Accumulating Rhythms is committed to achieving a high-standard of net-zero carbon impact on the environment. It is our intention to consider and offset both the project’s operational carbon expense (electricity to run it) and the embedded carbon (in the materials used). 

 

We admit at this stage that this is an ambitious goal, and one we are still understanding. In fact, we have yet to find a comparable precedent that endeavored to a similar goal. Thankfully, every day more and more architectural and infrastructure projects aspire to higher standards of carbon-neutrality. It is with the expertise of cutting-edge carbon-auditing techniques and considerations that we plan to achieve our commitment in this area. 

 

At the project’s earliest design stages, we have begun to consider the carbon-expense of realizing this substantial effort. We have engaged a number of expert contacts for early review, and are in the process of onboarding a climate-studies intern to begin an ongoing carbon-audit analysis. As decisions of lighting fixture type, hardware design, cabling and control systems all are being made, we will weigh the carbon expense of each. Our work at this early stage is to map the entire system for an artwork of this magnitude through an ecological lens - something we think is critical, obviously authentic to the project itself, and meaningful to us as artists and humans. 

 

Bucking conventional approaches, we will design the project for de-installation, considering the afterlife of every component. Giving the project an “expiration date” will better allow us to plan for what components may be able to be reused, recycled or otherwise second-lifed. This might mean re-purposing certain equipment to future projects, lighting fixtures to additional deployments, and other to-be-determined solutions. Whenever possible, we will work with manufacturers who design long-life, ultra-efficient products, as well as those who make clear their product’s Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) and Life Cycle Analyses (LCA) data. 

 

We will work with electricity suppliers for the project to source renewable-energy generated electricity when possible, and make clear to the public what percentage of the electricity running the artwork is clean. This metric is something we commit to making public throughout the project’s lifecycle (currently imagined at 5-10 years). If the electrical grid is not able to provide the project with 100% renewable-sourced electricity, we will offset the balance, and track any progress towards fully-renewable sources that the regional suppliers can provide. 

 

Hyper-local Carbon Offsets

 

So then what? Well, we will know as this project is in development, as funds are being raised, as engineering is being conducted and research continues what the estimated carbon expense of this project might be. We then will engage in project-specific carbon offset practices. At the time of writing, this is an emerging plan. We are in touch with a host of possible collaborators including environmental justice, community development, and municipalities that are excited to chart a fresh course in carbon-offsetting: one that is hyper-local. 

 

Effective, hyper-local carbon offsets are to us, offsets that are additional to work that would otherwise be done, achieved in the immediate vicinity of the artwork (neighborhoods from which the artwork can be seen) and measurable in their impact. These could take the form of electrical transitions for low-income households, appliance updates, energy-saving retrofits and more. Our intention is to partner with the outstanding, ongoing work of regional organizations that are dedicated to this important work while amplifying and contributing to their efforts.