Explore trends and issues impacting our industry
When we consider strategies for bettering our energy productivity — or increasing GDP while reducing energy use, we cannot overlook the importance of improving industrial competitiveness and building energy footprint throughout the United States. And it’s a goal we should not ignore; energy productivity is inextricably linked to our economic growth and energy security, and
As countries develop, their buildings improve in life quality performance and decline in carbon performance. Even if we ignore life quality issues that emerge in developed countries as buildings age but remain operational, the dominant conception of “high performance” is at best ambiguous. The defining trajectory of the past century or more is toward a
Accepting and implementing rapid change has become the norm across America. The growing depth of change in the building sector suggests that traditional resistance to change is not irreversible. Indeed, historical building industry practices are more likely the result of an information deficit than of things inherent to the market. Even knowledgeable building professionals remain
As the world population increases and people pursue higher standards of living, more water is needed in homes and for production of food and products. In fact, by 2050, the UN projects global water demand will increase by 55%. However, fresh water supplies are limited, and groundwater, which is the source of drinking water for
Over the past few years, it seems I’ve been able to increasingly recite what has become one of my favorite mantras: “variable speed everything.” This is in part because, on a national level, there has been a growing conversation around doubling U.S. energy productivity by 2030. Reaching that goal will undoubtedly require a strong focus
According to conventional wisdom, safety costs money. Risk is the natural order of things, and to escape it we add protective items we believe will keep us safe from harm. Guards, shields, railings — all easily installed, but all cost money. For example, when the NTSB reverse engineered all of the measures under the Federal