Articles

When you look across the urban landscape you realize that one material stands out above all others, be it commercial and residential facilities, bridges, tunnels, or roads, our modern cities are built with cement. The total volume of cement production worldwide amounted to an estimated 4.1 billion tons in 2020, almost three times more than […]

Shiny new smart buildings are wonderful. They have energy efficiency built in to provide cost-saving and reduce environmental impact, they apply lighting and environmental controls to ensure all occupants are comfortable and productive, and they offer a wide variety of health, safety, and security benefits. These buildings offer a glimpse of our high-tech future with […]

Any commercial building technology that launched just before March 2020 is bound to have had a strange start to life. These products and services would have been designed for normal activity in buildings but, as the COVID-19 virus became a pandemic, would have soon found commercial buildings empty as the world was turned upside down […]

Green buildings are nothing new. In fact, the energy efficiency of a wide range of building systems and operational practices have been hallmarks of the smart building movement that has been evolving over the last few decades. However, the sustainability of buildings is about more than just operational efficiency, they must also incorporate environmentally responsible […]

“The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis has hit the commercial real estate sector hard. Containment measures implemented in response to the pandemic severely affected economic activity and reduced the demand for commercial property,” states the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) April 2021 Global Financial Stability Report: Preempting a Legacy of Vulnerabilities. “Part of the adverse impact — […]

Global energy demand dropped by an estimated 5% in 2020, leading to declines of 8% in oil demand, 7% in coal, and 3% in natural gas, resulting in a 7% drop in total energy-related CO2 emissions.  The contribution of renewables to the mix has actually increased slightly despite a 2% fall in global electricity demand […]

Net-zero feels like the ultimate green goal for our buildings to reduce their collective impact on the environment. Currently responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions, the decarbonization of the buildings sector has long been seen as one of the most effective ways to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. The reality, however, is […]

During the last 12 months, since the pandemic triggered mass lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, the focus of the commercial real estate sector has been on buildings being empty and how or when they can safely welcome occupants back. The truth, however, is that buildings have not been completely empty because, even in a lockdown, buildings […]