The Ponce City Market Approach to Sustainable Construction
619 Ponce
Credit: Jamestown
Healthy Buildings, Healthy People, Healthy Planet
When visitors walk into the Pottery Barn at 619 Ponce, they often ask about the amazing candle scent filling the space. But the smell isn't a candle at all—it's the building itself. The four-story mass timber structure is built from Southern Yellow Pine that developer Jamestown sourced from their own timber holdings.
As Director of Innovation and Sustainability at Jamestown, Carrie Denning Jackson is leading projects that put the "healthy people, healthy planet" concept into action. Her path from IBM's Smart Cities division to Google's Sidewalk Labs and now her current role at Jamestown follows a consistent thread: exploring how technology and cities intersect to shape human experience. Through initiatives like urban tree canopy expansion, flame-retardant-free materials, and operable windows in 21-story buildings, she's demonstrating how conscious design can improve health outcomes while creating enjoyable spaces.
Beyond the technical specs, this conversation reveals how major developers are grappling with a fundamental shift in what tenants, investors, and cities expect from the built environment. As Carrie explains through her work with Ponce City Market's three buildings—Scout, Signal House, and 619 Ponce—the industry is moving from "good enough" to exceeding expectations. For developers at any scale, her insights offer actionable strategies for creating healthier buildings.
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“Jamestown pushes the bounds of sustainability and technology. The 619 office building is really cool because the timber came from our own seedlings. Our Head of Timber calls it ‘tree to table.’ It’s the full continuum. And because it’s all in the Southeast, it wasn’t trucked a long distance, keeping the carbon footprint low.”
Credit: Jamestown
About Carrie Denning Jackson
Carrie Denning Jackson is Director of Innovation and Sustainability at Jamestown. Prior to joining Jamestown, Ms. Denning Jackson was a Director on the Development team at Sidewalk Labs, Google’s urban innovation company. She is a board member of Governors Island Foundation, the New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, PlanA Health, trubel&co, an advisor to Georgia Tech’s Master of Science in Urban Analytics, and she is also the founder of Place as Medicine, an organization focused on creating healthy places. Denning Jackson has a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.
Mass Timber Structure. 619 Ponce
Credit: Jamestown
Episode Outline
(02:31) How the rise of place-based technology is changing what people expect from buildings
(07:16) Jamestown's approach to merging innovation with sustainability and setting 2030 targets
(14:21) Launching Place as Medicine after discovering hidden health hazards in everyday materials
(19:19) A walkthrough of Ponce City Market
(25:58) Air quality innovations: operable windows, induction stoves, cork flooring, and mineral paint pilots
(28:30) Using economies of scale and industry collaboration to drive down costs for healthier materials
(31:42) Practical advice for developers attempting healthier building projects
Resident-organized Garden Club rooftop event.
Credit: Jamestown
Additional Resources
University of Toronto Study - Are Sleeping Children Exposed to Plasticizers, Flame Retardants, and UV-Filters from Their Mattresses?
Stanford University Study - Methane and NOx Emissions from Natural Gas Stoves, Cooktops, and Ovens in Residential Homes
Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute - Trager MicroForest Project
Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design
The Donghia Healthier Materials Library at Parsons School of Design
About your host:
Atif Qadir is a licensed architect and entrepreneur, interested in solving big problems through innovation and technology. He has founded two proptech companies and a real estate development firm, building products ranging from software to workforce housing.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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