Demand for Green Building Solutions is Through the Roof. How Can Builders Respond?
Key Questions:
- What challenges are top of mind for the industry regarding ESG , zero-carbon and energy efficient building solutions? How can the building industry respond to the demand for healthy and cost effective building solutions?
- How have innovations in mechanical systems improved over the last decade & last few years?
- How does industrialization and digitalization of construction processes make bringing new innovations to market ?
Commentary:
Recently, Tim Adams, the president and CEO of the Institute of International Finance, spoke on a panel at CNBC’s Sustainable Future Forum saying it was inevitable that the current drive toward ESG (environmental, social and governance) would create assets that exceeded their fundamental value. With the global green building solutions and sustainability market exploding, we wanted to know what challenges are top of mind for the industry regarding ESG , zero-carbon and energy efficient building solutions? We asked David Goldstein, CEO at Hydronic Shell Technologies for his take on that, as well as how can the building industry respond to the demand for healthy and cost effective building solutions?
Abridged Thoughts:
From my perspective, the three biggest challenges for our industry in terms of ESG are:
- Achieving net zero carbon emissions
- Creating a more healthy indoor environment in terms of air quality
- Increasing the availability of high quality, affordable housing.
The solutions for reducing emissions and creating a healthy indoor environment are pretty well understood for new construction. But the bigger challenge is addressing these problems in existing buildings. Whereas an industry, we need to figure out new ways to implement these major upgrades in occupied buildings and without creating a huge disruption to the existing tenants.
