Eco-logical Design for Green Infrastructure in Cities

Conversation with Larry Davis from Green Mechanics

“Stories outlast the buildings. We still lean on stories from thousands of years ago even though the buildings are in ruins.”

This early January, I had the chance to reconnect with Larry Davis, Lead Consultant and Green Infrastructure Specialist from Green Mechanics based in the Maryland-DC area. Larry offered some of the most insightful and organic conversations I had during last October’s Conference on Municipal Golf in DC, held by the National Links Trust. We talked about martial arts, flow states, ecological design solutions, and how golf might help those shared passions interconnect!

Green Mechanics is a black-owned/operated minority business enterprise (registered MBE) and certified Benefit LLC that offers ecological design services, particularly in urban environments where they address the impacts of stormwater runoff and the “urban heat island” effect. Some of its core offerings include an Algal Turf Scrubbing technology, vertical gardens, and the deployment of smart sensors to manage networks of green infrastructure assets (such as trees, storm water facilities, and more, so that their health and cost-effectiveness can be monitored).

As the following conversation discusses, ecology and economy share the root word “eco”, which means “home” or “place to live”. At the root of municipal systems and urban environments is the shared desire among stakeholders to collaborate on more harmonious ways of living. Green Mechanics uses data and its shared understanding of natural flows to facilitate life in urban environments.

Enjoy my conversation with Larry Davis of Green Mechanics!

Andre Paul’s interview with Larry Davis

What drew you to STEM education and ultimately entrepreneurship? What originated first: your passion for engineering, design, or nature; and how did those passions come together? 

…In other words, what's your superhero origin story?

Right, how did we get these infinity stones…?  (Both laughed)

I just remember growing up and watching science channels, The History Channel, and The Universe with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, along with Avatar: The Last Airbender. I also had allergies that required me to be home, so when I missed school, I was watching shows about physics, ecology, etc. so that could be the origin of the STEM piece.

I grew up in the Baltimore area and my public STEM-based high school had different “magnet” programs, and I applied to an environmental science program. In the ecology class, they brought us out into the field, so I always appreciated that because I’m more of a kinetic learner and valued hands-on experience. Later on in college (University of Maryland), I started to get more into the entrepreneurship side of things. I joined my roommate in his personal training business, and my experience in martial arts transferred well.

Training also helped me learn about meeting the needs of a client, scheduling, selling, and other important business skills.

Was it a path of service that drew you to the converging of STEM and entrepreneurship? Speaking for myself, my education drew me into sustainability and a desire to solve ecological challenges. Upon learning the science, it became clear to me that the human “techno-sphere” was disrupting the subtle balances of the natural “biosphere”, but being a kinetic learner myself, it was my passion for golf that showed me how to “think in systems” on a very embodied level.

The self-discovery piece is so important when we all get to share in this human experience. If we have a Crayola box to draw on the paper of life, why use only blue? We need routines to provide structure and stability, but discovering ourselves in new activities like golf can be a way to play outside of the current box and also connect, as you say, to our path of service. For me, service means producing the most from my life with the least level of input.

I took up golf within the last 7-8 months, and I’ve been finding that some of the same challenges I have faced in martial arts are exactly what I face in golf. It’s a very humbling sport, and I’m noticing how tensely I hold the club, just like I used to be too tense in my sparring matches. If we’re too anxious about the future, then we’re blind to the present. You have to let it flow.

The word I would use is “trust”! How does that help you or challenge you in facilitating projects in urban environments or with municipalities?

We’re still figuring it out. Enterprise-based environments of any type have multiple decision-makers. So, how do you create a shared narrative to align their needs and create something unified that every individual wants to participate in? Self-protection and walls can naturally go up in the initial phases of building trust. The unified narrative of practical innovation (along with having many examples) seems to help us accomplish that.

I’ve sensed in the consulting setting (or teamwork of any kind) that “integrity” is also a key word. Mainly, that means being true to one’s word, but in an organizational setting it could mean what you’re saying, which is aligning the needs of multiple stakeholders.

Going back to my personal training experience, I found that certain clients would trust or feel safe with certain types of trainers, and that same pattern plays out on the enterprise level.

What are some of your top ecological concerns in urban environments, especially in the MD-DC-VA area where you have lived and offered your services?

Our three mid-Atlantic jurisdictions connect to the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a whole through many interconnections.

Historically, Maryland and DC have legacies of agriculture and high industrialization surrounding the watershed. One of the interesting differences between the West and East side of Baltimore is how the harbor brings the two together. When it comes to different services, we have to understand the history of these sites and communities, and then provide solutions – particularly for managing flooding and reducing urban heat island effects. 

One of our overarching goals has been to provide cost-effective nature-based solutions. We also capture information and data to optimize the design and implementation. The approach in an urban environment really requires stepping back with a “first principles'' approach.

I’m curious about the historical design of these communities: how have redlining, racial injustice, and the legacies of African-American history played into the geography of DC, Baltimore, and that area?

I believe Baltimore was one of the first cities to have elements of redlining in its infrastructure, so it has likely played a role. Many historical layers go into the first principles that led into the modern environment.

As much as we often talk about disparities in urban environments, it’s important to highlight a group that is almost never talked about -- black farmers. We actually work with a cooperative that helps source from small-holder black farmers around the country to better their farm economics. We’ve unfortunately lost 90-95% of our black farmer population over the last century. 

Has being a minority entrepreneur shaped your offerings to the world and surrounding communities; and does Green Mechanics' status as a black-owned and operated business shape its value creation?

Maryland is a bit different in the sense that the state has made it a priority to help MBEs (minority business enterprises) succeed. Those laws have supported Green Mechanics, but to answer your question from a minority perspective, especially in historically underserved areas, we look for ways to ask questions to underserved communities.

[Aside: check out Larry’s recent involvement with the Tradepoint Atlantic Empowerment Academy Program]

Let’s use solar, for instance. To one group, it means reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To another, it could mean: “I wonder how this affects my immediate economic reality.” Some groups and stakeholders lean toward “ecology”, while some lean toward “economy” as a priority, but both are critically important to align. Both share the same root word, which is “eco”, or “to live”. Often in underserved communities, the first priority is economics in order to serve the most immediate needs.

To your point, everyone shares an underlying goal (or unified narrative) of eco- or “living” better. At Driving the Green, we see golf as a way to communicate that unified narrative through a universal language of play. What opportunities might you see in golf for implementing green technologies?

The first is just getting more folks involved! It’s a sport that many can learn from. One more specific opportunity for implementing green technology in golf could be building networks of smart sensors to better monitor and optimize the efficiency of whatever nature-based solutions are ultimately implemented. We want to provide the best possible setup for long-term success regarding green infrastructure (particularly from an operational cost-perspective). 

One low-frequency antenna on a high-site (commercial building, etc.) can act as a gateway to deploy 100,000 sensors under the umbrella coverage so that metrics and points of interest can be monitored in real-time. That translates to monitoring thousands of trees, hundreds of stormwater management facilities, hundreds of buildings, and more. It allows us to monitor nature-based systems so that we can optimize them over time. Metrics might include soil moisture, evapotranspiration, electrical conductivity, water levels, air quality, temperature, and others. We ultimately want to manage nature-based assets in the most strategic and cost-effective manner.

What other companies, solutions, or examples of sound ecological engineering have inspired you the most?

Ecological engineering mainly means understanding natural flows and then designing lightly to facilitate those flows. As a solution, algal scrubbing has proven to be a cost-effective way for managing polluted waterways with the potential for producing energy or soil amendment (algae).

Are you familiar with the work of John Todd on ecological design? His work inspired me and was the first time I had learned about the potential for managing water pollution through nature-based means. Another perhaps cliché example of inspiration (at least from a business perspective) has been the marketing of Tesla and how they could create a status symbol product that also happened to be a “more sustainable” alternative. I sometimes wonder how golf could leverage its aspirational status as a means to lead sustainable development.

It’s definitely a good question. We’re still navigating and learning how to spar with that, but stories are important. 

On a closing note: stories outlast the buildings. We still lean on stories from thousands of years ago even though the buildings are in ruins.

For more from Larry Davis, check out his recent talk with Cheaspeake Bay Landscape Professionals on Green Mechanics’ green infrastructure projects along with the Green Mechanics website.