Alignment Process
Aligning Real Estate Design & Development with Community Values and Local Climate, Health, and Equity Priorities
Every time we build or renovate a building, we are changing the neighborhood – for better or worse. While no single building can entirely transform a neighborhood's character or its susceptibility to environmental factors, thoughtful design can enhance the health and well-being of residents and businesses, reducing financial risk and contributing to local policy goals.
Alignment Process: How it Works
Step 1.
We use a method called health
situation analysis (HSA) to compile neighborhood-scale data into a framework that paints a picture of the environmental, community health, and social equity context surrounding a proposed real estate development project.
Step 2.
Following community-based action research and negotiations methods, we use the HSA to bring three stakeholder groups (community, design/ development team, and local government) together in a data-informed, community-centered
conversation about the proposed project.
Outcome.
The result is a shared vision for the project that lifts up overlapping and aligned interests across the three stakeholder groups. The data at the heart of the process allows us to set measurable objectives and demonstrate how the project will contribute to neighborhood priorities and local policies around climate change,
public health, and social equity.
Health Situation Analysis (HSA):
What it is and How it Works
Health Situation Analysis (HSA) is a public health method that uses data to define a situation in need of improvement; measure its extent, severity, and root causes; and, design an intervention that maximizes co-benefits across sectors, while minimizing co-harms.
The Alignment Process uses HSA to:
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Organize neighborhood (i.e., census tract) data into three categories: social determinants of health, community health status, and climate change vulnerability.
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Identify 3-5 high priority environmental health concerns in the neighborhood that a real estate development could influence through its design and/or operations.
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Link the environmental health priorities to measurable evidence-based design strategies.
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Identify opportunities for the project to measure its contribution to neighborhood goals and key performance indicators in local climate, health, and equity plans.