Synapse: This Week's News for LA’s Best Buildings
Scorecard: Energy-Saving Efforts Continue, Albeit at a Slower Pace
The year 2020 was challenging for the energy sector. Following a vibrant 2019, when energy-efficiency efforts and climate goals advanced considerably, the worldwide pandemic abruptly shifted focus. Local officials had to reorganize their priorities to mitigate the health and economic impacts of the health crisis. As a result, momentum slowed on many efforts to advance energy-saving policies, but even with the added challenges, most states made progress in energy-efficiency initiatives.
Decarbonizing Cities - How to Harmonize Buildings, Mobility and Infrastructure
Why is it so important to decarbonize cities? And how can we do it?
The first question is easy to answer: The cities in which more than half of us live account for nearly two-thirds of the CO2 emissions that lie at the root of our planet's looming climate crisis. Skyscrapers in megalopolises, shopping malls, SUVs in the streets, air conditioners in a growing number of places throughout the globe – all consume a vast amount of high CO2-content energy.
The answer to the second question is to take an integrated approach: leveraging clean electrification and digital technology to harmonize urban energy systems, while also thinking beyond individual projects to consider their impact within the surrounding communities and the built environment.
Webinar: Could Indoor Spaces Be Making You Sick?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, average Americans spend approximately 90% of their lives indoors. Accordingly, the physical structures in which we work and live — our homes, schools, offices, public buildings — directly impact health outcomes. Improved design and construction enhance our well-being and reduce our health care costs. Leading experts in the fields of healthy buildings and wellness discussed the progress of the green building industry, human health and its direct correlation to the built environment, and the tools and technologies that deliver healthier indoor environments in which we can flourish.
This webinar was jointly presented by Impact@Anderson, the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate’s Housing as Health Care Initiative, and the UCLA Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Program for Real Estate, Finance and Urban Economics.
Better Buildings Top Energy & Water Efficiency Solutions of 2020
As we move into 2021, the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings shares the most-viewed resources on the Better Buildings Solution Center from the past year. They gathered the 10 most popular partner solutions and the 10 most popular toolkits from 2020 – check out the ones you may have missed.
Submission Due Today! LABBC 7th Annual Innovation Awards
For information on categories and criteria, visit the event page. If you have last-minute questions or need an extension, contact us.
Source: Micah May