Happy First Birthday,
Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing!
We celebrate one year of Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing, Revised Edition!
By KIM VERMEER
July brings the one-year anniversary of the publication of Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing, Revised Edition. One the one hand, it’s hard to believe it’s been a year. On the other hand, what a year it has been! Back in the late winter of 2020, as we were making plans for the book release, we envisioned parties in Boston and L.A., and Walker and I were starting to pencil in travel plans and guest lists. But the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to all of those plans! Instead, we pivoted to virtual, and planned a Zoom release event.
Though I confess to feeling a little sorry for myself being physically on my own on the big day, Zoom enabled us to share the excitement with colleagues, friends, and family from around the country, and even from Europe! Special guests Gail Vittori and Dennis Creech were able to “Zoom in” from Austin and Atlanta, and we had a great conversation with our Island Press editor, Heather Boyer, about the book and its place in the Island Press catalogue. In truth, none of that would have been possible with in-person events. So, we embraced the positives of living in a virtual world and ran with it.
As a result, we have had a fantastic year with our Zoom book tour! Thanks to partners and sponsors we have shared the book with local audiences in Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Sacramento and reached larger audiences through presentations at the Green Home Institute and Smart Growth Maryland web events. And we’ve expanded on themes from the book in conference presentations at the USGBC 2020 Equity Summit and USGBC LIVE 2021 events; the Urban Land Institute Housing Opportunities Conference, and through NeighborWorks America.
Now, as we emerge from our COVID cocoons, we’d welcome the chance to share the book in person to celebrate the anniversary. We still have plenty of new people to reach with our message of how to increase equity in sustainability by ensuring that affordable housing is built to green standards, offering health and resilience to traditionally underserved communities. Be in touch to make plans for a future event!
Finally, big news! I’m excited to extend my favorite feature of the book, our case studies of amazing green affordable housing developments, developed by fantastic people and organizations, by launching a podcast, Green in Action, where we celebrate stories like those in the cases, of green leadership in affordable housing. Sign up to be on our mailing list and be among the first to know when we launch, and when new episodes are released: