What Will It Take? Reflections on a 2021 Series Exploring the Future of Carbon-Free Buildings

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In 2021, in partnership with the Institute for Market Transformation’s Building Innovation Hub, I had the opportunity to organize and moderate a four-part series exploring what it will truly take to achieve carbon-free buildings by 2050. This wasn’t just a technical conversation—it was a bold invitation to the entire building industry to look in the mirror, confront entrenched silos, and commit to real, scalable change.

Each session focused on a different phase of the building lifecycle: Design, Operations, Development, and Construction. Together, these dialogues form a systems-level view of embodied carbon and climate responsibility across the built environment.

Below is a retrospective of what we learned, why it still matters, and what actions we should be prioritizing in the decade ahead.

1. Developing Carbon-Free Buildings (October 2021)

When we reached the development stage, the conversation turned to finance, valuation, and risk. David Edsey reminded us that the built environment is set to double globally by mid-century, dramatically increasing the embodied carbon stakes.

Key themes:

  • Policy must lead markets: Climate pollution is an externality—government action is needed to price it in.

  • We need a “CarFax for buildings”: Long-term asset value is lost without standardized carbon disclosures and performance data transfers.

  • Value beyond the first cost: Sandra Adomatis and Sonja Wells emphasized that we must train appraisers and lenders to see the long-term upside of high-performing buildings.

Takeaway: Without clearer financial signals and disclosure standards, green buildings risk being undervalued and underbuilt.

 

2. Designing Carbon-Free Buildings (June 2021)

We began with design, where decarbonization starts with intention. The panel reminded us that the greenest materials are the ones we don’t use—prioritizing reuse, smart passive strategies, and future flexibility is essential.

Key themes:

  • Performance = impact + delight: As Anica Landreneau noted, high-performing spaces must feel great to be in—not just meet metrics.

  • Behavior matters: We can’t decarbonize buildings without engaging the people inside them.

  • Urgency meets opportunity: Arathi Gowda challenged us to prepare now for a coming wave of demand for climate-smart solutions in every discipline.

 

Takeaway: Design isn’t just a technical phase—it’s a cultural one. We must help everyone see carbon as a design input and equity as an output.

3. Constructing Carbon-Free Buildings (November 2021)

Finally, we examined construction—the literal ground floor of change. As Julia Gisewite put it, “We don’t have time for every company to relearn the same lessons—let’s share what works.”

Key themes:

  • Embodied carbon is a supply chain issue: Procurement, logistics, and local sourcing matter as much as materials.

  • Circularity is innovation: Reuse, recycling, and lifecycle thinking are still in their infancy in construction practices.

  • Technology and diversity go hand-in-hand: Innovation can attract a new generation of diverse talent—if we lead with purpose.

Takeaway: Construction is often blamed for emissions, but it’s also one of the most powerful levers for change—especially when sustainability drives hiring, investment, and innovation.

 

4. Operating Carbon-Free Buildings (July 2021)

Operations were framed as both the most persistent and overlooked aspect of carbon reduction. As Cara Carmichael put it, “We retrofit 1% of buildings annually. We need to triple or quadruple that.”

Key themes:

  • Electrification is health care: Indoor air quality, particularly in affordable housing, must be a top priority.

  • Energy equity is climate justice: Communities of color face disproportionate energy burdens, and operational upgrades can’t be separated from social equity.

  • Right-time investments: Retrofits should align with lifecycle milestones—not be postponed in the name of capital budget inertia.

Takeaway: The operating phase is where climate meets daily life. Scaling retrofits means training the workforce and building trust, not just tech.

 

Final Reflections: A Call to Keep Asking "What Will It Take?"

This series posed a simple yet daunting question—What will it take? The answer, we discovered, is not a single tool, policy, or innovation. It’s collaboration across disciplines, persistence across phases, and a willingness to rethink what we value in the built environment.

We’ll need:

  • Courageous policy.

  • Persistent market signals.

  • Skilled, diverse workforces.

  • Better data and disclosure.

  • A commitment to equity in both outcomes and opportunities.

These conversations weren’t just about buildings. They were about our future.

If you haven’t watched the series, I encourage you to view the embedded recordings below. The insights remain relevant and urgently needed as we move toward 2030 and beyond.

— Fernando Arias, 2021