Sustainable Construction in a Changing Climate: Retrofitting, Green Building, and the Future of the Industry with Susan Heinking

Episode notes

Susan's career journey in sustainable construction @ 0:00 Susan Heinking has a background in architecture and has been working in the construction industry for the past 10 years, with a focus on sustainable building practices. She discusses how her career has evolved from architecture to construction, with a consistent emphasis on designing and building environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient structures. The shift in attitudes towards climate change and sustainability @ 3:20 Susan describes how attitudes towards climate change and the importance of sustainability have shifted over the course of her career. In the early years, there was more skepticism, but now there is a much greater awareness and demand for sustainable building practices, as the impacts of climate change have become more evident. Challenges of retrofitting vs. building new @ 3:59 Susan discusses the tradeoffs between retrofitting existing buildings versus building new, more energy-efficient structures. Existing buildings can often be made more sustainable, but there is also a cultural preference for new, "shiny" buildings.