Partners Are Driving the Sustainability Platform for Autodesk

RON LOCKLIN: So welcome, everybody. Thanks for coming at 8 o'clock in the morning. I know it's early. So, a couple of things-- there are 172 people registered, and they're going to keep walking in, I can guarantee you, for 20 minutes. But we're going to start anyway. It's OK. And one of those people is one of our panelists. And he's going to walk in at some point and jump right on.

But it's better to start and just get going, OK? So, I'm Ron Locklin. I lead the sustainability platform effort at Autodesk. What I'm doing is, I'm responsible for building out the Autodesk platform for sustainability services. And I'll talk a little bit about that in a moment. I'm based in Boston, been here for 10 years at Autodesk.

We have four panelists, and I'll introduce them in a second and I have them talk a little bit about their company too. And, yeah. So, Neil, you've got to mic up.

There we go. Now we're sort of complete. So, first of all, before we do anything-- Safe Harbor Statement. We will talk about future things, but it's not a roadmap. And, as you know, every presentation we have to show this. But it's not a commitment to future delivery. Right?

So why are we here? We're here to talk about sustainability with our four panelists from very different perspectives. We're here to introduce a new technical ecosystem from Autodesk. And I'll talk about that. And we're going to give you time to ask questions and to interact with our panelists. Neil, thanks for joining. I was so wanting to do that. It's all right.

So we have a bunch to cover. But there'll be plenty of time for you to ask questions. One thing I wanted to start with and to reiterate is, what we used to call Forge, we're now calling Autodesk Platform Services. So, it's the same thing. We are investing quite a bit more in it now than we have been. But it's a branding change.

And Andrew mentioned this on main stage yesterday. And the thing to keep in mind, it's got three pieces to it. So one is an-- of services, like the viewer, like model translation, things like that. Another is the data architecture, the Cloud Information Model that Andrew pointed to. It's actually industry-specific. And the third thing is a commercial engine, a transactional engine that we're introducing. So those are all part of the Autodesk's Platform Services and the Autodesk platform. What we're doing for sustainability works with this.

One of the things I want to roll out today is the Sustainability Tech Partner Program. And this fits with other partnering activities at Autodesk. The idea is to have a range of partners. And all of these gentlemen have companies that work within the sustainability space, that are part of this tech partner program. What's interesting is, I believe in every single case, they're working in other programs that we have.

As an example, Steve here, who I'll introduce him in a moment, is with PointFuse. They're part of our Autodesk Construction Services Integration Program. And that's great. But they're also going to be part of this technology partner program because what they do is very relevant to our sustainability goals and to what he's trying to do.

So the four companies here today-- and I'm really pleased that they have all accepted to come, and they come from very different places-- are C-Change Labs-- that's Phil; PointFuse-- Steve Salmon; One Team-- Andrea Perego; and Makersite-- that's Neil Dsouza. And first of all, interesting fact-- none of these guys are American. They're from all over the globe. I actually didn't design it that way, but it's pretty fantastic. We have far-flung partners from all over the world. And that says a lot about Autodesk, but a lot about them. So thanks for coming such a long way, really appreciate it.

I am actually going to have them start with a minute on what does their organization or company do. I'll let them do that. So maybe we can start-- let's start with Phil, since you're closer to-- if that's all right.

PHIL NORTHCOTT: Sure. Yeah. Phil Northcott-- I lead C-Change Labs. We're 100% climate change-focused software company based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. Our primary product is one we work with the nonprofit, BuildingTransparency.org. That's the embodied carbon in construction calculator, you know, the EC3. That's a database that we-- we have gone out to find every environmental product declaration we've been able to find. We're digitizing them in bulk, using a combination of scripts-- script scanning, a little bit of AI, and a lot of elbow grease.

And then that's paired with planners that let you spec out entire building, put everything into a database. You can do comparisons later, complete with all of the demographic details that people, like the structural engineers, have helped us set up an AI and so on. And we work closely with Autodesk Revit and with BIM 360. And we're actually now working on Autodesk Takeoff.

RON LOCKLIN: Great. Thanks. Steve, why don't you go next.

STEVE SALMON: Morning-- Steve Salmon, I'm the chief exec for PointFuse. PointFuse in the world of reality capture. So we help you manage disparate points that come out of a laser scanner. We all know how difficult, how unintelligent that information is. So what PointFuse is is a desktop software solution that automatically converts any source point cloud into what we call an intelligent mesh model.

In essence, what we're doing is we're analyzing the geometry of what is being scanned. And we're then giving you the means by which you can actually create objects from that reality capture technology. The reason that's so important is that-- and we'll get on to talk about this in terms of sustainability-- you can't build or remodel a building to be sustainable unless you actually know what you've got. And the way you know what you've got is you go in there and you scan it, and then you bring that information into Autodesk products, Construction Cloud, Revit, Navisworks, et cetera.

We partner with Autodesk, as Ron said, largely on the construction side. But we also work in the civil area, particularly buildings, road, and rail. And our mission really is to empower business owners, building owners, to actually gather information about their buildings so that they can be more efficient and more sustainable.

RON LOCKLIN: Great. Thanks, Steve. Andrea-- Andrea had a presentation yesterday and had a lot of people attend it. But tell us a little bit about One Team.

ANDREA PEREGO: OK. Thank you. Thank you, Ron, for inviting us here, first of all. And thank everybody for being here with us. So, I'm Andrea Perego from One Team. One Team is an Autodesk Platinum partner. So we have been partnered with Autodesk since a long time. We have 25 years of experience in the field of providing consulting services and end-to-end solutions for the architecture, engineering, construction, mainly the manufacturing and the geographical information system markets.

So, as Ron said, yesterday, I presented the [INAUDIBLE] project, is one of the European-funded project we are working at. We are working at this European-funded project because sustainability has always been our-- let's say, has always been in our DNA. So these projects are funded by EU. And the final aim of all these projects we are working at is to reduce the carbon footprint and to reduce the CO2 emission, for sure, for factories from one side and of existing buildings from the other side.

So ECOFACT is related to manufacturing, so to factories. In this case, we have for huge demo size, for huge real factories, where we are applying Autodesk [? Forge. ?] We are developing a digital twin platform based on Forge. And we are-- for sure we are modeling the, let's say, the factories themselves, then uploading the models on the platform, and using different tools and applications in order to embed it in the platform, in order to run simulation, in order to make the factories more efficient from an energy point of view.

The factories are pretty important, are part of the Stellantis Group, of the [? Heineken ?] Group. One is the biggest biscuits factory in Europe. And then we are working in other two projects related with the buildings, in this case. Always, all of these projects are, let's say, led by consortium made by leading companies and research institution in all Europe and with a budget of about 10 million euros each.

And the one dealing with the buildings, in this project, we do use building formation modeling in order to boost the renovation activities in existing buildings. And that's it. We are part of the Forge System Integrator Program.

RON LOCKLIN: Right. Already in the Forge Certified SI Program. Yeah.

ANDREA PEREGO: Yes.

RON LOCKLIN: Thanks. Neil.

NEIL DSOUZA: Thank you. Firstly, I apologize for being late. Trust that the only German on the panel is the one who is late.

[LAUGHTER]

RON LOCKLIN: It was good theater. It was great.

NEIL DSOUZA: I'm CEO of the company I've spent the last 18 years of my life helping companies understand products. And the longer you do it, you realize a product is about the supply chain. It makes things more complicated, and it's one of the reasons why I built Makersite.

What we do is we take a bill of material. It can be as early as a CAD drawing, as late as a manufacturing BOM. And we'll tell you its lifecycle impact. We'll tell you how much it should cost to make. We'll tell you where you should buy materials. We'll tell you how to make your product better. We'll tell you where are risks embedded in that supply chain in terms of material availability and disruption. And we do all of this in a matter of seconds.

There's over 50 different criteria that we use to tell you and inform you about the consequences of your decisions. And then we enable you to things, change a material, change a manufacturing process, change a supplier, change the supply chain, not just a supplier, and understand the implications of that across all of these different criteria.

We built this tool because, frankly, there's a lot more of you. There's lot more engineers, who I think are ultimately responsible for solving the problem that we have right now, which is the one billion products that we've created. Of all of these that are on the market today, not a single one was actually designed with the point of view that this needs to be sustainable.

There are sustainability aspects that we integrated into these products. But they weren't designed for that purpose. And I think the next billion products that we create, that you create, will require that as a pretty critical design parameter. Unfortunately, the field of carbon science, I would say-- let's just call it carbon science for now-- is an expert-led field. You need an LC expert, a carbon expert, a compliance expert, a cost expert to help you understand products.

And I think it's not a scalable approach. And that's why we use artificial intelligence. We've created the world's largest supply chain database that informs this artificial intelligence to help you understand your product and your supply chain better, thereby, I think, helping you make better products and do that faster than you do today.

We partnered with Autodesk quite recently. Actually, we announced our partnership yesterday, if I'm not mistaken. We've been working at it for a longer time. But the idea is the earlier up the design lifecycle you put this information in front of engineers, the better you can make decisions and make the left turn that you need to make. And that's why we're working with Autodesk to put this kind of real time insight, tactile feedback about, if I were to change this material or that shape, what would that impact in terms of cost and sustainability.

And we're proud to be part of this partnership, and hoping that you guys-- we have a session tomorrow where we'll show you what the system looks like. There's also a factory demonstration that you can see later in the day, if you haven't already.

RON LOCKLIN: Great. Good to have you too. One thing I want to point out-- I'm going to show a few more slides. Before I do that, every one of these gentlemen and their organizations has great relevance to sustainability. But you'll notice they come from very different angles. And there's probably a little bit different emphasis on industry, although I would say every one of them has relevance across our industries, but very different angles. And we did that purposely. I wanted to have a real mix of perspectives on this.

But we'll get into the specifics about why sustainability, why work with us in this area. So, let me show a few more things before we get to Q&A. So one is, I'm sure you've noticed, sustainability is a major theme of this event. It's very important. Autodesk takes it very seriously. And it'll only grow.

The one thing I'd like to point out, it seems that in virtually every customer meeting that we have as a company, it comes up right away. So it's no longer a fun-to-talk-about topic. It's a very serious topic. In certain parts of the world, it's absolutely required in terms of regulation. So, we take it seriously. We're investing heavily in it. And that's one of the reasons why we're here.

We are building a sustainability platform, which is essentially the Autodesk platform with specific services, partners, integrations tied to it. This is just a representation of what that looks like. But it's essentially the Cloud Information Model in the industries that Andrew shows with some specifics around services that we're building. So you'll see more of this as we go forward. And this is actually what I spend the lion's share of my time working on.

So let's start. Let's begin with some questions here. Again, the way we're going to do this is I'm going to feed a few questions and have the panel answer them. But you'll have a chance, too, to ask questions. So let's start.

So, first of all, is really high level question. Why does sustainability matter to you as a company? Why do you care? Why does it matter? And maybe we'll start with Neil. Start on that end of the panel and move this way.

NEIL DSOUZA: There's a funny answer to that and there's a serious answer to that. I'll start with a funny one. To a person with a hammer, everything is a nail. I'm an environmental physicist. I also did some bit of astrophysics. But I decided to find purpose in something more grounded in reality, literally speaking.

And it's something that you come to realize. We talk-- 20 years ago we talked of climate-- we talked of global warming, actually, not climate change. That came later. And then we realized that's the wrong word for it because the more you heat the globe, the colder Europe gets.

It's not easy to understand this. It's very complicated. And the more you study this, you realize, we're actually in deep shit. Pardon my French.

[LAUGHTER]

RON LOCKLIN: It's true.

NEIL DSOUZA: And the way we're going about it is almost as if, hey, I'm running out of fuel. We got a couple of miles to go. We can get home. My tank is left behind. We're rolling freefall right now. That's how bad it is. And I think this is one of the things that drives me, that we tend to think that this problem is very far away when it's already behind us. You know? And we're now in this unknown, uncharted territory of resource scarcity, of damage that we've already done and continue to do.

That was meant to be the funny answer.

[LAUGHTER]

RON LOCKLIN: I can't wait to here the serious one.

NEIL DSOUZA: I think more seriously is it changes an opportunity. It doesn't need to be looked at as we need to reduce. I actually believe-- I firmly believe that we live only once, and if you want to drive a Porsche, you should drive a Porsche. Just make sure it's the most sustainable Porsche you can drive. Right?

Change is an opportunity. And I think, through my experience working with over 200 companies, helping them understand that looking at sustainability is a way, it's an opportunity to innovate. Where I think we haven't had such an opportunity in a very, very long time. I think since the invention of the semiconductor, we've not had something like this that drives massive adoption to change in a particular direction.

And I think that's the foundation of what Makersite enables. We want you to get there as fast as you can. And I think that's what drives us.

RON LOCKLIN: Thanks. Thanks, Neil. Andrea, why does sustainability matter to you at One Team, but also for ECOFACT as a project maybe?

ANDREA PEREGO: OK. I will start with the marketing answer.

RON LOCKLIN: So, this is the funny answer?

ANDREA PEREGO: Yes, kind of. If you remember our logo, it resembles the Earth, the globe itself. So let's say sustainability and the world itself has always been a key aspect for us. And our logo is transforming technologies and skills into value, shaping a better world. So this is, let's say, from the marketing point of view, the right answer. But besides, let's say, ethical, the ethical part, we do think that sustainability is a key differentiator nowadays in the market.

Our customers are more and more asking about how to solve their sustainability problems and how to reach the sustainability goals. We work with a lot of customers that have to deal with LEED certification-- certification ENVISION, with WELL certification. So from our point of view, we worked since ever with-- both with Autodesk from one side and with [INAUDIBLE]. So we use a lot the BIM GIS integration in order to try to help them to get the right data to be compliant with this kind of certifications.

And another aspect that is key for us is to be attractive for the younger generation. You know how much this sustainability part is important nowadays and how much the talents are committed to it. So for us, it's key to have also these important projects we have been working at, the deals with sustainability, have sustainability goals because young talents, younger generation are easily engaged and wants to help us to reach these goals.

As far as concerned ECOFACT, the goal is to, let's say, redefine the paradigm of manufacturing, of industrial manufacturing itself, so not considering the environmental and energy aspect with an end of pipe approach, but at the very beginning in a holistic way. It sounds a little bit general as an answer. But if you want, there is the recording of the class. So you can watch it. It's a long story.

And I think that's it's. Another project, the one-- that two related with the buildings, in this case, one of them we are using modular manufacturing-- modular construction-- sorry-- and prefabrication in order to pave the way for the decarbonization of European building stock. So, let's say that these are the main reason we are working with sustainability.

RON LOCKLIN: Great. Thanks. Thanks. Steve, why does it matter to PointFuse.

STEVE SALMON: I think it's all down to the macro challenges of the construction industry. I mean, you'll hear over the next few months statistics about how much carbon the construction industry contributes globally. It's 38%. 40% of energy usage is consumed in buildings. And the construction industry alone wastes $450 billion a year just in unforeseen rework.

And I'm sure that you'll all listen to everyone telling you it's all about new-build construction. You know, we can build nice, fancy buildings that are very environmentally friendly, very sustainable. Deloitte's have just built their head office in Amsterdam. It produces 103% of the energy it actually consumes.

But the elephant in the room is actually the billions of square foot of infrastructure that already exists. And that's the big challenge. How do we actually convert buildings going back-- well, in the UK, back to the 1300s-- to become environmentally friendly and sustainable. We've gone through stone. We've gone through concrete. We've gone through steel [INAUDIBLE] with fancy glass on it.

And what we need to do is we need to move away from fossil fuels. We need to change the fabric of our buildings to deal with the heat that's going to arise across the globe due to climate change. And we need to be-- we need to be more innovative in the way we use our buildings. The pandemic has given a great change to the way buildings are used.

Most of us work from home now. So a lot of buildings are unoccupied for most of the time. So how do we actually create these insulated cells within buildings so that you can turn off the lights and turn off the heating? These are the challenges that PointFuse is desperately getting involved in. But the only way you can actually manage this problem is actually know what you've got.

Buildings, valuations are changing from square footage times rental value. Pension funds, real estate managers are now looking at buildings and saying, well, actually, how safe is it? How environmentally friendly is it? How much embodied carbon is within my building? How can I adopt a more modular construction process to refit?

Again, these are very sustainable challenges. But you need to know what you've got. And that's what PointFuse is all about.

RON LOCKLIN: Yeah. Just to add to that, we had a panelist yesterday at one of our forums. Her name is [INAUDIBLE] from Sweco. She's a-- Neil was on the panel, as was Phil. And she mentioned that in Sweden now, to the elephant in the room, you can't demolish a building without a government permit. And that's the shades of things to come, probably in other countries over time.

But the point is, it's so wasteful, and everybody's so focused on new building that they've realized that we have to regulate this so it doesn't get out of-- it's already out of control.

STEVE SALMON: We get people coming to us, saying that, actually, it's going to cost too much money to make my building environmentally friendly. So it's got a lot of embodied carbon in it, so we'll knock it down and we'll build a new one. Well, you know, you--

RON LOCKLIN: Please don't do that.

STEVE SALMON: But you need cooperation across cities and infrastructure. If we are going to go to ground source, solar, and wind, you can't actually look at your building in isolation and say, right, I'm going to do my bit. Forget the rest of you. So there's got to be cooperation across entities, cities, government regulation, et cetera.

So it's a big old challenge, but the opportunity and the ability to cut costs and waste is massive in the construction industry. We just need to apply a more manufacturing approach to our existing buildings and our new construction. And that's the way we're going to challenge the environmental issues around construction and buildings.

RON LOCKLIN: Yep. Phil, what's your-- what's the-- why does sustainability matter to what you do at C-Change Labs and in your projects? Why does it matter? Why do you do it?

PHIL NORTHCOTT: Well, short answer is because I'm a parent.

RON LOCKLIN: Good answer.

PHIL NORTHCOTT: I mean, I came to this business by way of doing semi-conductors for about 20 years. And I became increasingly concerned, looking at the shape of the climate change problem. Because here we have a gas that it's integral to our-- carbon-based fuels are integral to our economy. It's very valuable to be able to simply have a convenient liquid fuel, burn it for a ton of power in a small space.

But it doesn't matter whether-- it's not like acid rain. It doesn't matter whether you admit it in Chennai, or Chicago, or Calcutta. It's all the same to all of us, no matter where the fossil fuels are burned. And then the products that we make cross borders. So how are you supposed to regulate something like that? How are we, as a species, supposed to organize when burning a fossil fuel yourself gets you all the benefit and spreads the cost over 7 billion people? Right?

And what I came to realize is, one of the core ways we organize ourselves is through supply chains. The Canadian Government, the American Government may only have authority within its borders. But Amazon has authority all the way back through its supply chain because it is the buyer. Microsoft has authority all the way back through its supply chain because they are the buyer.

And the core thing that we do at C-Change Labs is provide software that is a lever by which a buyer can enforce their climate values on their entire supply chain. And the great thing about doing this is, you go back through the supply chain. At every step, you will find people who know what needs to be done, who want to do the right thing, and they need a business case in order to be allowed to do it.

And that, throughout your supply chain, any time we can give our suppliers the business case they need to do the right thing, it is astounding what happens.

RON LOCKLIN: Great. Thanks. Good answers from very different perspectives. So, similar on that thread, what's your biggest challenge in terms of what you do in the realm of sustainability? What's the hurdle that you feel is the most challenging for you as a company as you work in this domain of sustainability? You've all hinted at it, I think, in your answers. But maybe Andrea, why don't you start, if you don't mind?

ANDREA PEREGO: Yes. So, for us, we are working on sustainability, especially in research and innovation projects. So, the biggest challenge in this project is to get the project done because it's quite complicated. You start from scratch. You start from white papers, collaborating with a lot of partners spread all over the world. And so, let's say that, as far as concern, these kind of projects, for us the difficulty-- let's say, the major challenge is to reach the goal, the goals that were defined from the very beginning of the project.

For example, in ECOFACT, we have a target that is reducing the factory energy bill by 25%. We are halfway in because two years of the project are already gone. We have another two years of work ahead. And for now we reached the 20% of time saving that leads to 16% of CO2-- of savings in thermal and energy-- thermal energy, analytical energy consumption. So, we are on the right path.

RON LOCKLIN: Can I ask, are the sustainability projects you do harder than the ones that aren't about sustainability? Are they more difficult?

ANDREA PEREGO: Yes. Yes, because they deal with research, innovation, and we have to deal with a lot of research institutes and universities. So they do the functional analysis. And it's not easy for us to collaborate. But it's very, I would say, challenging and interesting because we get a lot of different point of views.

RON LOCKLIN: OK. Neil, how about for you? What's the biggest challenge in this domain?

NEIL DSOUZA: I think it is-- if I were to give you all the information you wanted to have about your product, you know, what impact it's going to have, how much it's going to cost, where am I going to buy from, what risks I have. Compare that with an alternative that you've generated. To have a company pick that up and say we will choose the right option, I think, is the problem that we face.

We've solved this problem of knowledge, of knowing. I think nobody can complain. No one, at least, that we serve today can complain that they don't know the right answer. I think the ability to take that answer and act is what limits our ability to create impact. And I think that's-- it's an inevitability. And I'll be speaking about that later today. But it's, unfortunately, for many companies today and many engineers like yourselves who are interested in solving the problem, a hard reality today.

RON LOCKLIN: OK. Thanks. Steve, what's the biggest challenge for you?

STEVE SALMON: I think the biggest challenge that we see is how big is the problem, and how do I solve the problem. I guess my industry is a bit easier because it's the most inefficient industry in the globe. So, it's quite easy to actually solve the problems.

RON LOCKLIN: And convince people that it's a Big problem.

STEVE SALMON: Yeah, but it's-- I mean, regulation is going in our way. I think the business case is going in our direction as well, the way we look at buildings, and the asset value of buildings, and the insurance cost. They're all the levers that are moving towards a more environmentally friendly building infrastructure.

The biggest challenge is one of information. How can we actually collate that information and make informed decisions because it's one thing to agree to make change, but you can lose a lot of money and be very, very environmentally unfriendly by making the wrong decisions. So actually, having access to the information that you need, planning and executing those business decisions is, I guess, the biggest challenge that we see in the industry.

Now, we've had terrible situations in the UK with buildings catching fire and killing people simply because they want to improve the energy efficiency of a concrete slab high rise. You know, that's a very painful and human cost of lack of information. And I don't know how familiar you all are with the Grenfell disaster. But the key message from that was the golden thread, you know. Who knows what was in that building? Who had any idea that they were going to create a chimney by putting lagging on the outside of a building?

So I think the biggest challenge is one of information, making the right decisions at the right time.

RON LOCKLIN: That is interesting though. In the construction industry, the problem is so evident that you don't have to convince people there's a problem. But there's many other challenges there.

STEVE SALMON: Yeah, but we've heard all about BIM since 2002. It has been as plain as the nose on the end of your face why you should have a fully executed BIM strategy. But I can list millions of companies across the globe who think BIM is all about design, not about execution. So it's all about information. It's all about making the right decisions.

RON LOCKLIN: Yeah. Phil, biggest challenge for you?

PHIL NORTHCOTT: Accurate data. Yeah. In lots of different channels-- well, I'll just pick one to kind of echo what Steve was saying. You know, people do a design and then-- maybe they do a really good job of the sustainability planning around it. And then execution happens. And we recently had a case with a partner, where they did an As-Built analysis of what had actually gone in. And the difference between the As-Built and the original plan was so large that red flags went up everywhere.

And it was a real learning experience for us in terms of, just like any process in the world, you have a plan, you have an execution, and you have to flex to reality when you're doing the execution. But you have to measure at the end and then come back and say, what did we learn here because the next plan should learn from that.

So, in the construction space, that's a great-- it's really important to understand what actually happened. There's lots of other areas, which I won't talk about right now, around environmental sustainability of specific products because what we find is that there's enormous variability between one supply chain and another.

RON LOCKLIN: OK, good. Good. Good. Good. So, one more question, and pretty soon we're going to move over to questions from you all. I think Steve suggested this question, something about how can construction professionals make the biggest impact in climate change? What's the one thing they can focus on? And I was like, that's a great question-- probably not relevant to every panelist. But, as I asked Andrea and Neil, they're like, no, no. It's relative to me too for various reasons.

So, I'd like to ask you all, what's the one thing that a construction professional can focus on that would make the biggest impact on climate change? And again, you've kind of hinted at this already. But maybe let's start with Steve, since you fed the question.

STEVE SALMON: I think this is relevant to new-build construction primarily. And I think that the design needs to anticipate the cost of running and maintaining a building. Most buildings are completed to a design they handed over to the owner, who then off he goes and he goes and lets that building for 25 years on an FRE lease. He has a service charge for the common parts, and you have to look after your own bit.

There's no joined-up thinking in terms of that. I mean, I've read a report only 12 months ago. It costs $0.20 per square foot just to find things in a building-- $0.20 per square foot. And every single building, the things you need to maintain, they're either in the drywall, the ceiling, or the floor. So unless you've actually got an accurate representation of what's been built, and then you've got some sort of sensor technology or maintenance technology that is related to use rather than time, you're never going to efficiently run a building.

So I think it's all about the design in terms of new build. And it's anticipating the cost of running that building for its economic life. And its economic life is 50, 100, 200 years. It'll get built in six months.

RON LOCKLIN: OK. Thanks. Andrea, how about you?

ANDREA PEREGO: Yes. So, as Steve said before, I think that it will be key to bring the manufacturing approach in the construction sector. This will be really, really effective. As I already said, one of the project we are working at, The Infinita, it's focused on modular construction, on prefabrication, and especially on multifunctional facades. And this is a key aspect in order to pave the way for decarbonization of the [INAUDIBLE] stock.

RON LOCKLIN: Yeah, you probably all know, that's a major effort of Autodesk, is industrialized construction. Amy Marks is our vise president for that area. She's our thought leader in that space. We spend a lot of time on it, talk to customers a lot. And it's a major effort we have. But, yes, the, modularization is a really good way in terms of new construction and more efficiency.

STEVE SALMON: But you can get that-- you can't get that so horribly wrong though.

RON LOCKLIN: You can?

STEVE SALMON: I mean, you build a module based upon a design, and you put it on a low loader, and you lift it into space. And you find that, actually, it's not lining up with a dry riser or the electrical conduits. It's got to go back to the factory, and it's got to be-- it's got to be changed. So, suddenly your sustainable aspect is no longer sustainable.

RON LOCKLIN: Yep. No. Now you can--

PHIL NORTHCOTT: You know, the best plan in the world can always be foiled by bad execution.

RON LOCKLIN: That's true. That's true. Neil?

NEIL DSOUZA: I think it's existing stock, frankly. The energy crisis that we see today in Europe has everyone thinking, what is going to happen in 20 years, where we can't use natural gas to heat our homes anymore? Let's assume every electricity power generation is converted to sustainability. We still won't solve the problem of we need gas to heat our homes.

This is not an easy problem to solve. I mean, our entire infrastructure in Europe is built around natural gas or oil heating. And I think the biggest impact we can have, and I think also the biggest opportunity we have, is the existing building stock and transitioning that to more sustainable fuel consumption, more efficiency but also alternative fuel. I think both of these.

RON LOCKLIN: Mhm. Phil?

PHIL NORTHCOTT: Well, I'd say the number one thing that AEC professionals can do first is to educate themselves about the climate impact of construction materials. These are materials that have a very intimate relationship, actually, with CO2. Most of them-- about 50% of their impact is chemistry rather than energy, which is unusual for most industrial processes.

And then work with your suppliers. Make it clear that you require from them accurate information, specific information about their products. And work with them to get a more sustainable solution that still hits the performance and cost targets that you need to get to.

RON LOCKLIN: Great. Thanks. So, I want to give you all a chance to ask questions of these gentlemen. Again, they have very different perspectives. We could keep going with our questions, but let's turn it over to the mic. So the rule here is-- it's not difficult, but if you have a question, you've got to step up to the mic. You do have to say who you are and where you're from. And then it's unscripted.

So, these guys, you can actually point at one of the panelists and say, I need you to answer this. So, who has a question? This is always my favorite part. Come on up, please. Can you come up to this mic? Thanks. So, who are you and where are you from?

AUDIENCE: Hi. I'm [INAUDIBLE]. I'm from Atkins, India, Bangalore. I have this question for Neil Dsouza. The question is, who is responsible in a design project, who is responsible to start this initiative of sustainability? Whether it is the architect, structural engineer, facility management, operations, construction in line in the project?

NEIL DSOUZA: Thanks. That's an interesting-- I think that's an interesting question in that I have limited experience in the field of architecture. I have more experience in the field of manufacturing and making products. But I think my limited experience tells me, the-- and it's applicable across everywhere, I would say. It's the person who came up with the idea. That's the person that needs to be accountable for the consequence of it. Right?

So, if you're in the world of architecture, this would be the architect, in my opinion. Just like in the field of manufacturing, it is the designer of the product. I think a lot of the changes or a lot of the iterations that need to happen in terms of sustainability, the adjustments that inevitably happen while you go through the design lifecycle, it's fine to have them further down the road. But the determining factor, saying we will build this building to be sustainable, starts with the designer, with the architect.

RON LOCKLIN: OK. Phil's elbowing me. He wants to answer the question. Go for it.

PHIL NORTHCOTT: The answer is you, every one of you.

STEVE SALMON: Well, I actually think-- I mean, from a practical point of view, it's actually the owner. Because the way you operate at Atkins is that you're a GC, and you do what the owner tells you to do. And then through your contracts, you actually then employ the subcontractors. And they then-- it goes through the entire tender process. And then you build what you're told to be built.

One of the biggest problems with BIM execution has been that the owners have not regulated through the contracts that you tender to that you have to have a fully executed BIM strategy. The same is exactly the same with sustainability. But the great thing about sustainability-- I mean, if you look at the UK, the UK building regs in 2025 say you cannot build a building with fossil-based fuel. That will go into your contract when you build a new building.

So the answer is, it's the owner. And it always has been the owner and always will be the owner.

RON LOCKLIN: Andrea.

ANDREA PEREGO: I want to add one thing. We all experienced the information modeling revolution in the past year or so. And when this wave came, we saw a lot of different professional figures arise. So we saw BIM managers, BIM coordinators, BIM specialists. Now it's common that environment specialist-- manager-- sorry. So I think it would be kind of the same for sustainability. So maybe now it's not that defined. But certification, the regulation will define better and will create new professional figures around it.

RON LOCKLIN: So, great question. Four answers. Do you have another question?

AUDIENCE: I just have one question. In a schematic design phase you are, and then the materials are not decided at that stage. There is a long gap between actually a design which is buildable is being generated. So how do you account for sustainability factors in that gap?

RON LOCKLIN: Who would like to--

PHIL NORTHCOTT: I can start.

RON LOCKLIN: Go for it.

PHIL NORTHCOTT: The simplest thing to is, when you do a design, you put performance parameters around those objects. Sustainability measures, like an embodied carbon budget, are just a performance parameter. Go ahead and put it in the design as a spec. The specification is your mechanism for crossing that gap.

AUDIENCE: Can this be made mandatory for all designs? Can this be made mandatory for all designs?

PHIL NORTHCOTT: I'm sorry. I did not understand that.

RON LOCKLIN: Can you make that mandatory? Can you make that mandatory.

ANDREA PEREGO: Like a regulation?

PHIL NORTHCOTT: Ah, I hope so. I can't. I can only spray WD-40 on the parts that are stuck.

AUDIENCE: Thank you.

RON LOCKLIN: OK. Thanks for being our first questioner, very brave. Thanks. Great question, by the way. Who else would love to have-- answer a question? Come one up. Ask a question. Thanks.

AUDIENCE: My name is Daniel. I'm from Statsbygg in Norway. We are the governmental owner, builder, and operator for many governmental buildings.

RON LOCKLIN: Great.

AUDIENCE: So we build everything from our research stations in Antarctica to the opera house in Oslo. We also have 2,300 buildings in our portfolio and 100 ongoing projects at all times. And we have a lot of empty buildings as well. And I took notice to someone saying that we should try to not build unnecessary buildings. And I just wondered, do you have some advice for building owners on what we should do in the early phases of the projects to avoid or to highlight what we do not have to build, if you understood the question.

RON LOCKLIN: Steve, were you the one who said about new building? Do you remember who it was who-- your--

AUDIENCE: Yeah. I think it was Steve who mentioned it because our focus is now also to try to not build unnecessary and re-use our old buildings or other buildings that we can buy and then--

STEVE SALMON: I think there's a revolution happening in terms of the existing building stock that's been driven from change of use, which the pandemic accelerated candidly. I think the way people are now working with Teams and Zoom, et cetera, means that there's a fundamental change in the infrastructure, particularly within cities. People are-- I mean, Jeff Bezos will shake all of our hands for actually online shopping. You know, and that is killing the high street from a retail and infrastructure point of view. There are less people going out to lunch in cities.