Note from the Publisher: Issue #18

Gunnar Branson

Note from the Publisher: Issue #18

16 June 202519 June 2025
Gunnar Branson, CEO, AFIRE

WELCOME TO ISSUE #18

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The world is asking for more power than ever before.

It’s time for real estate to join the discussion.

When the world gathers to solve the greatest challenges facing humanity, why is real estate usually relegated to the “kids table?” Whether it is at a Davos-type conference, in the halls of governments, or at scientific gatherings where experts debate the problems of climate change, energy infrastructure, geopolitical friction, affordable housing, or social unrest, real estate leadership is rarely represented, and this industry’s insights and practical knowledge are usually ignored until someone decides they need more square footage for their next project, or more housing for their employees.

That seems to be a bit backwards, doesn’t it?

After all, people spend 90% of their lives indoors,[i] which is one reason that residential and commercial buildings used almost 37% of the total US energy consumption in 2023.[ii] Buildings account for 39% of global carbon emissions.[iii] Over half of the world’s population lives in cities.[iv] What is built and how it is maintained can influence or even determine the quality of life for everyone who lives, works, and plays within the walls real estate designs, funds, builds, and maintains.

It can be argued that real estate, as an industry, has done more to improve efficiency and the environment than most other industries. Commercial real estate construction practices reduced energy use intensity by 42% between 2009 and 2019.[v] Sustainability and resiliency practices now considered standard were inconceivable twenty years ago. A small but growing number of buildings today are even creating more energy than they use. The technology, funding mechanisms, and best practices of real estate are quietly transforming the built environment.

And if the world understood what real estate has done—and could do–perhaps we might find better answers to the challenges that face us.

As an example, consider energy: After decades of slow growth in electricity consumption, data centers demand more and more electricity for AI, crypto currencies, streaming media, and machine learning, while electric vehicles and heat pumps are fast switching demand to the grid. Growth projections for the next five years predict more than a doubling of demand.[vi] Meanwhile, most of the coal-fired power plants in the US and Europe are coming to the end of their useful life, and utilities are having a hard time providing new sources of power fast enough while their distribution grids need to be re-built and re-thought even as demand inexorably rises.

Perhaps it is time that real estate and energy start to talk to each other. Maybe then leaders in both sectors could find new solutions. What would happen if real estate and energy leaders worked together to overcome NIMBYism and out-of-date zoning and permitting rules? Can grid operators benefit by working with back-up energy systems in commercial buildings?

Real estate uses a lot of energy, but we can also help create it. Is there a smarter way for us to work together long before we start talking about rentable square feet?

AFIRE is starting a new “Real Estate Power Initiative” with this issue of AFIRE Summit. Every article focuses on the intersection of real estate and energy. This is the beginning of a series of discussions between real estate and energy leaders, academics, and experts to create a new collaboration that can better solve the energy challenges of the next ten years. Energy is one of the most pressing issues of our day and real estate can contribute practical and meaningful solutions. I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the months ahead and for all of us to learn how we can power the future of our built environment.

– Gunnar Branson, CEO, AFIRE

NOTES

[i] “National Human Activity Pattern Survey.” Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://indoor.lbl.gov/publications/national-human-activity-pattern.

[ii] “Monthly Energy Review: Total Energy.” US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Accessed May 23, 2025. https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/#consumption.

[iii] “Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront.” World Green Building Council. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://worldgbc.org/article/bringing-embodied-carbon-upfront/.

[iv] World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. 2018. https://population.un.org/wup/assets/WUP2018-Report.pdf.

[v] Fuerst, Franz, and Nico Rogiers. “Environmental Performance of Commercial Real Estate: New Insights into Energy Efficiency Improvements.” ResearchGate. August 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335355972_Environmental_Performance_of_Commercial_Real_Estate_New_Insights_into_Energy_Efficiency_Improvements.

[vi] “Statistical Review of World Energy.” Energy Institute. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review.

Note from the Publisher: Issue #18

WELCOME TO ISSUE #18

NOTES

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