Signify Academy Sustainability audiobooks

Interview with Toby Morgan (Climate Group) about the trends in building decarbonization, also available in a white paper from Signify, in collaboration with The Climate Group.

The link to the white paper can be found here.

On a global scale, the combination of building operations, the construction industry, and building and infrastructure materials generates 40% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Experts point to the urgency to halve emissions this decade. To do so, building renovation rates need to increase rapidly—at least double in the EU.

The responsibility for decarbonization is shared. The construction industry must take steps to replace products and practices that contribute to emissions, while corporations must reduce emissions through green building renovations and new building designs based on well-being and sustainable products and practices. Building owners and operators must move ahead with connected and other technologies that attract tenants and provide increased ROI.

The decision to renovate may seem overwhelming because costs, but it turns out that improving the comfort, safety, and efficiency of a building yields an immediate return on investment. Property owners are learning that human-centric, sustainable buildings and workplaces attract and retain the best talent abd provide the best opportunity for attracting staff back to the office. Connected systems, including connected LED lighting, have an important role to play.

Learn about current trends in building decarbonization in this white paper from Signify, in collaboration with The Climate Group.

relevant links
Inflation Reduction Act
European Green Deal
Energy Efficiency Directive.
Climate Group
Energy Efficiency – The Decade for Action
Circular economy action plan
Renovation Wave
More can be found in the whitepaper

Today’s offices and homes can be dizzyingly complicated. With plumbing, wiring, insulation, and other systems, an entire world exists beneath the surface of an apparently simple property. Many people are unaware how the buildings they live or work in function the way they do. They simply hope that they work the way they want them to. 

Listen and learn more.

Links to relevant source information can be found on the blog page. 

To mark our five-year anniversary as Signify, we are hosting a series of conversations with leading global experts. Together we will reflect on the challenges and discuss some of the solutions, innovations and collective efforts needed to address climate, circularity, food availability, health & well-being and much more. 

To kick off this new series with Toby Morgan from Climate Group and Harry Verhaar from Signify. 

Science is clear that we must drastically reduce our emissions if we are to avoid the disastrous effects of climate change. To reach net zero by 2050, we must act now, reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. This commitment requires that we act with the conviction that the economy will transform into a very different model.  

40% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings and, if left unchecked, they're set to double by 2050. Energy efficiency has a vital role to play in lowering energy demand, reducing emissions and driving the clean energy transition. 

In the first of this series of conversations, we get under the skin of corporate and municipal climate action, discussing how public and private organizations can work together to remove barriers and accelerate climate action in the built environment.  

- Aligning individual, municipal and corporate action  
- Four building blocks of successful climate action 
- Delivering a just energy transition 
- Beyond efficiency - new business models for the sustainable economy

#BrighterConversation #BrighterLivesBetterWorld #WeAreSignify 

Increased urbanization brings with it increased responsibility for cities, especially regarding the environment. Cities account for roughly 70% of global carbon emissions and over 60% of resource use. 

Put simply, the world is on a collision course with an ecological reckoning and cities are one of the leading contributors. It follows that cities must also be leading drivers of change if we are to make good on our currently faltering climate pledges. And to successfully take climate action, artificial intelligence (AI) has a vital role to play.

 
links:

UN Report
According to Climate Group
UN-Habitat report:  AI & Cities: Risks, Applications and Governance
Signify 

Find out how you can make the Green Switch.

 
Discover other topic related blog podcasts, here.

Australia’s coal industry plays an outsized role in the economy, employing 46,000 people and generating over 50% of electricity. The country is now dealing with the effects of this fossil fuel. Australia’s average temperature has increased by over 1.47°C since 1910, and extreme weather events—including wildfires, flooding, and drought—have all increased in recent decades. Listen and learn more.

 
Relevant links:
Mr. Albanese pledge
Autralian Government assessment

Implementing LED lighting enables cities to take immediate action to become more energy efficient as well as deliver social, financial and ecological benefits.
Listen to an article published on SmartCitiesWorld written by Harry Verhaar: Head of Global Public & Government Affairs, Signify.

Relevant links:
Flipping the Green Switch for Europe
Brighten America for the US

Graphs:

Above and below shows the potential cost- and energy-savings of switching to LED lighting

Connected lighting systems offer young people a better classroom experience

 
When the pens went down on a new agreement to increase energy efficiency rates across the European Union, it’s hard to know whether negotiators were thinking about what the agreement’s impact would be on millions of young students. 
Students switch off when they are forced to sit in classrooms which are either too dark or too bright for their needs. They are more tired, less attentive, and less willing to learn. Technology offers young people a better start in education and teaches them the benefits of energy efficiency from an early age.
Listen and learn more.

Important links:  

• energy efficiency directive (EED)
• EU’s Fit for 55 plan 
• the Coalition for Energy Savings
• Research from the University of New South Wales

Find out more on how making the Green Switch or Brighten America can benefit your city and citizens, and our planet.
Find out more connecting LED lighting to a network
Contact Us for commercial inquiries

Find out more on how making the Green Switch can benefit your city and citizens, and our planet.
More about the European Green Deal Industrial Plan.
Contact Us for commercial inquiries