An important consideration in what has been dubbed "The Great Resignation" is that one in four women has left the workforce largely due to the stresses of balancing home and work life during Covid. "The Atlantic" recently published this data with the estimation that this year has set the...
There are six applications of four strategies that we can apply to a new or existing building to achieve net-zero carbon. When combined with a lens toward Total Cost of Ownership, they can provide a cost-effective roadmap for building owners. Avoidance Operational Carbon avoidance. Embodied Carbon avoidance. Reduction Carbon...
As an architect and community member/advocate, I’ve been studying the issue of climate change for over two decades. These are three key steps that I believe would greatly benefit Kansas City on the path toward carbon neutrality and equity. 1. Climate change is impacting rainfall rates and frequency most in...
Yesterday I walked across the Crossroads, from our office at Central to my favorite shop, Christopher Elbow Chocolates. The walk is a brisk ten minutes each way, and because it was a beautiful, sunny, and warm day, I stayed on the shadier sides of the streets to avoid overheating....
"Millions of Americans remain out of work and unable to pay their financial obligations, so it’s no surprise that our nation is on the brink of an eviction calamity. In order to bring relief to renters across the country, Congress included a moratorium on evictions when we passed the...
During this very difficult time, we at DRAW are bearing painful witness to the racial inequities of our American systems, whether justice, healthcare, or economic. As the managing principal, and as a member of our community, Personally, I’ve been reflecting and sharing conversations with friends and colleagues, of many...
During this difficult and stressful time, I’m blessed to both be surrounded by an amazing family and to be part of an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and designers who are, more often than not, optimists. On our Zoom happy hour calls, conversations often circle to how we’re finding the positive...
Empathy and activism are the core ideas of DRAW’s overall practice of Positive Impact Design. This post is the first in a series of blogs elaborating further about how DRAW creates value for our clients using these fundamental tenets. Since DRAW’s founding, we have written and talked about empathy and...
Global warming, brought on by climate change, is an impending threat to the inhabitants of our planet. In the last decade, glacier loss rates have tripled, and we continue to lose more ice mass at an alarming rate. According to NASA’s Global Climate Change study, the melting of the...
Why we love adaptive reuse as urban revitalization projects! At DRAW, our “why” is to create positive impact design. Positive impact design considers leading with empathy for our clients, stakeholders and the community and using radically resourceful approaches to sustainability and efficiency. It also has to do with the way...
