Scholarships

Carlton Brown: A True Sustainability Pioneer

A Princeton University School of Architecture & Urban Planning graduate, Carlton Brown was born in Charlotte, NC, in 1951. He moved to Jackson, Mississippi, with his parents in 1957 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Growing up in a family and a community engaged in the monumental struggle for human rights helped set the course for his life and work.

He became one of the most progressive and earliest advocates for affordable, sustainable buildings in economically vulnerable communities, domestically and internationally. He has always considered his development and environmental work extensions of the human rights movement. As a Christian, Carlton believes it to be part of a calling to serve others. He has always been a conscientious and involved leader who understands the power of reaching out.

Over the years, he has mentored many young developers of color and helped them find their way in an industry that often discourages diverse participations. Carlton believes everyone deserves to live and work in thriving communities, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, or social standing. His work as an ethical real estate developer is built on his foundational experiences as a student at Princeton, his work as an architect, his managerial role in AT& T’s asset management organization, and his senior manager title at Bell Communication Research - all of which, when combined with his observations of the world around him, gave Carlton a unique perspective in an emerging field. As a thought leader in the building science industry, he knows that the scientific principles describing building behavior must be directly applied alongside principles of social justice, economics, and resilience to effect equitable, meaningful change in how we build our communities.

Using his scientific and societal knowledge, Carlton combined these factors to craft the Nine Principles for Restorative Human Settlements, a guide for conducting real estate development projects in vulnerable communities. These principles help developers and residents distinguish between simply building housing and creating quality-of-life environments. Themes of limiting environmental impact, protecting community resources, creating wealth-building pathways, constructing high-performance buildings, and meeting people’s needs are emphasized.

The Nine Principles for Restorative Human Settlements are truly transformative and can be a roadmap for any public or private community-based program.

Nine Principles for Restorative Human Settlements By Carlton Brown

1. Ubuntu, I am because you are: Therefore, Do No Harm.
2. There Is No Solution Without Returns on Financial, Human, And Environmental Capital.
3. Use More Waste Than We Create.
4. Generate More Energy Than We Use.
5. Create More Wealth Than We Consume.
6. Deconstruct Socially Constructed Barriers to wellbeing by Including More People Than We Exclude.
7. Do Not Export Capital from Underserved Communities.
8. Create Places That Enable Beneficial Human Activity.
9. Centricity [putting users at the center of everything] Should Be a Primary Focus of All Community Investment

Using these nine principles, Carlton became the first developer to convince the New York City Housing Preservation Department to fund green, energy-efficient housing to promote low- to middle-income home ownership. He helped develop the framework for Stuyvesant High School, the first high-performance, high school in America, and the Solaire, the first Platinum LEED high-rise residential building in the country. His project in Harlem, 1400 on 5th, was regarded as the top Smart Green Building in the world at its completion and was the first Gold LEED affordable multifamily condominium in the United States.

Carlton’s work on 1400 on Fifth and the Solaire residential buildings paved the way for more affordable and efficient housing projects. It helped guide the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in establishing a green rating system for multifamily residential buildings. He worked with Enterprise Community Partners to develop their Green Communities standards during its formative stages. Before Carlton’s work, real estate developers and financiers generally believed it was too expensive to build affordable green housing and that sustainability was only meant for people with significant economic means. He helped train senior staff at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation on greening affordable housing. While serving on the USGBC board, Carlton championed the Green Schools program and developed sustainability curricula for HBCUs and other institutions serving indigenous and Latinx populations. He initiated programs such as LEED for Homes, Green Schools, and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Carlton led USGBC efforts to make their rating systems more inclusive of different building typologies and address the need to create sustainable urban communities.

Carlton has offered his expertise to many cities across the U.S., notably including his work with New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. But his impact also stretches across the globe, like his work in Rwanda teaching women to make bricks that will help rebuild their country and create income for their families after a devastating civil war. He is also recognized for his work with the Tata Group, one of India’s largest multinationals and the parent company of brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover, to expand the city of Jamshedpur to accommodate over 4 million new residents. Carlton has also worked in other parts of India and Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, Cape Verde, and Senegal. He is keen to point out that his global green teaching, training, mentoring, and lecturing have had a more significant impact than any of his development projects.