In the light of COP28 we need to reimagine the environments we build

By Dr. Leslie Shoemaker, Chief Sustainability Officer of Tetra Tech 

This article was originally published on Dr. Shoemaker’s LinkedIn.  

As we reflect on the outcomes of the latest United Nations climate change conference (COP28), the transitioning away from fossil fuel consumption, boosting renewable power and improving energy efficiency have been noteworthy goals. This sends a powerful signal that the energy system our human infrastructure relies on must evolve to meet these needs. We also have the opportunity to reimagine the built environment to significantly improve energy efficiency. Our collective innovations today can redefine the environment we build—whether it’s reimagining building design, reinventing supply chains, integrating nature-based solutions, or deploying technological innovations including artificial intelligence.   

Together with our clients and industry partners, Tetra Tech is reimagining solutions now. Leveraging our experts’ deep domain knowledge and years of experience on thousands of projects around the world, we are tackling these challenges at scale. Leading with Science® means creating better, healthier human spaces that integrate nature. It means advocating for a dynamic, low-carbon supply chain focused on modernizing existing infrastructure, while balancing innovation and risk. It means leveraging the now accessible power of digital twins, machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal optional and practical solutions. 

We engaged with a diverse set of leaders in buildings, finance, and industry, to solicit their thoughts on reimagining a carbon neutral world. Key areas for innovation included: reforming finance and the models that support this transition as well as insuring new risks, rethinking the procurement and use of materials, and reframing our relationship with nature and the biodiversity that supports all our human efforts.   

COP28 is showing us the way. Twenty-seven countries pledged their commitment to the Buildings Breakthrough, and the adopted loss and damage fund can provide a unique opportunity to promote resilient infrastructure. In addition, increasingly companies engaged in the built environment supply chain are making their own commitments to GHG reductions and encouraging others to do the same. At Tetra Tech we are committed to working throughout our projects and operations to reduce our GHG emissions by an additional 50% in-line with the global efforts to achieve the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree Celsius target (see our Sustainability Report). 

Reimagining solutions to today’s most complex climate challenges requires a mix of science, innovation, and vision. At Tetra Tech, we believe that advancing collective knowledge on these complex topics will enable our industry to transform faster. Our Tetra Tech High Performance Buildings Group has conducted considerable industry consultation and will publish a series of reports highlighting different perspectives on how we can reimagine the solutions to the hard questions. In a world of increasing constraints, can we constrain how we build and, in the process, innovate?  

Together, we can do this. And it starts with reimagining our future built environment, today.