Decarbonizing Real Estate – Today and Tomorrow

Originally aired February 15, 2023

The real estate sector accounts for 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions — 70% from building operations and 30% from construction. With unprecedented global building growth underway, this 60-minute panel explores what business, technology, and policy solutions are working today, and what’s on the horizon.

Part of the GWU Energy Resilience Certificate Program curriculum, the conversation covers retrofitting strategies, new construction choices, materials innovation, and the policy frameworks driving the real estate sector’s decarbonization.

Speakers

Smita Chandra Thomas (Moderator)

Founder & Principal, Energy Shrink; Building Decarbonization Instructor, GWU

Smita Chandra Thomas is the founder and principal of Energy Shrink, a Washington, DC consulting practice focused on techno-economic analyses and demand-side management strategies for green buildings, programs, and policy. She is also GWU’s Building Decarbonization Instructor and teaches in the university’s Energy Resilience Certificate Program.

Kimberly Pexton

JBG SMITH

Kimberly Pexton is a sustainability leader at JBG SMITH, a major real estate investment trust focused on mixed-use development in the Washington, DC region, where she works to advance decarbonization strategies across the company’s commercial and residential portfolio.

Billy Grayson

Executive Vice President, Centers and Initiatives, Urban Land Institute

Billy Grayson is Executive Vice President of Centers and Initiatives at the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization focused on land use, real estate, and urban development. He oversees ULI’s work on sustainability, housing, infrastructure, and real estate economics and capital markets.