January 29th, 2024
HUD, DoE, and EPA leaders are asking utilities for water and energy data for apartment buildings:
“Making these data easily available for multifamily properties is critical to the ability of property owners participating in these programs to assess the need for energy upgrades and prioritize those upgrades which will have the greatest benefit to their residents.” – Letter from the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and Department of Housing and Urban Development to utilities and state utilities commissions. The agency leaders want the owners of apartment buildings to have access to their building’s water and energy data. Billions in federal grants are now available for efficiency upgrades. Widespread availability of such data would help prioritize investments
'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.