Event presented by Reimagine Buildings Collective
Friday, July 31st from 12pm-1pm eastern (Virtual)
The cheapest power in history and record-shattering heat arrived in the same summer. This session takes on both halves of that story.
Carmel Pratt—expert-in-residence in the Collective, principal at ZAZNRG, and executive director of New York Passive House—guest hosts this one.
We'll take on a podcast and a column. Bill McKibben tells Ezra Klein that solar is now the cheapest power on the planet ("Costco energy," in his phrase) and that its economics can outlast any administration. David Wallace-Wells looks at Europe's heat wave—more than a thousand dead in a single week—and shows how much faster extreme heat is arriving than adaptation can keep up. The good news and the bad news are both true, and they're happening at the same time. We'll spend the hour on what buildings have to do to keep people safe in Wallace-Wells's story long enough to reach McKibben's.
The Very Good and Very Bad News on Climate. The Ezra Klein Show, with Bill McKibben (85 minutes; the gift link includes a full transcript if you'd rather read)
We Need to Retrofit the Planet. The Heat Wave Proves It. David Wallace-Wells, New York Times (about a 10-minute read; gift link)
About the Summer Reading Club
Part of Reimagine Summer in the Collective.
Coming across a great idea is one thing. Getting to dig into it with a virtual room of sharp Reimaginers is another. This is a standing invitation to do the second one.
Every two weeks, we'll share a short, curated set of recommendations, each hand-picked by our Summer Sessions experts: an article to read, a podcast to listen to, a video to watch, or a case study to pick apart. Yes, it's a reading club that also assigns podcasts and videos. We contain multitudes. 😉 These are the pieces shaping how leading practitioners think right now, across high-performance building, decarbonization, resilience, and health.
Then we gather to talk it through, trading takeaways, pushing back, and figuring out together which ideas are worth bringing into our own work.
No quizzes or book reports…just bring a reaction, a question, or a hunch you want to think out loud with people who get it.
Four Fridays this summer: July 17, July 31, August 14, and August 28.
Become a member of the Reimagine Buildings Collective to join the conversation.
The Reimagine Buildings Collective is where we bring together builders, designers, and changemakers driven to create healthy, climate-ready buildings so that we can share hard-won lessons, level up our practices, and build the networks we need to thrive. Join us!