Explore trends and issues impacting our industry
Buildings — with their thirst for electricity, natural gas, and fuel oil — are a major contributor of atmospheric carbon. However, the building stock in the United States turns over, on average, every century, meaning today’s carbon emission output cannot be resolved without deep changes in existing buildings. The task is transformation. The challenges are
The American building stock as a whole turns over at a rate of only one percent per year. Transformation that takes a century to complete is not transformation. That means the existing building stock needs to be retrofitted for efficiency and resilience—and those retrofits need to be deep. With the lack of federal leadership, states
Over the next 30 years or so, the world’s population is expected to skyrocket from about 7.6 billion today to more than 9 billion — and a resounding 70% of people, the UN estimates, will live in cities. This begs the questions: How will we prepare our infrastructure to accommodate such a shift? And, how
With the world’s population urbanizing at a rapid rate, cities now account for between 60 and 80% of global energy consumption and 75% of total CO2 emissions. If the world was moving toward a more digitalized and decarbonized future, the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated those trends. Workforces are become more decentralized as more businesses
Host John Sheff is joined by guests Jenna Cramer and Chris Cieslak of the Green Building Alliance to discuss the Green Building movement. Their conversation covers the GBA’s work to improve energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions in buildings in western Pennsylvania.
Guest bio(s) Sasha Wedekind is a senior research analyst leading Guidehouse Insights’ Building Efficiency and Decarbonization solution. Wedekind specializes in global market analysis and market forecasts for energy efficient building technologies and energy services. Her areas of focus are building decarbonization, energy efficiency, electrification, financed energy services, including EaaS and ESPC, as well as go-to-market
Host John Sheff is joined by Markus Lempp, Danfoss Director of Public and Industry Affairs of Central Europe, for a conversation on hydrogen power. Since hydrogen is much more established in Europe than it is in the US, Lempp is able to provide real-world examples of how hydrogen is already being used. Lempp also describes hydrogen fuel cells and what some of the different hydrogen colors mean.
Jake Elder and John Sheff discuss sustainability, the kinds of goals cities should make, the challenges in implementing those changes, and provides real-world examples of cities that have had success. Jake also makes suggestions on easy and cost-effective ways cities can improve sustainability. The COVID-19 pandemic has added the motivation to make changes to improve health safety, many of which will also improve sustainability.
Electrification is a trend transforming every significant corner of the industrial economy in the U.S. From power generation and transport to infrastructure and buildings, industry and businesses are seeking to become more efficient and resilient while producing fewer emissions. Policies and regulations driving this transformation are emerging at the state, local, and utility levels as
The pandemic has upended way of life around the world — and the impact on the future of buildings, building performance, and building use is in many ways still unknown. Pre-pandemic, building design was already experiencing early waves of transformation. Now, a shaken world economy, new public health priorities, evolving standards, and a possible shift
