Building Coalitions for a Just Transition
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Have you witnessed sustainable design cut to increase profit margins? Are you frustrated that public money flows through developers? Do you think “green growth” strategies are sufficient to displace building industry emissions?
Would you fight for industrial action that puts climate and people first?
The Alternative Building Industry (ABI) Collective is a grassroots project of NYC architects, engineers, planners, and construction professionals organizing for climate-centered industrial transformation. We see up-close how the current systems of building fail, and we recognize that the built environment will remain unsustainable—and unjust—so long as our industry is structured around the same economic incentives.
Unlike most sustainability initiatives in the sector, we reject any narrow focus on policy development or technical innovation. While these efforts are important, we believe top-down reforms alone are far from sufficient. It’s our position that a truly green and just industry will only emerge from industrial organization and solidarity, so we look to each other—fellow professionals, workers, academics, and students—to articulate and mobilize a vision for necessary social change.
We believe the public have a right to understand how and why the built environment is constructed as it is today, and have a real say in making it better. We need new political priorities and we need democratic planning for fair jobs, fair housing, and a renewable energy revolution.
What does this mean in practice? It means growing green industrial organizations, such as unions, that are capable of driving meaningful political action. Organizations that can push back against the corrupting influence of industry bosses and investors. We seek to be such an organization, but we can’t do it without your help.
Join us on April 13th at 7pm for a public forum, Building Coalitions for a Just Transition, at Cooper Union and on Zoom, where we’ll be discussing the limitations of our industry’s proposed climate reforms, what tools we have for real change, and how you can get involved.