Recently back from an international climate justice conference in Bolivia, Esther Yang was eager to discuss her passion for sustainable, affordable housing.
“I’ve always wanted to choose a profession that would use my passions and convictions; one that would provide a home and a community of support for people,” Esther said. “Housing should not focus on the production of objects and inhabitable containers; it is about fostering a place that allows someone to feel that they belong.”
At 31, Esther has a graduate degree in architecture from the University of Virginia, taught architecture classes at the University of Arkansas as an assistant professor and is in the final month of her tenure as an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow. She has spent the past three years working in New York City at a non-profit, Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation, to provide affordable and sustainable housing to communities in the Northwest Bronx.
Beyond her focus to improve fundamental construction practices, Esther has managed 13 sustainable projects. One project involved harvesting rainwater to flush toilets. She also managed a project to refurbish a solar thermal system to preheat domestic hot water to reduce fuel costs. These projects work to alleviate important environmental issues for urban areas across the nation.
“I’m passionate about promoting practices that facilitate better operation costs because it’s more funding we can devote to our residents and their homes,” Esther said. “Sustainability is such a buzzword these days, and this isn’t about installing cool bamboo flooring, it’s about caring for the environment as a whole while working to house people in a community that is affordable to them.”
Her fellowship has allowed her to inject insights into local, national, and international forums. She has worked to develop tools to assist development and property management companies to make more efficient and productive development. Her fellowship has also opened doors for her to devote time towards her greater goals of affecting housing domestic and international development policies.
Esther was invited by The Bolivian Mission of the United Nations to participate in the climate justice conference in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The conference propelled her thinking about sustainable practices into a world perspective. She said she was “forced to recognize her ignorance about global concerns and returned with recharged convictions to advocate more compassionate and considerate decisions that address immediate needs of domestic and international communities.”
“I learned in Bolivia that everything I do has to fit into a larger framework of thinking,” Esther said. “The housing industry has come to a level of complacency with a primary focus on price. I no longer just look at wood as an aesthetic luxury or the cheapest option; I have two populations to consider. I might be empowering my residences in the Bronx with wood from the rainforest, but at the same time I can’t justify implementing the wood because I’ve impacted someone else across the world negatively.”
Her passion for sustainable housing flows out of an even greater passion to see others enjoy being in a place that they can afford and feel connected within a community in which they feel pride for. It’s a passion that can be seen in the path her life has taken and heard in her voice as she talks about her projects.
“I’d like to scrap words like “green” and “sustainable” and not talk about someone’s home as “product,” but a place that is supporting their lives from a different perspective,” Esther ardently stated.
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By Abby Wambaugh
Abby is a marketing manager for an iconic, international travel company. She
tweets,
writes and loves the mountains. Above any professional goal, her heart desires to see justice in an unjust world. Abby is contributing seven blog posts in a series called “On the Ground.” The series focuses on real people making a difference through volunteer work. We’re so excited to have Abby contributing to our blog.
