WHAT’S YOUR PRIORITY FOR LOS ANGELES?

James “JED” Donaldson, AIA, LEED AP BD+C – Principal, Johnson Fain & Board Director, AIA Los Angeles

Challenge: The largest environmental challenge for the City of Los Angeles is the need to convert the existing building stock to a carbon-neutral, clean energy network of high-performing buildings. The California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) policies to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and achieve carbon neutrality, along with L.A.’s Green New Deal Sustainability pLAn, both target 2045 as an achievable timeframe to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.  

Recommendation: The City of Los Angeles can align the zoning and permitting process with the state, county, and city environmental plans. LA Planning and the LA Dept. of Building and Safety (LADBS) can offer an accelerated permitting process with reduced fees and possible incentives for projects that are above current code energy standards. These incentives could assist building owners with the lengthy and costly process of converting buildings that are currently low-performance, high-energy polluters to a carbon-neutral design. This initiative can create a resilient Los Angeles by being incorporated into current programs, such as Karen Bass’ Executive Directive 1 (ED 1) and City Planning’s current revision of the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (ARO), to ensure the projects delivered from this point forward are carbon neutral as well as energy efficient. 

James “JED” Donaldson, AIA, LEED AP BD+C – Principal, Johnson Fain & Board Director, AIA Los Angeles

JED is a Principal at Johnson Fain with more than 20 years of professional experience in designing large-scale projects including Creative Office, Residential, and Mixed-Use Developments. JED earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and a Master of Architecture Degree from Virginia Tech. JED’s knowledge of the building industry is complemented by his interest in green building technologies and advanced computer modeling. JED has taught architectural courses and/or been a guest studio critic at UC Berkeley, USC, and UCLA Extension as well as a speaker at USC’s BIM symposiums.