glass building exteriors

Buildings

Why Heat Pumps Are the Answer to Heat Waves

As a record-breaking heat wave scorched the Pacific Northwest earlier this summer and again this week, killing hundreds of people in the United States and Canada, many residents realized the predictably mild summers they knew no longer exist. Scientists are clear that climate change will make…

Construction workers standing together on construction site

Low-Cost, High-Value Opportunities to Reduce Embodied Carbon in Buildings

Buildings account for at least 39 percent of energy-related global carbon emissions on an annual basis. At least one-quarter of these emissions result from embodied carbon, or the carbon emissions associated with building materials and construction. The solutions for addressing embodied carbon in buildings have not been widely studied…

Two flags of Canada in a front of a building

The Electrification and Deep Retrofit Potential of Canadian Federal Buildings

In the face of the climate crisis, organizations are looking to electrification and renewable energy as a way to get buildings, energy systems, and vehicles off of fossil fuels. But fears abound that plugging too many things into the grid could overwhelm the system and lead to blackouts. Over the…