As we try to deal with the colossal challenges of outdated infrastructure challenges and climate change, there is a trend toward building and living in smaller, more self-reliant buildings and communities— while still enjoying the benefits of connecting to the grid. 

The U.S. government is doubling down on heat pump technology to assist in our national defense — helping to thwart attempts to tamper with our water supply, food production or infrastructure.

Early adopters of new technologies are considered visionaries, thinking years ahead of the majority. Mainstream entities fight this technological evolution — especially when it has economic ramifications. 

The Siemens Microgrid Lab is researching methods to bolster the country’s emergency electricity needs, among other things. 

Armed with three COVID-19 shots and a flu shot, I was able to visit different cities once again and review climate solutions for buildings, transportation, microgrids and other power systems.

The Pike’s Peak gold rush in the then-Colorado territory during the late 1850s was the second largest after the California gold rush a decade earlier.

Professionals working in the built environment have a key role to play in laying the groundwork for new ways to approach energy and water use in buildings that allow them to exist in harmony with nature, rather than as environmentally damaging blights on the planet’s surface. 

I could keep adding stories all day about great people in the building industry who know what the world needs to know: We have all the proven solutions we need for the climate change challenges we face. 

For more than 100 years, the United States has been a global technology leader and, for much of that time, the world’s biggest economic powerhouse.