Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Kathleen Ave, Climate Program Manager at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD):

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: California’s first Living Building is also the world’s first certified Adaptive Reuse project, renovated and certified by Sacramento’s own Architectural Nexus. SMUD supported this project with research and energy efficiency incentive dollars as well as hands-on input from many of our talented staff. The more I learned about ILFI and this groundbreaking project, the more determined I became to leverage it to inspire other project developers to take on the Living Future Challenges. 

I worked with Arch Nexus, ILFI and other SMUD staff to create the SMUD Living Future Project Accelerator. Over the next year, we hosted workshops and building tours, provided expert technical consulting and “Building Block” summaries for different building types in our climate zone, and covered registration fees for a wide range of projects, most of which have incredible public education potential. We now have nearly a dozen projects in the pipeline in Sacramento County, including a Living Community Challenge project associated with the Sacramento Valley Station transit hub. I continue to be a huge advocate of ILFI’s work because it acts as a magnet for partners who are ready for ambitious change.

Q: What do you consider your “aha” moment which drove you to get involved?

A: Brad Liljequist, ILFI’s then-Zero Energy Director, was presenting at the Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) conference in Sacramento. He spoke about how ILFI was born out of shared frustrations with incremental planning efforts. I’ve experienced those frustrations!  One of his presentation slides was a picture of a typical downtown setting, but the streets had been replaced by vegetation, walking paths and people. That image spoke to me and inspired me to learn more. Then, I got to know the team at Architectural Nexus and was blown away – they weren’t “flame throwers” but business-like, quiet revolutionaries, doing challenging work of lasting importance. I wanted to help.

Q: Tell us how your background resulted in your career today?

A: I’ve explored a lot of different fields: working at a small waste/recycling non-profit, a huge global technology firm and now, a municipal electric utility where I have also chaired a public-private climate readiness collaborative. Along the way I spent a year in the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs which was a pivotal experience in helping me see and value interconnected solutions to complicated problems. The energy business is changing so rapidly and climate change is the mother of all complicated problems, so that approach and insight definitely informs my work now. This is also part of what attracted me to ILFI – the notion that you can holistically address energy, water, waste, health and more in one project with verified results.

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next five years?

A: I’m developing a proposal for a follow-up to our SMUD Accelerator that would help transform our regional development landscape to embrace the Living Future Challenges. We have a serious housing crisis here and affordability will be key. I’d like to see SMUD continue to support ILFI projects locally. I’ll be developing long-term, land-based carbon storage opportunities in the region; work that can preserve open space and is very supportive of ILFI concepts. I also expect to continue talking about the cost of inaction, to help decision-makers understand that we CAN afford to do this work, and in fact, we must do it faster than we think possible!

Q: Finally, what’s your call to action to this community?

A: Health, beauty, nature and peace should not be reserved for the 1%. Advocate for rapid GHG emissions reductions and push back on gratuitous resource use. Let’s make a Living Future accessible for all.

Written By

ILFI Staff

The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to lead the transformation toward a civilization that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.