Landlord, Tenant, Designer: Who Decarbonizes the Building?
Lauren Moss
Cecil Scheib
Kyle Hopkins
Anica Landreneau
Event by: HOK Architects
Event format
In-person
Event duration
3 hours
Language
English
Building decarbonization is entering a more demanding phase. Climate commitments now have to compete with leases, capital plans, operating priorities and the physical limits of buildings and infrastructure. The central challenge is no longer whether action is needed, but how organizations make decisions when responsibility, cost, control and value are divided among owners, tenants, investors and institutions.
Through a panel discussion with leaders from Vornado Realty Trust, NYU, Bloomberg and HOK, the session will explore decarbonization as a real estate and organizational challenge, not only a technical one. It will consider the tension between ambition and execution: who pays, who benefits, who controls the asset and what happens when the preferred solution is constrained by lease terms, grid capacity, existing systems or internal priorities. It will also examine how regulations, investor expectations and tenant demands are changing the financial and operational case for action.
At its core, the theme is about moving from commitments to outcomes. That means learning from completed work and failed attempts, separating meaningful innovation from noise and identifying the barriers that still consume time or stop projects from advancing. It also means looking ahead to the technologies and processes that could accelerate decarbonization and reshape how organizations plan, finance and deliver building improvements.