The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti

Charlie Cichetti
  • 4.8 (33)
  • Design
  • Updated Weekly

Do green buildings matter to you? This podcast fuels your fire with inspiring interviews from industry and nonprofit leaders across the built environment. Not sure if green building matters? Listen to the personal stories of our guests and let Charlie's passion help convince you why green buildings are essential to our shared future. Each episode illustrates a unique journey through sustainability and towards resilience. Charlie explores the challenges and celebrations of the movers and shakers in the green building industry. Hear behind the scene stories from the inner world of green and healthy building design, construction, and management.

  1. 9h ago

    Sustainability Is Woven In, Not Handed Out: Making Green Building the Default with Dave Hubka

    ✅ The Green Impact Report Quick take: Dave Hubka has spent 20+ years turning "up to code" into "why would we settle for that?" — and his approach of building sustainability directly into the spec (instead of waiting for a client to ask) is a playbook every green building professional can steal. 🤝 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Dave Hubka is the Sustainability Practice Leader at EUA, where he lights the way for the firm's team to create healthier buildings for clients and the environment. His work starts with listening — collaborating closely with clients to uncover their specific sustainability goals and finding the best strategies to get there. Dave spent the first decade of his career as a mechanical engineer while earning accreditations in sustainable building methods, and he's been teaching ever since — lecturing around the country on designing, constructing, and operating better buildings. He's a LEED Fellow and WELL AP, and he still loves helping teams strategize the big-picture sustainability initiatives that move the industry forward. Dave sees a bright future ahead: one where most of the buildings EUA designs create more energy than they consume and actively remove carbon from the atmosphere. Outside of work, Dave keeps his mind and body in motion — spin classes, Bikram yoga, family game nights, and walks with his two dachshunds. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Dave Hubka revolutionizes traditional construction approaches: 🫶 Key Insight #1: Sustainability shouldn't be a task you hand out — it should already be baked into the spec. The Challenge: Sustainability is often treated as an add-on that gets bolted onto a project only when a client specifically asks for it — and when it's handed to a team as an extra task, people who don't know how to execute it quietly step away from it. The Solution: Dave works directly with his firm's spec team so glass, envelope, and MEP efficiencies are set up for success by default — clients get good design and sustainability without ever having to ask for it. ROI: Every project starts from a higher baseline, LEED and WELL work becomes an easier lift on top of already-sustainable design, and teams don't disengage from work they were simply told to do. 🤩 Key Insight #2: Codes are catching up — and MEP commissioning is becoming the new normal. The Challenge: Commissioning has long been "just a LEED prerequisite," treated as optional unless a project is specifically pursuing certification. The Solution: Wisconsin's new energy code now requires MEP commissioning, so Dave's firm is building out an in-house commissioning team to verify designs perform correctly across every mode of operation. ROI: Commissioned systems actually work as designed, energy models hold up in reality, and firms that build this capability now are ahead of where regulation is clearly heading. ✍️ Key Insight #3: The next sustainability frontier is the carbon footprint of water — and turning EPD/HPD transparency into real optimization. The Challenge: The industry has spent the last decade getting comfortable with EPDs and HPDs, but transparency alone doesn't reduce impact — and almost no one is tracking the carbon cost of getting water into (and dirty water out of) a building. The Solution: Dave expects the next 5–15 years to bring real accounting for water-related carbon emissions, plus a shift from manufacturers simply disclosing product data (EPDs/HPDs) to actively optimizing based on it. ROI: Teams that start tracking these metrics now will be ahead of the curve as grids decarbonize (a projected 95% by scenario in 25 years) and as owners start demanding optimization, not just disclosure. 🎧 Sustainable Soundbite "It's not that we inherit the planet from our parents — we're actually borrowing it from our children." — Dave Hubka 🧗‍♂️ Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Sit down with your spec team and identify one system (glass, envelope, MEP) where sustainability can be the default, not a client request. This Quarter: Start tracking EPD/HPD data for your key material categories — the goal is optimization, not just disclosure. This Year: Build or partner for in-house MEP commissioning capability before your state's energy code requires it. ✍️ Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 🗒 Read the transcript here 🔗 Connect with Dave Hubka: Website: https://eua.com/ 📖 Book mentioned in this episode — The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🙏🏼 Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🧠 Today's Episode Sponsored By: Building Plaques Building Plaques creates custom LEED recognition plaques that tell the story of your project's sustainability achievement, made from architectural-grade anodized aluminum so they last as long as the building itself. Their online plaque designer lets you build a fully customized plaque in under 10 minutes — just enter your LEED project number and you're off. 🔍 Learn more: https://buildingplaques.com Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

  2. Jul 15

    Ken Rhee on Turning BIM Data Into a Living, Breathing Digital Twin

    🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: Only 3% of people on a building project can actually open a BIM file — Ken Rhee is fixing that, and using AI and sensors to turn "as-built" data into real-time building intelligence that pays off in energy, insurance, and asset value. 🤩 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Ken Rhee Joined VIM Build in Atlanta, GA as President at the beginning of January, 2026. Co-founded Integral VIM, a BIM consulting company based in Shanghai in 2021, together with Arol Wolford ; currently developing VXBOS, a VIM-based 3D building operating software. Based in Shanghai, worked at Morgan Stanley as VP and later Executive Director in its real estate banking and investment departments (2006-2012). Conducted M&A advisory work at JP Morgan in Hong Kong and Singapore (1998-2003) Between 2012 and 2024, served as Founding Executive Director for Urban Land. Institute (ULI) China Mainland and has authored or edited a number of ULI publications, and has led a series of ULI Advisory Services Panels in China and South Korea. Holds an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business (1998) and a BA in Econ/Business at UCLA. Born and raised in Korea until the age of 14 and immigrated to the US and settled in southern California 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Ken Rhee revolutionizes how project teams actually use their building data: 💚 Key Insight #1: Democratizing BIM Access The Challenge: BIM models are so large and fragmented — sometimes 100+ Revit files for one complex building — that even developers rarely get to see them. Historically, only a small fraction of people on a project can actually open a BIM file. The Solution: VIM Build federates Revit, IFC, and Navisworks files into a lightweight format anyone can open on a laptop, no Revit or VIM subscription required, with clickable materials that surface real bill-of-materials data. ROI: Entire project teams — architects, contractors, developers, even facility managers down the road — can finally see and use the same building data instead of relying on static exports. 💚 Key Insight #2: AI-Powered Predictive Maintenance The Challenge: Building teams typically know what is installed (like 20 different light bulb SKUs across a tower) but not how to plan around it — replacement schedules are guesswork, and maintenance crews waste time locating parts. The Solution: Layering AI on top of federated BIM data lets teams isolate any component by SKU, locate it instantly, and use AI to estimate useful life and auto-build replacement schedules. ROI: Lower operating expenses, less reactive maintenance, and faster turnaround for maintenance staff who now know exactly where to go. 💚 Key Insight #3: Real-Time Digital Twins That Talk to the Building The Challenge: There's a disconnect between the operational data buildings generate and how that data actually informs asset management, financing, and insurance decisions. The Solution: Integral BIM's sensor networks (temperature, humidity, CO2, PM2.5, TVOC, occupancy) tie directly into AC and lighting controls — even letting tenants pre-heat or cool their space from a smartphone before arriving — all layered onto the BIM-based digital twin. ROI: Reduced energy use, better facility management, and — because insurers and lenders can assess risk more accurately — improved financing terms and lower insurance premiums. 💬 Sustainable Soundbite "Only 3% of people working on development projects where BIM is used can actually access the BIM models." — Ken Rhee ✅ Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Audit who on your project team can actually open your BIM files. If it's limited to a couple of specialists, you have a data-access problem worth solving. This Quarter: Pilot a federated, lightweight BIM viewer so developers, facility managers, and other stakeholders can explore building data without a Revit license. This Year: Build the business case for a real-time digital twin — start with a handful of sensor types tied to your building controls, and track the impact on financing conversations and insurance premiums. 🔗 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 🗒️ Read the transcript here 👩🏻‍💻 Connect with Ken Rhee: Website: https://vimaec.com/, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-rhee-295a4018**/** 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🤝 Today's Episode Sponsored By: **BuildingPlaques.com** helps project teams showcase the story behind their LEED and green building certifications with fully customized architectural plaques. Highlight your scorecard, sustainability strategy, project team, and certifications in one sleek display designed to educate and inspire building occupants. 🔍 Learn more: https://buildingplaques.com Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

  3. Jul 8

    Leading with Influence: FAIA, LEED Fellow Kirk Teske on Sustainability, Design Leadership, and Protecting What Matters

    🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: After 42 years at HKS, Kirk Teske reflects on a career that helped shape sustainable design at scale. From leading one of the earliest LEED pilot projects to influencing generations of architects, Kirk shares why responsible design, stakeholder engagement, and courageous leadership remain the foundation of a better built environment. 🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Kirk Teske is a retired architect, LEED Fellow, and former Global Director at HKS, where he spent more than four decades helping transform one of the world's leading design firms. During his career, he led corporate headquarters projects, hospitality developments, sustainability initiatives, and international practice growth while serving as a champion for responsible design and environmental stewardship. A longtime advocate for sustainable architecture, Kirk helped advance early LEED adoption, supported the Architecture 2030 Challenge, and played a key role in integrating sustainability into firm-wide practice standards. Today, he continues his environmental leadership through community advocacy focused on protecting natural landscapes and responsible development. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Kirk Teske shares lessons from a remarkable career in architecture while offering guidance for the next generation of sustainability leaders. 🧠 Key Insight #1: Sustainable design succeeds when it becomes part of every design conversation. The Challenge: Sustainability has often been treated as a specialty service or a collection of certifications rather than a core design responsibility. The Solution: Integrate energy efficiency, healthy buildings, resilience, low-carbon thinking, and responsible material selection into every project from the beginning. ROI: Better-performing buildings, stronger client outcomes, reduced environmental impact, and long-term business value. 🧠 Key Insight #2: The best building solutions come from diverse perspectives. The Challenge: Traditional design processes can overlook valuable insights from stakeholders, researchers, users, and adjacent disciplines. The Solution: Engage multiple voices throughout the design process, including researchers, anthropologists, clients, operators, and building occupants. ROI: More innovative solutions, improved project performance, stronger stakeholder alignment, and buildings that better serve their communities. 🧠 Key Insight #3: Influence creates a greater legacy than any individual project. The Challenge: Many professionals focus solely on project outcomes without recognizing the long-term impact they can have on people and organizational culture. The Solution: Mentor others, advocate for better ideas, create opportunities for emerging professionals, and lead through influence rather than authority. ROI: Stronger teams, accelerated industry progress, greater organizational impact, and a legacy that extends far beyond completed buildings. 🎙️ Sustainable Soundbite "Your voice, even as a young person on a design team, is important." — Kirk Teske 🤗 Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Identify one opportunity to bring additional stakeholder perspectives into an active project or design discussion. This Quarter: Review project standards and specifications to ensure sustainability goals are embedded from the earliest stages of design. This Year: Mentor an emerging professional and help them identify a project that could become a career-defining opportunity. 🔗 Connect & Learn More **🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast** 📜 Read the transcript 👉 here 👩🏻‍💻 Connect with Kirk Teske : Website: hksinc.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kirkteske 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.gbes.com 🤩 Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🤝 Today's Episode Sponsored By: BuildingPlaques.com BuildingPlaques.com helps project teams showcase the story behind their LEED and green building certifications with fully customized architectural plaques. Highlight your scorecard, sustainability strategy, project team, and certifications in one sleek display designed to educate and inspire building occupants. 🔍 Learn more: https://buildingplaques.com Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

  4. Jul 1

    Special Episode: Building Skema.ai - Why AI-Native Building Design Is About to Change Everything with Charlie Cichetti, Robin Bienfait & Jim Grady

    🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick Take: What happens when a LEED Fellow entrepreneur, a Fortune 500 technology executive (turn investor), and a startup growth strategist sit down to discuss the future of building design? You get an inside look at how AI is reshaping architecture, construction, ownership, and the economics of the built environment. In this special episode, Charlie Cichetti, Robin Bienfait, and Jim Grady explore why the next generation of buildings won't be designed from scratch — they'll be built from intelligence. 🎓 Meet the Innovators Charlie Cichetti Co-Founder & CEO of Skema.ai, serial entrepreneur, LEED Fellow, and longtime sustainability advocate. Charlie has spent his career helping building owners operate smarter, greener, and more efficiently. Today, he's focused on building a tech startup using AI to dramatically reduce waste, inefficiency, and rework across the building lifecycle. Robin Bienfait Former CIO of BlackBerry, senior executive at AT&T and Samsung, venture capitalist, angel investor, and founder of Atlanta Tech Park. Robin managed thousands of facilities throughout her corporate career and became one of Skema AI's earliest believers (and investors) after seeing the platform's potential to transform how owners design and manage buildings. She serves on the Board at Skema, also. Jim Grady Growth strategist, startup advisor, and investor relations expert. Jim helps founders sharpen positioning, communicate vision, and accelerate growth. Throughout the conversation, he pushes beyond the technology itself to uncover the business case, market timing, and investment thesis behind AI-powered building design. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building ✍️ Key Insight #1: The design & construction industry keeps throwing away its most valuable asset — its own knowledge. The Challenge: Every project generates enormous amounts of design intelligence, yet most of it sits unused on servers after completion. The Solution: Skema AI allows owners and architects to learn from previous projects, creating reusable building intelligence instead of starting over every time. ROI: Faster design schedules, lower project costs, improved consistency, and reduced rework. ✍️ Key Insight #2: AI isn't replacing architects — it is eliminating repetitive work. The Challenge: Design professionals spend too much time recreating work, searching for information, and solving problems that have already been solved before. The Solution: AI accelerates repetitive workflows so architects can focus on creativity, strategy, sustainability, and client outcomes. ROI: Higher productivity, better employee engagement, stronger project teams, and more time spent on high-value work. ✍️ Key Insight #3: Building owners will become the biggest drivers of design & construction AI adoption. The Challenge: Rising costs, schedule delays, contingency budgets, and change orders continue to threaten project viability. The Solution: Owners can use platforms like Skema to create consistency across portfolios while improving collaboration among architects, contractors, and suppliers. ROI: Faster project delivery, reduced risk, improved capital efficiency, and earlier revenue generation from completed facilities. 🧐What is Charlie Up To? Charlie and the Skema AI team are entering an exciting growth phase. Current initiatives include: ✅ Expanding direct relationships with major retailers and building owners ✅ Growing Skema AI's footprint in Data Center Design ✅ Launching broader access for architects through a freemium offering ✅ Expanding AI capabilities for contractors and construction teams ✅ Preparing for a major Series A raise to accelerate growth As Charlie puts it, The Mission is Simple: "Create the 'fast-forward button' for commercial building design and construction" 🌟 Why Robin Is Betting On Skema Robin has spent decades leading technology transformations inside some of the world's largest organizations. What stood out to her wasn't simply the AI, it was that Skema was built AI-native from the beginning. According to Robin, many incumbent software companies now face a difficult challenge: they must bolt AI onto existing products. Skema started with AI as its foundation. That distinction could become one of the company's greatest competitive advantages as adoption accelerates throughout the industry. 🧰 Jim Grady's Perspective Throughout the discussion, Jim repeatedly returns to the question investors care about most: "What creates value?" His takeaway: Owners are increasingly frustrated by inefficiencies, delays, and repeated mistakes across projects. As those pressures grow, solutions that preserve institutional knowledge and accelerate project delivery become increasingly valuable. The opportunity isn't simply saving money, it's unlocking revenue sooner, by getting projects operational faster. 💬 Sustainable Soundbite "We've built the fast-forward button for how you design and build commercial buildings." — Charlie Cichetti Quote Options Charlie Cichetti "The more of your building intelligence you can reuse, the faster your next project becomes." Robin Bienfait "Better security is built in, not bolted on. The same is true for AI." James D. Grady "The biggest opportunity comes from stopping the cycle of relearning the same lessons on every project." ✅ Your Green Building Action Plan This Week: Identify one repetitive design, estimating, or project workflow that could benefit from AI-enabled knowledge reuse. This Quarter: Evaluate how institutional knowledge is currently captured — and where valuable lessons are being lost. This Year: Develop a digital strategy that preserves building intelligence across your entire portfolio. 🎧 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 📜 Read the transcript 👉 here 👩🏻‍💻 Connect with Robin Bienfait LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinbienfait/ Website: https://www.emnovate.com/ 🔗 Connect with Jim Grady LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesdgrady/ 🌟 Learn More About Skema AI: 🌐 https://skema.ai 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🤩 Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🤝 Today's Episode Sponsored By: BuildingPlaques.com BuildingPlaques.com helps project teams showcase the story behind their LEED and green building certifications with fully customized architectural plaques. Highlight your scorecard, sustainability strategy, project team, and certifications in one sleek display designed to educate and inspire building occupants. 🔍 Learn more: https://buildingplaques.com Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

  5. Jun 24

    AI, Digital Infrastructure, & the Future of Decarbonization: Anya Eydman on Building Trust in the Energy Transition

    🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: AI, data centers, and digital infrastructure are transforming the built environment faster than most of us realize. In this episode, Anya Eydman explains why the future of decarbonization isn't just about technology—it's about trust, education, community engagement, and helping buildings become active participants in a cleaner, more resilient energy ecosystem. 🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion **Anya Eydman is a strategic advisor and community advocate working at the intersection of energy infrastructure, grid assets, and public–private systems. Her work focuses on helping complex projects move from concept to execution in ways communities can understand, trust, and benefit from. She specializes in stakeholder alignment, community partnerships, workforce readiness, and last-mile implementation strategies that connect infrastructure projects with real community impact. Anya has worked across energy optimization, climate initiatives, and civic partnerships, with a focus on building resilient and equitable systems that support long-term economic and environmental outcomes. She holds a Master's degree in Public Administration and, outside of work, writes poetry, meditates, and runs.** 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Anya Eydman challenges conventional thinking about energy, AI, and sustainability while helping us understand how digital infrastructure is reshaping the future of the built environment. 🧠 Key Insight #1: Buildings are evolving from energy consumers into grid assets. The Challenge: Most buildings have historically been viewed as passive energy consumers, limiting opportunities to support grid resilience and energy flexibility. The Solution: Reframe buildings as active participants in the energy ecosystem through intelligent infrastructure, electrification, distributed energy resources, and grid-interactive technologies. ROI: Improved resilience, enhanced energy management, future regulatory readiness, and new opportunities to participate in evolving energy markets. 🧠 Key Insight #2: AI's biggest sustainability opportunity is eliminating inefficiency. The Challenge: Organizations remain burdened by fragmented workflows, disconnected systems, and fear surrounding AI adoption. The Solution: Leverage AI to identify hidden inefficiencies, streamline operations, improve decision-making, and enhance productivity while keeping humans at the center of the process. ROI: Reduced waste, improved operational performance, lower carbon impacts, and more effective use of time, talent, and resources. 🧠 Key Insight #3: Community trust is becoming critical infrastructure. The Challenge: As data centers, energy infrastructure, and AI technologies expand, communities often lack visibility into their impacts and benefits. The Solution: Prioritize education, transparency, stakeholder engagement, and honest conversations about both risks and opportunities. ROI: Stronger public support, reduced project friction, faster adoption of innovation, and more sustainable long-term outcomes. Sustainable Soundbites "Every single industry will need to be a green jobs industry." — Anya Eydman 🤗 Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Evaluate how your current spaces support occupant wellness through daylight, air quality, and connection to nature. This Quarter: Explore geothermal or photovoltaic feasibility studies for upcoming projects or facility upgrades. This Year: Build sustainability conversations around measurable human outcomes — wellness, productivity, and operational savings — to improve stakeholder alignment. 🔗 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 📜 Read the transcript 👉 here 👩🏻‍💻 Connect with Anya Eydman : Website: arya.energy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anyaeydman/ 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.gbes.com 🤩 Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🤝 Today's Episode Sponsored By: BuildingPlaques.com BuildingPlaques.com helps project teams showcase the story behind their LEED and green building certifications with fully customized architectural plaques. Highlight your scorecard, sustainability strategy, project team, and certifications in one sleek display designed to educate and inspire building occupants. 🔍 Learn more: https://buildingplaques.com Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

  6. Jun 17

    Designing Schools That Heal, Inspire, and Perform Better: Human-Centered Sustainable Design with Bob Morris

    🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: What happens when sustainability stops being about buzzwords — and starts being about healthier kids, stronger schools, and lower operational costs? Architect Bob Morris breaks down how net-zero schools, biophilic design, and human-centered architecture are reshaping the future of education. 🙋 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion **Bob is an architect who specializes in the planning and design of K12 schools for EUA, a multi-disciplinary design firm with five office locations in Wisconsin, Colorado, and Georgia. Architecture, for Bob, is a means to an end. Great design is measured by how it improves the lives of those who experience it. This necessitates a user-driven approach, emphasizing the voices of teachers, parents, and students in the design process. The results are learning environments that embrace equity, promote student agency, and encourage experiential learning opportunities. It also leads to designs that are rooted in the places and stories of the communities they serve, emphasizing connections to nature, long-term sustainability, and responsible use of resources. As a senior design architect and principal at EUA, Bob's personal design approach mirrors the values of his firm. EUA's design philosophy is anchored by the belief that design has the power to unleash true human potential and to enrich communities. This includes a firm-wide aspiration to net-zero emissions in the built environment as evidenced in the AIA 2030 Commitment.** 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Bob Morris revolutionizes traditional construction approaches: 🧠 Key Insight #1: Sustainable schools perform better when they prioritize human wellness — not just energy savings. The Challenge: Traditional school buildings often focused on efficiency and standardization while overlooking how physical environments impact student health, engagement, and learning outcomes. The Solution: Bob and his team design schools with biophilic principles, natural daylight, improved indoor air quality, flexible learning environments, and stronger connections to nature. ROI: Healthier students, increased engagement, improved learning environments, and long-term building performance that supports both wellness and sustainability goals. 🧠 Key Insight #2: Net-zero schools are becoming financially realistic for public education. The Challenge: Renewable technologies like geothermal and solar were historically viewed as too expensive or impractical for publicly funded school districts. The Solution: Advances in geothermal systems, photovoltaic arrays, and available funding opportunities are helping schools achieve ambitious energy goals without sacrificing budgets. ROI: Lower operational costs, reduced energy consumption, and the ability for school districts to reinvest savings directly into student programs and educational resources. 🧠 Key Insight #3: The future of sustainability depends on reframing the conversation around people, not politics. The Challenge: Sustainability and "green building" conversations can become politically divisive, especially in public-sector projects. The Solution: Bob emphasizes focusing conversations around health, student outcomes, operational efficiency, and creating environments that genuinely improve human experience. ROI: Greater community buy-in, stronger stakeholder alignment, and more meaningful progress toward resilient, high-performance buildings. ❝ Sustainable Soundbite "The buildings we design today become the world the next generation is stuck with." — Bob Morris 🤗 Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Evaluate how your current spaces support occupant wellness through daylight, air quality, and connection to nature. This Quarter: Explore geothermal or photovoltaic feasibility studies for upcoming projects or facility upgrades. This Year: Build sustainability conversations around measurable human outcomes — wellness, productivity, and operational savings — to improve stakeholder alignment. 🔗 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 📜 Read the transcript 👉 here 👩🏻‍💻 Connect with Bob Morris: Website: https://eua.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-morris/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/eppstein-uhen-architects/ 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.gbes.com 🤩 Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🤝 Today's Episode Sponsored By: BuildingPlaques.com BuildingPlaques.com helps project teams showcase the story behind their LEED and green building certifications with fully customized architectural plaques. Highlight your scorecard, sustainability strategy, project team, and certifications in one sleek display designed to educate and inspire building occupants. 🔍 Learn more: https://buildingplaques.com Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

  7. Jun 10

    From LEED to Decarbonization: Tanya Eagle's Blueprint for the Future of Sustainable Buildings

    ♻️ The Green Impact Report Quick take: Tanya Eagle has spent her career proving that sustainability isn't a "nice to have" — it's a smarter way to design, operate, and future-proof buildings. In this episode, the LEED Fellow and JLL sustainability leader shares why the future of green building is bigger than certifications and how decarbonization, wellness, resilience, and material health are converging into one holistic strategy. 🙋 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion With over sixteen years of experience leading sustainable design programs, Tanya is dedicated to sharing practical steps toward a sustainable future. Tanya is a Director on JLL's Sustainable Building team, leading sustainability advisory services and solutions for diverse projects across the commercial real estate landscape. Prior to JLL, Tanya was the Leader of Sustainability Standards at Perkins Eastman and worked at CallisonRTKL and GBCI. Tanya serves on the AIA Materials Pledge Working Group, the LEED MR TAG, the IWBI Materials Advisory, the Greenbuild Summit Working Group, and was a catalyst member of the mindful Materials AEC Forum. Tanya has several publications and has spoken widely at leading industry forums such as Greenbuild, AIA Conference on Architecture & Design, NeoCon, AIA International, and Metropolis symposiums. Tanya is committed to achieving climate, wellness, and equity goals at scale in the built environment. Tanya is a LEED Fellow, a certified planner (AICP), an Associate member of AIA, and holds LEED AP BD+C and WELL AP credentials. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Tanya Eagle explains how the Green Building Movement is evolving beyond checklists into holistic business strategy. 🧰 Key Insight #1: Sustainability succeeds when it's integrated into business strategy — not treated like an add-on. The Challenge: Many organizations still approach sustainability as a disconnected initiative instead of embedding it into operations, portfolio planning, and long-term risk management. The Solution: Tanya works with clients at JLL to align carbon reduction, wellness, resilience, and operational goals into scalable sustainability roadmaps across entire portfolios — not just individual projects. ROI: Companies reduce operational risk, stay ahead of regulations, improve employee experience, and create long-term value while meeting decarbonization goals. 🧠 Key Insight #2: Healthy buildings and high-performance buildings are no longer separate conversations. The Challenge: For years, the industry treated wellness and sustainability like competing priorities, often assuming healthier spaces cost more or sacrificed performance. The Solution: Tanya highlighted projects like the John Lewis Elementary School in Washington, D.C. — a LEED Platinum, WELL Platinum, and Net Zero Energy-certified school — as proof that wellness and sustainability can work together. ROI: Better indoor environments improve occupant wellbeing while also delivering energy efficiency, operational savings, and long-term building performance. 🧰 Key Insight #3: The next wave of sustainability is about resilience, material health, and human-centered design. The Challenge: Many organizations focus narrowly on operational carbon while overlooking material impacts, climate resilience, and occupant health risks. The Solution: Tanya encourages teams to zoom out and think holistically — evaluating embodied carbon, material transparency, biodiversity, resilience, and human health together rather than in silos. ROI: Future-ready buildings are more resilient to climate risk, better aligned with emerging regulations, healthier for occupants, and more attractive to tenants and investors. 🎙️ Sustainable Soundbite "Don't try to be someone else in the room. Lean into your strengths, your perspective, and your passion — that's where real leadership in sustainability begins."— Tanya Eagle 👍 Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Align stakeholders around one clear sustainability goal before launching a project or initiative. This Quarter: Identify one sustainability topic to deepen your expertise in — resilience, embodied carbon, wellness, or material health. This Year: Build a holistic roadmap that connects sustainability goals to operational performance, business outcomes, and occupant wellbeing. 🔗 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 🎧 Read the transcript 👉 here 👩🏻‍💻 Connect with Tanya: Website: https://www.us.jll.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyaeagle/ 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.gbes.com/ 🌟 Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. 👉Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🎙️ Today's Episode Sponsored By: BUILDINGPLAQUES.COM ****→ Get your FREE LEED Recognition Plaque evaluation kit today! Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

  8. Jun 3

    Solar, Batteries & the Future of Resilient Buildings with Jesse Michalski

    ✅ The Green Impact Report Quick take: Most schools talk about sustainability. Jesse Michalski helped build one that actually runs on it. In this episode, the longtime electrician and renewable energy specialist breaks down how a Wisconsin middle school became a net-zero energy success story —without sacrificing practicality, ROI, or resilience. 🤝 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Jesse Michalski is a renewable energy specialist at Eland Electric, a third-generation electrical contractor based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. With more than 20 years in the electrical trade, Jesse has helped lead commercial, residential, and K-12 solar installations across the Midwest. He specializes in solar photovoltaic systems, battery storage, and resilient electrical infrastructure, helping clients future-proof buildings while reducing operational costs and carbon emissions. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building 🤩 Key Insight #1: Net-zero buildings don't happen by accident — they're designed "solar ready" from day one. The Challenge: Many buildings attempt to add renewables after construction, forcing expensive retrofits, structural upgrades, and electrical redesigns. The Solution: Jesse and his team worked with architects early in the Menasha Maplewood School project to ensure the building was structurally and electrically prepared for future solar and battery storage. ROI: The school avoided costly retrofit work later, streamlined installation, and successfully delivered a net-zero energy facility with geothermal heating, solar power, and battery backup. 🌟 Key Insight #2: Battery storage means different things depending on where you live. The Challenge: Building owners often assume batteries automatically create financial savings everywhere. The Solution: Jesse explained how battery economics depend heavily on local utility policies and net metering rules. In Wisconsin, batteries are primarily used for resiliency and backup power, while in states like California they also help avoid losing excess solar generation to the grid. ROI: Smart battery integration can provide backup power during outages, reduce generator maintenance, and maximize energy savings where utility pricing structures support it. 🤗 Key Insight #3: The future of residential resiliency may already be parked in your driveway. The Challenge: Homeowners want resilient backup power systems but often struggle with battery costs and infrastructure decisions. The Solution: Jesse highlighted the rise of vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, allowing EV batteries to temporarily power homes during outages. ROI: Homeowners may soon leverage existing EV batteries as whole-home backup systems, reducing the need for standalone storage investments while increasing grid flexibility. 🎙️ Sustainable Soundbite "There is always a way to bring it to fruition. I don't like roadblocks. They don't exist in my world." — Jesse Michalski 🤩 Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Audit whether your next project is truly "solar ready," including roof load capacity, conduit pathways, and electrical infrastructure. This Quarter: Evaluate battery storage opportunities based on your state's utility incentives, net metering policies, and resiliency needs. This Year: Build cross-functional collaboration earlier between architects, engineers, electricians, and renewable energy specialists to future-proof projects from day one. 🤝 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 🎙️ Read the transcript 👉 Here 🔗 Connect with Jesse Michalski: Website: https://www.elandelectric.com/ , https://www.heatspring.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-michalski-43513163/ 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.gbes.com 🌟 Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. 👉Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe 🎙️ Today's Episode Sponsored By: BUILDINGPLAQUES.COM ****→ Get your FREE LEED Recognition Plaque evaluation kit today! Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

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Do green buildings matter to you? This podcast fuels your fire with inspiring interviews from industry and nonprofit leaders across the built environment. Not sure if green building matters? Listen to the personal stories of our guests and let Charlie's passion help convince you why green buildings are essential to our shared future. Each episode illustrates a unique journey through sustainability and towards resilience. Charlie explores the challenges and celebrations of the movers and shakers in the green building industry. Hear behind the scene stories from the inner world of green and healthy building design, construction, and management.

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