Name
The Bridge to Innovation, Sustainability, and Community Resilience: Building Climate-Positive, Non-Market-Rate Communities Without Federal Subsidies
Date & Time
Thursday, May 28, 2026, 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Description

California’s housing, climate, and equity challenges are often treated as separate problems, yet at the neighborhood level, they intersect daily and demand integrated solutions. This session introduces LaunchPad, a founder-led, modular, mixed-use development model in San Bernardino that is actively testing how climate-positive, non-market-rate communities can be delivered without relying on traditional federal housing subsidies. Across three concurrent projects totaling approximately 128 mixed-income residential units in 3–5 story buildings, LaunchPad reimagines underutilized urban corridors as hubs of housing, economic opportunity, and climate resilience. The model integrates all-electric, LEED Gold–targeting modular construction; solar plus battery systems; shared mobility strategies; and ground-floor uses such as micro-retail, commercial kitchens, childcare, and indoor agriculture. Two sites are intentionally designed with no on-site parking, prioritizing walkability, transit access, and car-light living. Rather than relying on subsidy-heavy affordability structures, LaunchPad maintains long-term affordability through non-speculative ownership and master-lease models while prioritizing populations often excluded from both housing and green building investments, including transition-age youth, youth aging out of foster care, veterans, immigrants, and small business owners. Presented as a founder-led case study, the session offers a candid look at land acquisition, entitlement strategy, modular delivery, and sustainability planning as projects move toward construction-ready status by early 2026. While delivered by a single speaker, the session reflects cross-sector collaboration with builders, sustainability partners, local government, and community-based organizations. Aligned with the theme “Build. Connect. Unify.”, this session demonstrates how climate action, equity, and economic mobility can be integrated through practical, scalable development strategies.

Session Type
Collective Impact Case Study