The Built Environment, Sustainability and Labor

​The ABI Quarterly Meeting is Thursday, September 21 at the People's Forum and on Zoom at 6:30-8:30PM EST.

​To join us in person, register and come here for 6:30.

​To join us on Zoom, register and click here for 6:30.

​We are past the point where there is any serious debate about whether there is climate catastrophe. Workers in design and construction have a critical role to play in mitigating the long-term effects of climate change and steering the building industry, one of the main sources of carbon, in a more environmentally friendly and socially productive direction. 

​But we also work within a capitalist structure. Design and construction for the most part are driven by profits, not social concerns, something seldom questioned by the professional community and elected officials—even those on board with mitigating climate change.

​What is the role of labor in this dire situation? What agency do we have as designers and builders, individually and collectively? How can we shift not only how we design and build, but what we design and build? And how do we bridge the divisions within the building industry, between design and construction, and among environmental activists and workers trying to make a living?

​We need an open discussion on these questions.  Please join the ABI Collective as it hosts the DC 37 Climate Justice Committee and Trade Unions for Energy Democracy for a conversation on global and local organizing action for climate justice.

​This event is free and open to the public.

​The Alternative Building Industry (ABI) Collective is a new project of practitioners within the NYC building sector organizing for steadfast climate action and deep structural reform of the construction industry.