About Us

business engagement

coMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

UTILITy engagement

Policy engagement

Climate Action

Our buildings make up 74% of U.S. electricity consumption and a third of national greenhouse gas emissions. There is no way for local and state governments to reach their climate goals without reducing energy use in buildings. To scale up action, we support the White House’s National Building Performance Standards Coalition. We also detailed Lindsey Falasca to the Council on Environmental Quality.

Equity

We are dedicated to developing building policies and business practices that center the needs and experiences of frontline communities, enabling a just and equitable low-carbon future. We strive for a person-centered approach which encourages and invites communities to purposefully participate in solutions and increase justice to the communities in which they belong.

Business Engagement

Market drivers such as investor priorities, building performance legislation, and customer demand for high-performing and net zero spaces are changing the real estate landscape. We help the industry prepare for these changes and mitigate risk through tracking building related energy policies, green leasing best practices and Very High Efficiency (VHE) HVAC technologies. We run the Building Innovation Hub in Washington, DC and we are also co-founders of the Building Performance Partnership, which supports the creation of high-performance building hubs across the country.Team: Marla Thalheimer, Casius Pealer, David Gillick, Ella Wetlesen, Charlotte Stenmark, Diana Lee, Theresa Backhus, Mary Thomas, Yolanda Bonner

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Resilience

Buildings are our primary shelters, and they protect us more than ever as severe weather increases. We work to make buildings that keep the people inside them warm during storms, cool during heat waves, and affordable when the energy bill comes.

Energy costs

Using less energy lowers utility bills for landlords, tenants, and homeowners. That frees up funds to invest in other building improvements or household spending needs. Low-income households often have high energy cost burdens that energy efficiency can lower, leaving more resources for food, medical care, and education.

Policy Engagement

We help define what a better building is, and how to make it possible. We are the leading experts on building performance standards, benchmarking, and related policies for existing buildings which can support building electrification, renewable energy, health, safety, resilience, and equity goals. We also advocate for stronger energy codes for new buildings to keep energy use, costs, and emissions low for a lifetime.Team: Jessica Miller, Cliff Majersik, Marshall Duer-Balkind, Rajiv Ravulapati, Maddie Koolbeck, James Burton, Louise Sharrow, Cherylyn Kelley, Lindsey Falasca

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Health

Reducing energy means less need to burn polluting fossil fuels, and better buildings can improve indoor air quality and overall health. We support policy approaches and business practices that address this need.

We need power that is reliable, even in disasters, and we need it to come from clean energy sources. We work to engage local communities in utility decisions, remove barriers to data access, and make buildings an energy asset for the grid. To increase the capacity of utility regulators to support a just energy transition, we have partnered on an embedded staff pilot with the Louisiana Public Service Commission.Team: Julia Eagles, Jamie Braun, Marshall Muse, Hakeema Muhammad

Utility Engagement

Learn about utility engagement

For too long, frontline communities have been excluded from building policymaking. We work to change that by integrating meaningful community engagement in all our work and co-leading the Community Climate Shift initiative with the People’s Climate Innovation Center. Team: Precious Rideout, Giulianna Di Lauro, Alexes Juarez

Community Engagement

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Innovation

Market innovation is needed both in products and real estate operations. We pilot promising approaches and business practices that can dramatically reduce building energy use and increase health and wellness and resilience.

Jobs

We believe improving buildings creates economic opportunities. Our high-performance building hubs support workforce development, small business growth, and real estate practices that boost community-wide economic opportunities.