Featured Guests:

Laura Wildenborg, VP of Strategic Lending, Sunrise Banks

Laura Wildenborg is the VP of Strategic Lending at Sunrise Banks in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this role, Laura explores new lending and investment areas for the bank to expand its mission as a Community Development Financial Institution. She is also building the bank’s net zero strategy as the product manager for Net Zero Deposits. Prior to joining Sunrise, Laura worked as an outdoor educator and served as the chair of the Red Wing Sustainability Commission.

Laura has an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and a B.A. in environmental studies from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn.

Adam Bradley Jonas, Co-Founder, Kaleidoscope and Architect, A W A K E N  Architecture

In 2020, Adam evolved his practice of architecture into a human-centered approach to real estate development – valuing people, place-keeping, and positive impacts beyond the walls of a building. He continues to refine this art with high performance buildings developed by Kaleidoscope – Brighter Living and designed by Awaken Architecture. The group’s first project, Firefly, is a new, energy efficient building providing a sustainable, community-oriented lifestyle in Minneapolis. Firefly lights the way through the darkness of climate change by inspiring brighter living – fun and active ways to create meaningful connections while consuming fewer resources.

Episode Transcript

0:02 Hello and welcome to Social Currency Powered By Sunrise Banks, a podcast about the most innovative change makers in finance, technology and Ds G and how they, our guests, are dismantling barriers and reshaping their industries and maybe even ours too.

0:16 I’m Tyler Seydel and I’m Eric Schurr.

0:19 Here we speak to those driving positive change through social entrepreneurship from cutting edge technology to creative grassroots efforts.

0:27 Each episode seeks to reveal the stories behind the revolution that is propelling us toward a world of financial inclusivity.

0:37 I’m Tyler Seydel and I’m Eric Schurr.

0:39 And today we’re going to talk about Net Zero banking.

0:43 We have three guests for you today.

0:44 That’s right.

0:44 Three a lot to juggle.

0:46 We have Jay Rajaratnam.

0:47 We have Adam Bradley Jonas, not to be confused with one of the Jonas brothers.

0:51 They’re developers of a new sustainable apartment building in Minneapolis.

0:54 And we have of course our very own sunrise banks colleague, Laura Wildenborg, Vice President of Strategic Lending and one of the thought leaders behind the sunrise banks, net zero deposits.

1:06 We’re gonna jump right in today because we do have a lot to talk about.

1:10 First off.

1:10 Welcome everyone.

1:12 You know, nestled in the Whittier neighborhood of South Minneapolis, just east of the Lakes.

1:17 That dot That, that area is an apartment building that you Jay and Adam have labeled as Firefly.

1:25 Can you tell us about the firefly project?

1:28 I will begin by saying Firefly.

1:32 The name comes out of this idea that we as a global society are faced by a lot of darkness surrounding climate crisis and it can be really hard to find uplifting things in the news on a day-to-day basis.

1:48 Firefly seeks to be the light that can help guide us forward in that darkness trying to be as sustainable, both environmentally and socially as possible to be a leader in environmental solutions as well as building community.

2:07 So the name evokes that brightness and that playfulness that you might recall by seeing fireflies out on a summer’s night.

2:19 So that kind of wonder and excitement.

2:24 What we’re trying to do with Firefly, the building is bring that wonder and enjoyment and love for nature around us to the building itself and also to the community in Whittier Jay.

2:40 Do you wanna talk a little bit about our history?

2:44 So our history, we originally connected through our kids’ daycare.

2:48 Believe it or not.

2:50 We have two young kids and through a mutual friend who also had kids there, we got connected and we started at a high level of chatting about some of the housing crisis that was happening throughout the us affordability, sustainability and where we’re building in terms of climate change.

3:10 And you know, we, we talked about it for about a year and then there was an opportunity for Adam and I and another developer as well as this mutual friend, dad to go and work on an R F P that the city of Bloomington had put out to develop some affordable housing.

3:27 in Bloomington, this was pre COVID and we had gotten the RFP and this gave me the confidence to leave my corporate job and we started working on the project and then COVID hit everything slowed down and that project ultimately fell apart.

3:42 But Adam and I kept some of the same investor group and we looked at opportunities in Minneapolis and we landed on this site here in the Whittier neighborhood and we love this site for multiple reasons.

3:54 One of them being that it’s the true definition of what we could do with a 15-minute city.

3:59 So this project sits in the heart of Whittier neighborhood, right?

4:04 Halfway down the block is Whittier school with, you know, huge play lot parks as well as fields for kids and pets to run around.

4:13 Not to mention the the restaurants, bars, grocery stores that are walkable within, you know, 15 minutes of this, the site.

4:22 And then Adam and I started this being our first project really started to discuss what is our goal, what is our mission we wanna be?

4:30 And ultimately, our goal is to build housing that our kids when they’re, you know, our age, look back and say, ok, we knew climate change was an issue back then.

4:40 Here’s something that was done to try to help Firefly.

4:44 A little bit of the history.

4:45 Some of the namesake, the whimsy, the wonder, the excitement and when you’re a kid, even some of the mystery like how does that bug really even glow.

4:54 And I think it’s exciting that young kids are bringing folks together to help make a difference, right?

5:00 And one thing that I really loved that you were talking about what you mentioned and what you said and that’s the reason why I get up every day is entrepreneurs coming out to make a difference.

5:11 You guys are looking at the housing crisis, you’re considering sustainability, climate change and how climate change influences habitation or even where you could habitate thinking in a more macro sense.

5:22 So that goal, that mission, that’s where we wanna be.

5:25 And for folks that may not know, Jay and Adam were the first customers at sunrise banks to be part of our net zero deposits.

5:34 But before we get too far over our skis in relation to that, let’s rewind the hands of time of it.

5:38 Laura if I can tag you into the conversation, can you give us a little bit of backstory about sunrise and all things?

5:44 Net Zero, specifically what net zero deposits are and how that influences perhaps some of our lending components and strategy.

5:51 Yeah, so first I’ll give you an overview of Net zero banking, which is a practice where banks align lending and investment activities with the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner.

6:07 This effort is to me is meant to reduce emissions, mitigate the impacts of climate change and build climate resilient communities through ST strategic financing.

6:18 The best part is as a bank, we can help our customers reduce their carbon footprint with banking products.

6:25 And what’s unique at sunrise is we are approaching it from both sides through deposits and loans.

6:31 So think about the basic banking mechanics for a minute when you store your money in a savings account or a checking account, money doesn’t just sit there.

6:41 The bank leverages it on the other side as loans.

6:44 So at Sunrise, net zero deposits are designated to projects that reduce or avoid carbon emissions.

6:52 Types of projects or net zero loans include energy reduction and efficiency upgrades, clean energy, green buildings like Firefly and electric and hybrid vehicles.

7:05 Some lending opportunities we’re looking at outside of of construction.

7:11 Can you talk about how those opportunities play into the net zero deposits?

7:17 How that breaks that circle.

7:20 Yeah.

7:20 So we’re really focused on projects that are reducing or avoiding carbon emissions.

7:26 So for example, if we can do energy efficiency upgrades to buildings, I think about my own house, it’s almost 100 years old and I had an, an energy audit done on my house and it turns out I don’t have any insulation in my walls.

7:41 So one of the best things I could do is put insulation in my walls in our cold Minnesota winters.

7:47 So that the energy usage in my house goes down and then that leads to cost savings.

7:55 And so one of the best parts about net zero loans is that you pay for the project upfront and that results in cost savings that then go off to pay, go off and help pay for that loan.

8:08 Adam and Jay, unlike Laura, you’re working with a, with a clean canvas here.

8:13 And it’s interesting as you were talking Adam about the concept of a firefly.

8:19 The myths of metaphors that we use to talk about.

8:22 These long-term issues are so important because we hear many times we hear climate change being discussed under the metaphor of, of combat or battle or war, we’re going to eliminate, we’re going to fight, we’re going to conquer you.

8:39 Approach your project with this sense of wonder with this sense of being part of, of, of, of the environment, being, being part of nature, not separate from.

8:51 Can you talk how you use that blank canvas?

8:54 Can you talk about how you use that to, to create intentionality around the project?

9:01 Absolutely.

9:02 So we’re thinking about things and implementing things holistically.

9:07 So from a a high-level perspective, we’ve kind of mentioned the project site.

9:14 so that larger interconnectedness was really important for being within a city and connected to various options for transit as well as community assets.

9:27 So there’s a lot of intentionality in where we’re building.

9:30 This is not a Greenfield site, this is urban infill and that’s, that’s a major important starting point.

9:38 I think the idea of the the firefly is incredibly important as we think about how do we want to grow or plant something.

9:50 So if you wanna try to grow an abundant garden, we have to have rich soil access to sun water, et cetera.

10:00 Building a building is kind of no different.

10:04 If we think about things holistically, we want to provide joy and love in that quote soil or that foundation that will eventually kind of grow and blossom into something that is bright and inspiring for the community.

10:23 So more specifically, once we start figuring out where that building seed is planted, we wanna help nourish the soil.

10:32 So that looks metaphorically at connecting with neighbors being really intertwined with the local businesses.

10:42 So, in addition to and in parallel to designing the building, we’re out there talking with literally offing at neighboring coffee shops and restaurants getting to know the community more intimately.

10:57 It’s maybe worth pointing out Jay and I live and work and play nearby.

11:04 My house is about a mile or less from the Whittier Park.

11:10 We come here for summer camps, chi Children, Jay’s kids go to a school nearby and we’re all, this is kind of an example of in our backyard, so to speak.

11:24 And so it’s, you know, partially growing that seed with as a opposed to a developer team that’s from somewhere else that doesn’t understand the community and is only thinking single mindedly about the building and turning a profit.

11:44 This is thinking beyond that single bottom line to looking at community and environmental benefit.

11:50 And that starts with thinking about it from where you live and growing it up.

11:54 So it’s a very local hyper localized idea that way the the the building set up then is designed on site to take advantage of sunlight and community space.

12:08 So the north side of the building is where the circulation happens.

12:13 So it’s buffering from the northern winds and then the all the apartments open up to the south.

12:19 So everyone has access to direct southern light really important, especially in the winter.

12:25 And more uniquely for this type of building we bring in the end apartments have access to light on three sides.

12:35 A typical apartment building, its corner would only have access to light on two sides at most.

12:41 So we’re really trying to kind of extend the building into the landscape in a way that helps connect the residents to nature.

12:49 This probably isn’t a building that every apartment dweller would necessarily appreciate or find value in because of their lifestyle.

13:00 And you’ve spoken about how, how you’re really asking the residents to, to be local, to reach out to, to engage in the community in, in, in a very different way.

13:12 You started to speak about the amenities and I was just curious, the so you spoke about some of the amenities that you’re including.

13:18 Are there amenities that people would generally find in traditional apartment buildings that maybe they won’t find in this in this project?

13:26 Yeah, the way we talk about amenities is more of a like a neighborly amenity.

13:30 So what we’re trying to do is plant this seed that then can blossom and help bring vibrancy to the overall neighborhood and community.

13:41 So rather than providing, I would say, you know, kind of conventional or larger buildings amenities, we look to the neighborhood to connect to those amenities.

13:53 And so we think of, you know, we, we’ve talked about transit as a big one, of course.

13:58 So connection to the Greenway connection to Wine Avenue has a direct bus line to the University of Minnesota, for example.

14:06 So we’re highly connected in that regard.

14:09 but we’re also thinking about amenities of the neighborhood.

14:15 So when people move in, they’ll receive a welcome pack that, you know, gets them access to and provides them information on all the amenities that surround them within that 15 minutes city.

14:28 So Jay had mentioned several grocery stores and coffee shops and restaurants.

14:35 There’s also a bunch of entertainment and other exciting things to do like vertical endeavors or Bryant Lake Bull.

14:43 So there’s a wealth of amenities that are walkable and we want to play that up rather than kind of duplicating that on site.

14:53 So that connection to those businesses is a huge one.

14:56 The, the another one that’s maybe worth kind of diving into because it’s a little bit more unique is we’re again thinking about, you know, you might let’s going back to the metaphor of planting a seed and it blossoms and let’s just imagine you’re walking down the sidewalk and you stop and smell someone’s pretty flowers or whatever.

15:16 Technically, those flowers belong to that resident and they probably planted them and it’s maybe in their private garden.

15:24 However, you still have access to it, you can see it, you smell it, you might even be able to touch it and appreciate it on several sensorial levels.

15:33 And that little microcosm of an example is kind of what we’re trying to amplify within the yard space.

15:40 So rather than thinking about, oh we have some garden space for residents.

15:45 We’re starting to blur the lines a little bit of let’s take down the metaphorical fence and allow people to engage with stopping and smelling the flowers a bit more.

15:57 So perhaps neighbors will be participants in the garden space that is part of the front yard.

16:03 We also want to be more specific and offer some resources such as composting RWE or a similar recycling service and as community supported agricultural drop off site or CS A.

16:21 And that again, all those examples could be opened up beyond the walls, the building to the residents here and start to promote that to the neighbors and residents within Whittier.

16:33 So trying to again, amplify some of these amenities that more than one person or a building could enjoy.

16:43 I think that’s fantastic in terms of perspective shifting.

16:46 When folks are thinking of a place to build, right?

16:49 When we’re looking at creating an apartment building or whatever, whatever is going into that design and architectural process, it typically ends up with something that’s precast, right?

16:59 Something that’s fast, easy to put together.

17:01 What you’re talking about here is organic, architectural planning and approach to urban infill.

17:05 This is a double if not triple bottom line opportunity that being community environmental benefits and of course, the margin to perpetuate that virtuous fly wheel.

17:13 And I think that it’s exciting really because at the end of the day you’re trying to put something into your environment.

17:19 And I like your analogy of we’re planting the seed because really what the end result is, you guys might have a defined idea that we’re gonna build a place and it’s gonna hit these axioms or tenants in relation to our mission and margins.

17:33 But it might look different based on what those specific community needs are because you’re contrasting what you’re looking to build with what the community needs.

17:41 And I think that there is a lot of synergy there.

17:44 I think your tie back to the 15 minute city is profound and I’m excited that something like this is so low to our area and that we’re participating in it as we are.

17:54 And Laura, I guess where this is starting to go in my mind is is these types of things as the moors and norms of society starts to shift and change.

18:02 And as more people start to think like Jay and Adam, what do we think the future of Net Zero banking looks like?

18:11 And how can this help organizations with their sustainability goals?

18:17 So when it comes to sustainability, net Zero banking is a super powerful tool for both organizations and individuals.

18:25 Again, the banking is leveraging your deposits on the other side of loans.

18:29 So often there are carbon emissions also known as financed emissions associated with those loans.

18:36 In fact, big banks in the US lend us as much as 30% of their portfolio to the carbon intensive sectors that are driving climate change.

18:45 So what does this mean for organizations and individuals simply put where you bank matters?

18:52 There was a report that came out this March by Topo Finance that stated, decarbonizing corporate cash is one of the most powerful actions.

19:00 Companies have to reduce emissions and drive progress.

19:04 This means that for organizations if you have made a net zero commitment or have any kind of sustainability goals, it’s important to start looking into what your bank is financing for individuals.

19:16 And I’ve thought a lot about what this means for myself.

19:19 Moving to a value based bank could be one of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

19:25 And beyond that actually be supporting the net zero transition.

19:30 So all we’re doing at sunrise is giving you more transparency into what we’re funding in telling the inspiring and impactful stories behind your bank account.

19:40 You know, it’s really great to have Laura, I know you’ve thought deeply about this in, in, in taking taking the time to think about how individuals and businesses can participate in putting their money where their values are and especially if they if they, if they resonate around sustainability and, and the goals surrounding that as a final question for the, for the group, if you had one thing you wanted to, our listeners to take away from this conversation we’ve had today, what would that be Jay, can I start with you, please?

20:21 Yeah, I think, you know, for Adam and I, we realized that we have this special skill set to be able to develop housing and the passion for it.

20:30 And so we started to look, ok, what are the problems that we want to solve?

20:34 And traditionally you just look at it and say, ok, we want to put up more housing and you know, crank out the doors, the number of doors, we went a step further and instead of OK, part of what we want to do is mission based and that’s what kind of world do we want to leave for our kids.

20:47 And then so in that company formation, it was we want to try to do sustainable projects.

20:52 So a little bit summary on this project, which is we talked about infill.

20:56 So it used to be a single family home.

20:57 We, you know, we took down 11 unit of living and we put up 12 units of of living.

21:04 Our project is D O E Department of Energy Net Zero ready.

21:08 It’s an all electric bill and one of the mission statements that we had is on new construction.

21:13 We will not bring natural gas in.

21:15 We’ll figure out how do we build very efficient buildings that we can power off of renewable and an ever growing renewable energy source, which is electricity here in, in, in our region.

21:26 And you know, we’re doing what we can with, with an eye out on the future we’ll put, I’ll continue to elaborate, you know, a a lot of the idea of this seed being planted and blossoming.

21:41 There’s a lot within that seed and the, the technicality of the Department of Energy Net Zero Ready Homes is a big mouthful and yet it also provides us with kind of I would say above, definitely above code and something we should all be doing whenever we are using resources is try to be as efficient as possible.

22:07 So my ask for those listening is to come and check us out, come and visit the building because a lot of these big long words are really just abstract until you see what that actually means.

22:20 What does it mean to step into the space and feel that daylight?

22:23 Oh And by the way, that’s reducing our carbon load and let’s check out the induction stove and how does that work?

22:31 So we’re, we’re really excited about educating folks who might live here, but also to your listeners, you know, it’s something that there’s so many things that go into the building and this financing piece is huge.

22:47 And we also want to create an environment to help educate investors as well as residents as well as future homeowners.

22:55 What is it like to be in these spaces?

22:57 What does it feel like to save energy and not feel like you’re giving up something but actually enjoying it.

23:03 What is that brightness in the firefly evoke to you?

23:07 And how can you carry that with you throughout your day, throughout your week, month and into your, the rest of your life.

23:15 So, please check us out and visit firefly and kudos to you both.

23:22 Laura.

23:22 I’ll get to you in a second but you know, to hear how your passion and your values have, have translated and manifested itself into a building with such intentionality and truly an asset to the neighborhood.

23:36 It, it’s really inspiring to hear Laura the last word.

23:41 So my number one takeaway is that it’s not just about where you spend your money, it’s also about where you store your money, your bank account matters and it could be funding the folks just like Jay and Adam who are out there doing the work and literally building a climate resilient community.

23:58 It has been a pleasure having you all on.

24:01 And when I say all, I mean, it, it takes a village to make a difference.

24:05 We had one on the podcast today.

24:07 And goodness can I see the difference?

24:09 I can see it.

24:10 Thank you so much for the time.

24:12 It was truly an uplifting experience.

24:14 We look forward to seeing what’s in store next.

24:17 And as Adam and Jay mentioned, please go and check them out.

24:22 The work that they’re doing with Firefly is amazing and immense.

24:27 But what they’re doing is they’re setting the mold for future iterations of similar developments and we appreciate you for your thought provoking leadership and forward leaning approach to change.

24:39 Thank you, Tyler.

24:40 And I’d like to give a special shout out to Sunrise for believing in our mission and, and supporting it and grateful for leading the way and creating the Net Zero fund.

24:50 And it’s, it’s been AAA great experience to work with Sunrise.

24:53 And thanks to you and our investors for, in the belief that what we’re doing and that engaging dialogue was powered by Sunrise Banks member FDIC Equal Housing Lender.

25:06 Thanks for listening to the social currency podcast by Sunrise Banks.

25:10 If you’ve enjoyed this episode and you’d like to help support the podcast, click like and subscribe anywhere you get your podcast content.

25:17 We’ll see you soon.