for respectful
PLACE: SOCIAL coexistence
IMPACT
Jeff Risom
Mar 24, 2021
Online

''Rewiring the city as system'' We’re thrilled to be one of seven selected

projects to receive support as part of a new
Housing Laboratory in Denmark. ...

PA S T E V E N T

Many
The design team crafted a diverse American
sitewide cities
strategy have experienced
to reduce a sharp
energy demand and carbon
emissions. increase in their homeless population in recent
years. This is true of San ...

However, the company’s vision was to go farther than “net zero core and
shell”. In order to achieve the ambition of becoming a regional catalyst
...view more posts
for ecological and economic regeneration, they had to tackle
decarbonizing the vehicle manufacturing process itself. And to do so, it
had to look beyond the boundaries of its own property holdings and forge
a partnership with the surrounding community. Like many companies on
the path toward decarbonization, the company would have to enter the
voluntary carbon offset market. Rather than simply ‘buy the offsets’ the
company could leverage its investments in voluntary carbon offsets
(worth millions of dollars) to maximize co benefits for the surrounding
community and ecosystem of which the company is as part. What
emerged was a framework for a carbon strategy that avoids ‘carbon
reductionism’ efforts that focus solely on tons of CO2, and instead
maximizes the co-benefits for the surrounding community and
ecosystem: a truly community-centered carbon strategy.

Carbon is the life-force that connects the

company to farmed & urban landscapes
“What if [the company] was the center of the farming, food, and energy
universe in the region? With their electrical demand being many times
that of the community and perhaps for a 50 mi radius around the facility,
all powerlines lead–like radiating spider webs–to the site. So, why not,
tug on those strings and strongly influence the way the entire power grid,
carbon emissions, feedstock, and food and water systems of the region
work?” – Steven Apfelbaum, Applied Ecological Services, Inc (now RES).

The Carbon Strategy proposes to incentivize the hundreds of farmers in

the surrounding region to shift towards regenerative agriculture in
order to reverse the existing course of the region’s farming economy. The
financial subsidy from carbon farming can enable more farmers to stay
on their farms, to be economically competitive, and hopefully to attract
the next generation of farmers.

The system of a farm sits within and relies on interactions with the larger natural system.” Image
credit: freddie marriage on Unsplash

Working landscapes can play a significant role in reducing greenhouse

gas (GHG) emissions and mitigating global climate change, particularly
through the sequestering of atmospheric carbon in soils and vegetation.
In addition to their carbon-related benefits, well-managed working lands
confer significant benefits related to increased water holding capacity in
soils, water quality, biodiversity and other positive environmental
impacts 3 . The pioneering work of groups like the Carbon Cycle Institute
and Point Blue have demonstrated the potential of natural, science-
based solutions that reduce atmospheric carbon while offering reliable
and verifiable carbon offsets.

Rather than simply purchasing the offsets from the voluntary carbon
market and outsourcing most of their emissions reductions to faraway
places, the Company’s carbon strategy would assemble a network of
participating farms and provide direct payments to farmers to shift
towards a growing set of practices that are well documented to build soil
organic carbon. Carbon sequestration would be verified by an
independent third party organization that ensures the credibility of the
emission reduction projects.

Rather than outsourcing emissions reductions to faraway places, a community-centered carbon

strategy maximizes social and ecological co-benefits for the surrounding region.

While the local region does not have a compliance-based carbon market
like Cap-and-Trade, given the company’s influence as a major employer
and energy consumer, this approach could significantly boost the
voluntary offset market in the region and act as a catalyst for other
companies in the region to adopt a similar approach. While there are still
many obstacles to overcome, Gehl and the design team are taking crucial
steps to define a community-centered carbon strategy that would
maximize co-benefits to the local and regional economies and cultures.
If the plan succeeds, the company may be the first to offer carbon-
negative electric vehicles while acting as a catalyst for local ecological
and economic regeneration.

To learn more about our approach to creating community-centered carbon strategies, contact
John Bela.

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