Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations are increasingly important to design firms for a variety of reasons. In this post, we will explore why ESG matters to design firms and how they can integrate these considerations into their projects and business practices. First, it's important to understand what ESG means. Environmental considerations relate to a... Continue Reading →
ESG factors in investment decision-making has become a “hot potato” topic because it’s largely misunderstood, broadly defined, and the guardrails for companies to report on metrics have not yet been standardized. That said, it’s not too early for design firms to engage meaningfully, given their role in all things climate and many things social. To... Continue Reading →
The COP26 (Conference of the Parties) climate talks took place in Glasgow over the first two weeks of November. These meetings between heads of state around the world may seem far removed from your daily business concerns, but in reality, the actions taken and resulting agreements may have far-reaching consequences for your business model, including... Continue Reading →
Having read through the American Jobs Plan, it’s clear that federal funding and capacity-building proposals for infrastructure and climate are transformational, once-in-a-lifetime, and good for business. However, if the design and construction industry views the proposed policy framework through the lens of just the project flow opportunities, it could miss a massive opportunity to address... Continue Reading →
During the 2020 Biden campaign, climate change was a priority issue. Consistent with that messaging, the administration is now plowing forward with urgent and sweeping climate mitigation policy proposals that will significantly impact the power, transportation, building, waste, and industrial sectors. Navigating the policy and regulatory implications for business models takes time, but the risks... Continue Reading →
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and their 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the country’s total infrastructure needs over the next 10 years is nearly $6 trillion. After acknowledging various sources of committed funding, ASCE measures the gap to meet those needs as $2.59 trillion. To indicate the payback that infrastructure... Continue Reading →
What is a National Climate Bank? Despite the name, it isn’t really a bank in the traditional sense of the word because it isn’t a depository institution. Rather, it’s a non-profit 501(c)(3) created for the sole purpose of leveraging limited public funding (through financing instruments such as market term loans, soft loans, equity investments, and... Continue Reading →
For the last 20 years, engineers have pointed out that our national infrastructure is deteriorating and that infrastructure investment is not keeping up with what is needed. To date, the focus has been on the lack of public funding due to political pressure to restrain government funding. A recent article in the New York Times... Continue Reading →
