however, many drivers along this expressway aren’t aware of its dark history: because the stretch of i-81 in syracuse is a viaduct, or raised above ground level, its construction sliced through and greatly disrupted a historically close-knit african american community. this was syracuse’s southside neighborhood, also known as the 15th ward. in the 1950s, the city saw this community as a burden. as a result, many families were displaced in order to construct i-81.

the highway has not only divided syracuse, but it may have also caused health problems. according to a report by the new york civil liberties union, neighborhoods near highways have notoriously significantly higher rates of asthma than other areas. a school, a park, as well as public housing neighborhoods with run-down sidewalks border i-81, which experiences high volumes of traffic. in addition to this potential health concern, living in these areas is also uncomfortably loud. under one bridge near dr. king elementary school, a volume of 85 decibels was measured using the decibel x decibel reader app. this is as loud as an alarm clock. to hear an example of the audio quality under this bridge, give a listen:

the future of i-81

the new york state department of transportation (nysdot) has designed a plan to turn the current syracuse corridor of i-81 into a street-level boulevard that will be funded by the state. this project is funded and led by the state government. the options were to leave the current viaduct alone, construct a new viaduct, or construct a boulevard, which is the current plan.

the current viaduct “is at the end of its useful life,” according to joe driscoll, the i-81 project manager for the city of syracuse. this means that the traffic that the viaduct currently carries is at a much higher level than originally anticipated. driscoll said that another reason for the removal of the viaduct is simply a safety issue: some homes are as close to the highway as seven feet. the removal of the viaduct will also connect the downtown, university, and southside neighborhoods of syracuse.

one concern of i-81’s deconstruction is that dust will travel throughout the surrounding area as the land is dug up. but despite a potential increase in respiratory issues, the long term effects of removing the highway could include the reconnection and revitalization of the communities that were once divided by it. driscoll described these negative effects as re-breaking a bone that did not heal properly in the first place. in other words, the effects of construction are necessary if the community that was broken is to heal.

there have been recent setbacks to i-81’s removal, such as a lawsuit by the group renew 81 for all that claims that construction will cause traffic issues and will not cut back on vehicle emissions. this lawsuit has temporarily paused construction, which was planned to begin fall 2022. now, the project will likely begin in spring of 2023.

rochester’s inner loop

less than two hours away, rochester’s inner loop is often called “the noose tied around rochester’s neck.” the inner loop creates a c-shaped expressway that connects to i-490, one of the main rochester highways. unfortunately, the construction of this route in the 1950s and 60s cut through an economically powerful black community, the 16th ward. as the loop was built, families left the neighborhood, as the sense of community was lost. 

this is not an isolated or accidental incident. the national interstate and defense highways act of 1956 established the network of highways that is seen across the united states today. this act caused highways to be built through many thriving black communities but was supported by president eisenhower, who was impressed and inspired by the efficiency of germany’s autobahn in wwii. in the end, the 1965 act has become associated by some with an ideology of racism and persecution. now, rochester and syracuse are taking steps to fix the damage done by these expressways.

rochester completed the inner loop east removal project in 2017, which removed roughly one-third of the loop and replaced it with a street-level grid. removing the eastern part of the highway caused long-term benefits for people’s health. “by removing the highway,” said erik frisch, the head of the inner loop north project, “we immediately saw a jump in bicycle and pedestrian volumes just by virtue of breaking down that barrier.” as well as the physical benefits, an increase in biking is associated with stronger communities.

rochester’s current inner loop north project will transform another third of the loop. like the inner loop east project, the north project’s goal is to revitalize the communities that the initial construction of the loop tore apart. the key, however, is avoiding gentrification. development should not be “at the expense of residents who are there now or were there historically” and that the “benefits accrue to them,” said frisch. he adds that rochester is considering a “community land trust…where the board is made up of stakeholders” to ensure that gentrification doesn’t affect the developed area.

the removals of 1-81 and the inner loop in syracuse and rochester represent a shift in american values. although these highways have physically represented the barriers that many black communities have faced, their removal is a major step forward. now, it is up to other cities in the united states to consider the value of their highways.

but at the same time, around 100,000 people took to the streets of glasgow to advocate for more climate action. around the globe, people marched for the same cause.

soon after the conference, the house of representatives passed the build back better bill, approving over $2 trillion in spending, much of which is allotted to combat climate change throughout the next decade. yet to be approved by the senate, the bill’s spending overall is more than a trillion dollars less than president joe biden’s original proposal. among the list of ideas proposed by the bill is the first-ever civilian climate corps, a federally funded program to provide america’s youth with environmental protection and reclamation jobs. both cop26 and the bill reveal insights into what the future of climate change advocacy looks like for youth around the world.

in conversation with me on november 22, washington post climate reporter and planet forward advisory councilmember tik root analyzed what happened in the conference, or maybe more appropriately, what didn’t happen, and how the future of climate action may be shaped by cop26 and the build back better bill. 

podcast transcription:

helen bradshaw  0:02  
the united nations climate conference, cop26, wrapped up on november 12 in glasgow. i’m planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 helen bradshaw. and in the aftermath of the climate discussions, i sat down with washington post climate solutions reporter tik root to learn his key takeaways from the conference, and what the future of climate action could look like for young adults.

our first question is, what do you think are the most important and potentially impactful promises to come out of cop26?

tik root  0:38  
i mean, i think they accelerated the pace at which they’re going to be making ndc reporting commitments. i believe it went from five years to one. so i think there’ll be some increased reporting on that front. but i think the story of cop is largely what’s what’s not there? more than more than what is there? and i think there’s, i think there was pretty, pretty widespread disappointment with with the deal, that deal that was reached out to conference. you know, there was some language about fossil fuels. but i think, you know, advocates would say that it’s, it was pretty watered down from from some of the original calls. and most importantly, you know, there was a, there was a call for, for countries of the global north to meet its commitment over $100 billion a year in funding for the global south. but it doesn’t appear that there was a increase in that, in that funding, which i think would be really, which which country i’d say is really necessary to keep some of the climate finance and emissions targets on track. so overall, i’d say that people were fairly disappointed with what came out of glasgow, but it will be, it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with that going forward.

helen bradshaw  2:15  
so in response to a lot of what was happening, there were many protests led largely by youth, indigenous people and people from the global south. do you think young people can or should play a role in holding governments accountable for their claims of action?

tik root  2:30  
i mean, i think that can be a question, you know, is answered by your question. they were there. and i think greta thunberg said, a bit of a tone for the conference at the beginning with her, bla bla bla, quote, which i think you saw, you know, boris johnson reiterate and a few others. so, i mean, they’re clearly having an impact, and they’re clearly being, being taken relatively seriously as, as participants in this process. you know, whether they can have a more direct role? that’s an interesting question. i know that the un calls for increased participation in a lot of its unfccc documents and in the paris agreement, but i think there’s not a lot of concrete plans as to make that happen.

helen bradshaw  3:21  
can you think of any ways that young activists in particular can work to hold their governments accountable or to make them adhere to the claims of action that they’ve created?

tik root  3:29  
yeah, no. i think you i think you’ve seen, you’ve seen people like greta thunberg and the friday’s for future, you know, garner significant media attention and significant, you know, attention globally. and so i think, i think you start to see it, definitely register on, you know, global leaders who are reiterating the phrases or some of the demands, and i think you’ve seen some of these small country nations as well make their voices heard, you know, what, what leverage they ultimately have on the final decision, as i guess up to the negotiators, but they’re certainly not unnoticed t would seem.

helen bradshaw  4:14  
along those lines, similar, just in vein to talking about young peopl, the house passed the build back better bill on friday. i know in an article recently for the washington post, you touched on the new civilian climate corps proposed by the bill, if this becomes a reality, how do you think it’ll impact young people?

tik root  4:30  
it will be really interesting and the expansion of, i mean, the biden administration called it for the creation of a civilian climate corps and in many ways, it’s an  expansion of the [unintelligable] corps to include a lot of climate focused jobs and you know, dating back to fdr, ccc, you know, they tried to harken back to that program, which was, you know, fairly beloved in its time. i think it’s going to be an employment opportunity and employment option for many youth around the country, if it passes, if it gets implemented, you know, it’s unclear exactly what the timeline would be but you know as soon as a couple years from now there could be an option for kids coming out of high school and college to join the ccc… again.

helen bradshaw  5:21  
do you see it being a largely youth-run organization in the sense that, you know, its majority comprised of youth? or what do you think the breakdown of that could look like?

tik root  5:31  
yeah, my understanding is there’s likely going to be age requirements. i haven’t seen exactly what that might look like. but my understanding is it’s very much geared towards youth and young people.

helen bradshaw  5:43  
the us is responsible for nearly a quarter of the world’s co2 emissions, despite only making up less than 5% of the total world population, based on the steps outlined during cop and the potential for the build back better bill to become law is the us promising to do their fair share to combat climate change?

tik root  5:58  
i mean, i think the data shows that pretty much every country is on track to not meet their – the the ndcs and the emissions targets that they promised, i believe that includes the us, but even if they were on track, it doesn’t, it’s not enough of emissions reduction to keep us below a 1.5 degrees celsius of warming. and so i guess the question is, if the paris agreement, you know, tries to keep 1.5 in sight, and the us and other countries targets wouldn’t allow that, and they’re not on track to even meet those targets, i guess it’s you know, yeah, i can let other people say whether that means you’re doing enough to combat climate change, but there definitely appears to be that. and glasgow didn’t change that and i think this is one of the biggest disappointments people have this glasgow’s that it kept the world on track to blow past 1.5 and possibly even two degrees celsius of warming, which is not what the paris agreement calls for.

helen bradshaw  7:14  
you can find tik’s most recent work in the washington post. for planet forward, i’m helen bradshaw.

transcribed by https://otter.ai

“i think what i didn’t have in my last role was being able to engage with people,” jenkins said, reflecting on her transition from an environmental consulting firm. o’brien, also a former consultant, echoed this sentiment.  “i loved that there was a community partner aspect to the work,” she said. 

jenkins now works as a natural infrastructure project manager at the nature conservancy, and o’brien is a ph.d. candidate in the department of civil and environmental engineering at northwestern university. they are partnering together to study the hydrology of the indian boundary prairies, a cluster of five grassland regions that form a rare natural oasis just south of chicago. 

the nature conservancy’s work focuses on maintaining the prairies as a natural habitat for biodiverse species, with big bluestem, little bluestem and indian grass attracting monarch butterflies and various migratory birds. but the prairie edges—where tar and asphalt were dumped during the construction of the road that continues to leach metal and salt into the soil—may be beyond restoration. jenkins and o’brien are exploring if the prairie boundary could be dedicated as a space for stormwater collection to help mitigate flooding in the region. 

to evaluate sundrop prairie’s water storage capacity, the pair collect data from wells installed throughout the prairie. a sensor in the well reads the underground water level, which indicates how much water is absorbed by the prairie that would otherwise be displaced. “it basically tells us, ‘if the prairie wasn’t here, how much water would be in someone’s backyard or on the street?” o’brien said.

this data also gives them an idea of how much more water the prairie might be able to take on. “what we need to do is get the prairie to work even harder than it already is,” jenkins said. 

o’brien and jenkins also analyze the water’s conductivity, which serves as a measure of how much salt and metal is in the water from contact with surrounding roads and industry. the conductivity trends allow them to see how far into the prairie interior this “urban runoff” effect persists, which can help to identify areas of the prairie that are connected by water flow paths.

understanding how the waterways intersect is critical in determining if diverting stormwater to the periphery could distress the prairie as a whole. “if we are going to think about ways to encourage more or less stormwater onto the site, we have to think about any unintentional negative impacts on the rest of the prairie,” jenkins said.  

the team also takes this holistic approach when considering how to maximize the benefit of the prairies for the local community. “we’re not just looking at the prairies in isolation—it’s all in the context of what’s happening around us,” jenkins said.   

to learn about the needs of their neighbors, o’brien and jenkins are developing a survey for south suburban residents on their experiences and perceptions related to flooding. in addition to informing their work, the responses help them to gauge people’s understanding of stormwater management and ensure that their communication with the public is accessible. 

jenkins and o’brien hope that through a combination of innovative environmental engineering and dialogue with the community, they can help to combat the flooding that disproportionately impacts the area south of chicago. “this problem, it’s not just a nuisance, it’s a public health problem,” jenkins said. “when you understand that these residents are affected by flooding on a regular basis, you can’t help but be moved to try to figure out a solution.” 

this podcast expresses the binding relationship between wildfires and their effect on the community such as their drinking water. steve is a community member in colorado and shared his firsthand experience about what happened back in 2018. these concerns tie closely with people’s civil right and should not be taken lightly because the serious issues that interconnect the community members and natural habitat in which we live in.

the wildfires in colorado create barriers to overcome, and journeys that withstand unfathomable measures. the emergency personnel along with family and friends who work together to create a fluid transition toward safer grounds shows the strength that is awarded with overcoming obstacles.

steve has lived through a traumatic experience where he guides the audience through the events he went through, the panic he endured, the plan he had to make, and the circumstances as well as solutions to these problems. the wildfires created an environment that not only caused many to relocate, but to become uprooted onto unfamiliar grounds in which they had to forcibly adapt.

the worst part about his experience was the uncertainty of the future and what it holds. families, the economy, and the environment were put against a fight that they could not win without losing some, if not a large portion of the most precious things in life. how to educate and inform his family, as well as himself was of importance to figure out how to continue onwards to safety.

economically, there were hotel vouchers and food tickets that were given to victims. that resonates with the audience. the people play a victim role but should also understand who truly helped to progress the issue toward such combative stages. for example, a simple natural part of the earth, water, was adversely affected by the occurrences of the wildfires. the direct impact during the wildfires could not be changed at that point in time, so proper safety concerns were addressed by steve during the interview. he mentioned to understand the relationship between communicating about current events and how it affects anybody, especially if they live in fire-prone areas. he admits that this should be considered when looking toward progressive steps of making sure future endeavors do not take up space that make cause harm. in a way, it is pre-conceived knowledge that members of society should consider when building the new infrastructure; the true foundation that people base their livelihoods on.

these foundations should expand in an environmentally friendly direction and provide and educate people as to what they should consider when they occupy parts of the world. the carbon footprint that they leave not only affects everybody within these areas of devastation, but for the neighbors who have to accept the newcomers having to migrate into their space; bringing along various traditions that now mix together for a cocktail of culture. this unification of people is good to help force proper communicative techniques to take place and quite literally show that it can directly and indirectly affect you and your loved ones; even strangers!

what there is to take away from this is, that you cannot predict the future fully, but you can help contain and protect the valuable resources that we were given at the start of life on earth and help to maintain and sustain it for future people. the best way to do this is through sharing information of how truly devastating these natural disasters can be, especially for a person like steve. there is a lesson to be learned; not everybody can see that they are affected by earth, but they can affect earth. to show them this is to show them how their everyday choices can alter backyards near and far, and for generations to come.  

physiological effects of urban sprawl can be measured by the increased body mass index of residents in areas of high-income inequality and low access to healthy food options. urban sprawl creates food deserts because there is often little space for grocery stores or food markets. instead, land use in cities is highly contended and only the most economically viable businesses can sustain themselves in an urban environment or risk being outcompeted by larger chains. another effect of urban sprawl is the creation of ‘heat islands,’ or an increase in ambient temperature due to a lack of green space and the abundance of heat-absorbing blacktop surfaces. this abundance of blacktop and roads results in reduced impervious cover, in turn increasing the potential for run off and deposition of contaminants in the city. the negative health effects of urban sprawl continue to grow, and more will surely be discovered as the phenomenon continues to be researched. urban sprawl began in the middle of the 20th century and its consequences have only recently been studied. therefore, i have cause to believe that more serious health risks will be discovered in association with the effects of urban sprawl, such as an increase in food deserts and prevalence of heat islands.  

in speaking with professor teron, he enlightened me on one of the effects of urban sprawl in our own city of syracuse, that being the i-81 highway. the viaduct beneath the highway is quite literally crumbling due to poor construction practices and frequent collisions, and it has seen use far past its life expectancy. not only is the highway technically inefficient but, according to teron, purposefully runs through a community that experiences high levels of income inequality and is demographically diverse. one of the primary urban infrastructure planners in the 20th century was robert moses and he tended to propose highways that ran right through minority communities, such as i-81 in syracuse. 

in evaluating how to address issues of urban sprawl and environmentally unjust urban infrastructure planning, we must be direct and transparent in our goals and the steps to achieving those goals. redevelopment efforts, and many efforts to improve the health of the environment, sit comfortably behind the frame of ‘sustainability’ without truly defining what is sustainable. this results in stagnation of policy and action. in contrast, we need to employ goals that specifically target individual cities and their unique environmental hazards. some of these specific frames include “low carbon cities,” “food secure cities,” or cities that can promote “urban resilience.” with more specific and transparent guidelines, we can better approach the communities affected by urban sprawl and their unique struggles with a plan that can target the environmental weaknesses of individual cities. 

overall, the point of my podcast and accompanying article is not to propose one blanket solution to the issue of urban sprawl. instead, it is a call to action for urban infrastructure planners, environmental justice advocates, and urban communities to work together to redevelop our cities so that we can all live equitably and with equal access to public services.

but the 279-acre area is more than just a park.

officially the willow waterhole stormwater detention basin, it’s actually a nature-based flood damage reduction facility that can hold up to 600 million gallons of stormwater. channels slowly drain the water away, which would otherwise have moved downstream, flooding homes and businesses.

the site is part of the brays bayou flood damage reduction project, a massive collaboration between the harris county flood control district and the army corps of engineers. project brays’ 75 elements primarily include widened and deepened channels, which will be able to hold more stormwater, alterations to the bridges crossing those channels and the construction of four stormwater detention basins. willow is one of them.

stephen benigno, an environmental quality section leader at the flood control district’s environmental services department, said that most park-goers have no idea that spaces like willow are multi-purpose. it’s an example of hybrid infrastructure, which combines both nature-based and traditional solutions to problems like flooding.

sarah murdock, director of u.s. climate resilience and water policy at the nature conservancy, said, “when you invest in nature, you can lessen the impact that you’re trying to address, but you also get a host of other benefits.”

not only does willow manage flood risk and provide a recreational space for houston residents, it also helps conserve wildlife and restore the endangered coastal prairie ecosystem upon which houston was built.

willow’s trees will grow into forest, so workers don’t have mow as much grass. plants within the waterhole help filter the stormwater, which otherwise would be carried, along with its contaminants, into the brays bayou and eventually to the gulf of mexico.

“when [hybrid infrastructure] is applicable, the district uses it every chance they get,” said benigno.

and in august 2017, project brays prevented over 10,000 homes from being flooded by hurricane harvey, which dumped about a trillion gallons of water on harris county alone. all of the county’s channels and its four detention basins, which can hold a combined 3.5 billion gallons of stormwater, were at full capacity sometime during the storm.

traditional gray infrastructure – like pumping stations and pipes – alone would have resulted in greater damage.

norma jean mattei, the american society of civil engineers’ 2017 president, said that typical structures like pumping stations are designed to collect water and actively move it out of the area as quickly as possible, but have finite capabilities.

in addition, she said, any hazards that take the systems offline during extreme weather events, even temporarily, will lead to flooding.

“that’s what the problem is with gray infrastructure,” said mattei. “big rainstorms [like hurricane harvey] are a lot of water.”

climate change could make weather events more intense, putting traditional projects under more stress. a 2017 national oceanic and air administration study projected more severe rainfall and hurricanes for texas as the climate warms.

the fourth national climate change assessment, released in 2018 by the u.s. global change research program, found that sea level rise along the texas gulf coast is twice as high as the national average. a storm surge in galveston bay could put the entire country’s petroleum and natural gas refining ability at risk. during harvey, surges in the area measured from one to four feet high.

nature-based elements could be part of a comprehensive approach toward these developing challenges. that’s something the army corps of engineers’ dedicated engineering with nature initiative is taking to heart. in the organization’s galveston bay district, located right by houston, it’s using a strategy called “multiple lines of defense” to take some of the strain off engineered features.

edmond russo, deputy district engineer for programs and project management at the corps.’ galveston district said, “in the case we only had engineered solutions, the system is more brittle and prone to failure.”

russo described an example in which using miles of wetlands in front of an earthen levee would reduce the daily battering the structure would take from the waves. the project would remain effective for longer.

more engineers are recognizing the potential advantages that nature can bring to infrastructure.

“[engineers] would try to control nature, but we know we can’t,” he said. “there’s always a bigger disaster than what you design for.”

washington – a house energy subcommittee is pushing legislation to require the energy department to lease some of the strategic petroleum reserve facilities to companies or foreign governments and use the profits to update old equipment and infrastructure.

the strategic petroleum reserve is the world’s largest government-owned stockpile of emergency crude oil, stored in huge underground salt caverns along the coastline of the gulf of mexico. 

the 665.5 million barrels of crude oil stored there are worth about $42 billion. that exceeds its obligation as a member of the international energy agency under the international energy program to maintain at least 90 days of reserve oil. congress authorized the reserve in response to the organization of arab petroleum exporting countries’ oil embargo in 1973 and 1974. 

“the u.s. is arguably more energy secure now than ever before,” said subcommittee chairman rep. fred upton, r-mich. “we’re the number one world producer for oil and gas. our imports of gas have declined about 70% since peaking in 2005.

“our pipelines are full. our refineries are operating at near peak capacity.”

upton said he expects the house and senate to pass the bill and get to the president before the end of the year.

democratic rep. frank pallone of new jersey said the trump administration has been considering releasing oil from the reserve to lower gas prices before the november midterm elections to help the republican candidates.

“when you get to the point where the administration is publicly discussing using spr for blatantly political purposes, then it is certainly a good time to discuss the future of the reserve,” pallone said.

charlie cray, a senior research specialist at greenpeace usa, said in a statement, that the country’s energy needs should never be treated as a “political chip” before an election. instead, the government could stabilize the energy market by building up green infrastructure.

congress has passed several laws authorizing the sale of crude oil from the reserve. these sales, totaling an estimated $16 billion, are projected to reduce the crude oil inventory from the current 660 million barrels to about 400 million barrels over the next decade, according to the subcommittee.

“climate change is one of the greatest threats to our national security, a significant reason why the united states must continue to limit its burning of fossil fuels and instead make the transition to a green economy,” cray said in the same statement.

the reserve’s facilities are more than 40 years old and haven’t been upgraded in 25 years, according to steven winberg, the department of energy’s assistant secretary for fossil energy. the doe is developing a life extension program to upgrade the spr system to operate for an additional 25 years. by leasing space to other countries or commercial operations, the upgrading expenses could be covered by the lease payments, winberg said.

the doe is conducting a study to identify which of the reserve’s storage caverns or related facilities likely will become underutilized or operationally inefficient and possibly be closed, he told the subcommittee.

however, the doe has not done a great job assessing market changes, identifying the optimal size for the reserve, or analyzing possible needs for the oil, said frank rusco of the government accountability office, the nonpartisan congressional investigative agency.

rusco said australia and new zealand have shown interest in leasing space in the reserve since salt cavern storage is generally cheaper than tank or ship storage, and he predicted other countries also would be interested.

texas republican rep. joe barton said that leasing the underused parts of the facilities is a win-win idea.

“maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t, but we’re not going to be worse off than we are,” barton said. “we will probably be better off if the private sector makes a decision to utilize it because it’s going to give some funding that’s at the discretion of the secretary of energy to improve the facility.” 

in fact, water conveyance — the transportation of water — is one of the largest energy consumers, accounting for about 8% of the entire country’s energy usage. and it turns out that we are conveying a lot more water than we need.

according to mark kovscek, founder and ceo of conservation labs, most of the infrastructure supporting water transportation is more than 50 years old, and faulty.

“most of our infrastructure was built in 1970 or earlier and needs to be replaced or repaired,” he said. “that cost in the next 10 plus years will be about 4.7 trillion dollars.”

water leaks generally account for about 15% of your monthly water bill. kovscek’s newest product, h2know, helps find those leaks to fix them. h2know is a smart water meter that connects to an app on your mobile device and saves you about $250 annually in water bills.

how h2know works

you can install h2know in less than 10 minutes to your own main pipeline, where the device takes live readings, thousands of measurements per second, of the pipe’s water flow.

every water-using device: washing machines, faucets, toilets, and even leaks, have a unique water signature, meaning that the rate of water flowing through the main pipeline changes according to which device is being used, and through advanced data analytics and machine learning algorithms, these measurements are converted into useful information for homeowners. this data will tell you exactly which device is using water and when, and also identify leaks as they happen. the real-time response is important, according to kovscek, because otherwise homeowners tend to ignore problems like these.

the example kovscek gives is of a homeowner with a leaky toilet. the homeowner notices a leak from the toilet’s connecting pipe after a few days, but puts a container under it and decides to take care of it later. after three consecutive months of a water bill $30 higher than usual, she finally calls a plumber. by that time she already has lost $90, plus the cost of the plumber.

an h2know device would have notified the homeowner as soon as the leak started and also offered her the contact information for a local plumber, and diy instructions on how to stop the leak.

h2know encourages the behavior of taking care of problems as they happen, resulting in less water loss and money down the drain.

according to kovscek, the app “casually reminds folks that there is this broader issue that’s out there of conservation.”

the app part of h2know aims to “gamify conservation,” kovscek says. it aims to compare a homeowner’s water usage to an average, or to a household with a same number of people living in it. this makes it a competition to conserve water. in other words, it provides incentive for people to begin changing their water use habits. the app also provides suggestions for ways to cut back on water usage.

kovscek’s conservation labs recently won one of the eureka parks climate change innovator awards at the consumer electronics show in las vegas — the first year they’ve given this environmental award — for its h2know, and the company has an indiegogo campaign running in order to bring their product to market.

h2know market projections 

according to kovscek, hexa research estimates the smart water meter market space to be about $2 billion. his own estimations came in at about $1.5 billion, although this market analysis was made before the smart water meter existed at all. kovscek explains that this projection is driven primarily by four factors:

the first is homeowners’ adoption of connected smart home devices. markets and markets estimates the smart-home industry will be worth $137.91 billion by 2023.

the second factor is increasing water rates. circle of blue estimates that in the past five years, water rates have increased by 40% in 30 major u.s. cities. kovscek says that his own bill is projected to rise 17% in the next year. these rising rates are due to old infrastructure being used to transport water, an estimated $4.7 trillion job for repairs and replacements that citizens are seeing in the form of rising water rates and taxes.

the third market-driving factor is climate change. citizens in california were mandated to reduce their water consumption by 20% during the most recent drought, a feat determined by habit and identifying leaks, both things which h2know addresses. similarly, extreme weather events and temperatures cause pipes to freeze and unfreeze at unprecedented rates, causing decaying pipes and water damage.

the fourth factor is the increasing public awareness of sustainability and environmental issues. people want to buy the most sustainable product and are becoming more conscious of consumer responsibility and dollar voting. all of these factors are driving a $2 billion product market, fit for h2know.

what sets h2know apart from its competitors is its lower price point — and its potential for investment returns for the homeowner. the appliance and app cost less than $100, and could save the homeowner as much as $250 a year. kovscek also estimates his product has a shelf life of 10-plus years, so customers don’t have to spend money replacing or repairing the device on a routine basis.

kovscek said h2know is able to operate at such an affordable price due to the research and care that the team at conservation labs put into it. kovscek himself has an impressive background in data analytics, with a degree in mathematics from carnegie mellon university, and having worked for a long time solving big problems using advanced mathematic techniques. he is a numbers guy at heart, and sees what he does as “fun exercises in data science” that he is passionate and excited about, rather than as work.

with his expertise, conservation labs has invested the time and money into machine learning in order to sift through the messy and complicated data that their low cost sensor produces. kovscek said this is different from other products on the market that use expensive sensors, which need to be installed by a plumber, and are invasive to the water infrastructure design. while some of these other products are fitted with an application that is capable of directly turning off the water supply as soon as a leak is detected, these technologies are entering the market at about $500. products at this price might save water, but probably won’t save much money. 

the future of water conservation

in the future, kovscek hopes to produce a product that works in tandem with h2know and will directly turn off the water supply when a leak is detected. he hopes to customize one of these products that already is on the market to work compatibly with h2know and provide homeowners with this additional feature.

while the primary focus of conservation labs right now is on homeowners, and shipping out the first 1,000 h2know devices by the end of the year, kovscek sees the possibility of bringing h2know to commercial spaces in the future.

there is a “need and market with commercial places too,” he says, but “it is hard to scale with wi-fi being the primary communication protocol.” it would be hard to have a wi-fi network responsible for reaching the area included within a city’s limits, not to mention the problems associated with wi-fi security, passwords, and privacy protection.

in order to bring h2know to universities, towns, and cities, they would need to use a different communication platform. however, it is doable, and would help to identify leaks and trouble spots in city infrastructures that need replacement, ultimately saving tax dollars and increasing water rates.

conservation labs is still looking for partners with similar values with whom they can go to market, and is looking forward to having many of those conversations this year.