Radio BE-Ex

As our buildings move toward full electrification and our grid moves toward 100% renewable sources, the interaction between the two will become increasingly complex.  Supply from the grid will fluctuate across the hours, while buildings will cease to only use energy, becoming both sources and storage for electricity.  Few individuals have as relevant experience in the interaction of these systems,...

Brooklyn-based BlocPower has delivered clean energy projects to nearly one thousand buildings since their 2012 founding. With a special focus on heat pump technology, the organization backs healthful, cost-effective, and energy-efficient building improvements, often associated with large, high-profile projects, but historically out of reach for small and mid-sized buildings in New York City’s poor...

For nearly thirty years, Ashok Gupta has dedicated his career at the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) to understanding policy related to global warming, energy efficiency, renewables, sustainable building design, and transportation. During the Bloomberg administration, Gupta was selected as NRDC’s representative to the Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board and Energy Policy Task Force to pr...

New York’s climate objectives cannot be met without widespread building retrofits. City and State initiatives like the NYC Accelerator and RetrofitNY are focused on accelerating the development of a self-sustaining market for scalable high-performance retrofit solutions. But what role will finance need to play in order to support the required scale and pace of this market growth? And how will that...

Although water efficiency has been a prominent feature of green building programs for decades, the most dramatic improvements in water use have largely been relegated to regions where drought is common, like California and the mountain West.  But with the costs of water rising dramatically across the country, including New York City, our use of this critical resource is receiving increased attenti...

In honor of Daylight Hour 2020, we welcome one of the foremost building science engineers in the US to Radio BE-Ex, Steve Selkowitz.  As the long time Group Leader of the Windows and Envelope Materials Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Steve has driven the advancement of high performance building envelopes for decades and was a primary force behind the creation of FLEXLAB–the Facility for Lo...

The increasing influence of Passive House in the building industry has led to renewed interested in a host of building materials, from high performance windows to innovative air and moisture control systems, to insulation with very low embodied carbon.  Ken Levenson of 475 Building Supply joins our host, Yetsuh Frank, to discuss the application of these newly available materials and what other new...

Although Passive House has been successfully applied to a huge variety of building types, it all started with small residential projects looking to push the envelope on interior comfort and energy efficiency.  What is it that makes Passive House such an ideal lens for small residential projects?  And how is this appeal different for architects, owners, and other stakeholders? In Cho of ChoShields...

New York State has one of the most progressive climate action plans in the country– a commitment to 100 percent carbon free electricity by 2040, and carbon neutrality across all sectors of the economy by 2050.  Achieving these mandates will be a major challenge, with the building sector impacted as much as any other component of our highly industrialized economy. As Senior Vice President, Strategy...

As communities across the globe look to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis the role of the built environment will be paramount.  How might the buildings we live, work and recreate in improve the transition back to a world not dominated by sheltering in place?

Few people in North America are more knowledgeable about the implementation of Passive House than our guests for episode 2 of Radio BE-Ex: Lois Arena of Steven Winter Associates, and Monte Paulsen of RDH. Both have been at the forefront of applying Passive House to the largest buildings, and the most diverse typologies, both new construction and deep retrofits. Join us for a wide ranging discussio...

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with an inspiring conversation among industry leaders Sara Neff of Kilroy Realty and Dan Egan of Vornado.  Both Kilroy and Vornado have committed to carbon neutrality for all their buildings, in 2020 and 2030 respectively.  With high profile portfolios on both the east and west coasts, targeting these goals at their respective organizations will present...