Buildings account for 40 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. If you’re an architect, or a frequent listener to this podcast, you already know that. But in their new book, Build Like It’s the End of the World, Sandeep Ahuja and Patrick Chopson frame buildings and carbon emissions in a way that might change how you think about it:

“Buildings offer some of the most cost-efficient ways of reducing carbon emissions and combatting climate change. This is because, unlike carbon capture or more efficient cars, buildings have a lot of room for improvement in their design and construction, which is often not even simulated or cost optimized.”

Ahuja and Chopson are the cofounders of Cove, an AI-powered consulting and technology platform that helps building designers and owners do just that—optimize buildings for both lower carbon emissions and lower costs. Every year, architects across the U.S. report their progress on reducing carbon emissions to the AIA, and Cove is the #1 tool they use to measure their impact. The goal? A 70 percent reduction in the building industry’s emissions by 2030.

In this episode of Deep Green: Deep Cut, METROPOLIS editor in chief Avinash Rajagopal sits down with Ahuja and Chopson as they break down how Cove works, why they think we ignore cost and profit to our own peril, and how AI will be critical to the future of climate action.

This season of Deep Green is produced in partnership with Mannington Commercial.

Resources:

cove

Build Like It’s the End of the World

Three Technologies Are Changing how We Design for Climate

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