
BDLA Webinar: Building Decarbonization in Action: Looking at New York City’s Local Law 97
March 6, 2025 11am-12pm PT
Join us for a discussion of New York City’s Local Law 97, which establishes caps for carbon emissions from large buildings in New York City. Full webinar description coming soon.

Bryan Simpson has over 10 years of experience in the field of building decarbonization and energy efficiency in both the private and public sectors. In his role as the Agency Chief Decarbonization Officer at the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), Bryan directs the agency’s efforts to decarbonize its building portfolio through energy efficiency, beneficial electrification, transitioning to low-embodied carbon construction practices, and complying with all relevant decarbonization-focused Local Laws and Executive Orders. Bryan has worked on several teams over his six years at DCAS including as a capital project manager for the agency’s capital project division and as a deputy director in the agency’s division of energy management. Prior to DCAS, Bryan spent five years in the private sector working for Steve Winter Associates, Inc. as an energy auditor and mechanical engineer providing building systems consulting services to multifamily and commercial building owners in the tri-state area. A licensed professional engineer in New York and New Jersey, Bryan holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Binghamton University.

BDLA Monthly Webinar: Transitioning California and the World to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything
September 13, 2024 11am-12pm PT
Global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity are three of the most significant problems facing the world today. This talk discusses the development of technical and economic roadmaps to solve these problems across 149 countries and all 50 states, including California. The solution is to electrify buildings, transportation, and industry and provide the electricity with 100% clean, renewable wind, water, and solar (WWS) sources and storage. This talk also discusses technologies already available to electrify buildings fully. It further discusses the electricity and heat generation technologies and the electricity, heat, cold, and hydrogen storage technologies needed for a transition, including firebricks to store industrial process heat. It then evaluates methods of keeping the electric grid stable. Results indicate that the grid can remain stable at low cost in each of 29 world regions encompassing 149 countries examined. Aside from mitigating global warming, these roadmaps have the potential to eliminate over seven million air pollution deaths annually, reduce international conflict over energy, stabilize energy prices, reduce catastrophic risk, and create jobs. Finally, the talk discusses why policies that encourage carbon capture and direct air capture are opportunity costs that increase carbon dioxide, air pollution, fossil mining, and fossil infrastructure and should be abandoned. Click here for more information.

Mark Z. Jacobson is Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Woods Institute for the Environment and of the Precourt Institute for Energy. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering, an A.B. in Economics, and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford in 1988. He received an M.S. and PhD in Atmospheric Sciences in 1991 and 1994, respectively, from UCLA and joined the faculty at Stanford in 1994. His career focuses on better understanding air pollution and global warming problems and developing clean, renewable energy solutions to them. He has published six books, including his latest, “No Miracles Needed,” and over 185 journal articles. He is ranked as the #1 most impactful scientist in the world in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences and #6 in Energy among those first publishing past 1985. In 2018, he received the Judi Friedman Lifetime Achievement Award “For a distinguished career dedicated to finding solutions to air pollution and climate problems.” In 2023, he was named one of the top 100 globally “who have made an impact on the world this year” by Worth magazine. He has served on a committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, appeared in a TED talk and on the David Letterman Show, and co-founded The Solutions Project nonprofit. He served as an expert witness in the first U.S. constitutional climate trial to win, Held v. Montana, and the world’s first constitutional climate trial to reach a settlement, Navahine v. Hawai’i. His work is the scientific basis of the energy portion of the U.S. Green New Deal and laws to go to 100% renewable energy worldwide.
Webinar Recording

Building Decarbonization Teaching Workshop for HBCU Professors & Students
July 30-31, 2024
Learn about building decarbonization, energy equity, and enhance your curriculum from experts in the field.
Agenda:
Day 1 (afternoon)
- Intro to Building Decarbonization
- Equitable Decarbonization
- HBCU Energy Institute
- Architectural Responses
- Dinner with HBCU Green Fund
Day 2
- Building Electrification
- Renewable energy
- Embodied Carbon
- Teaching Strategies
- Net-Zero Building Tour
Where:
Morehouse College, Atlanta
When:
July 30-31
Contact us: stanfordbdla@stanford.edu
323.683.4104
Anthony Kinslow II, PhD, CEM is the founder and CEO of Gemini Energy Solutions which democratize the energy efficiency sector. Additionally he lectures two classes at Stanford University at the intersection of Clean Energy and Equity.
Peter Rumsey, Stanford University
Peter Rumsey, founder of Point Energy Innovations and Stanford Adjunct lecturer, stands at the forefront of low-energy and net-zero building innovation with over 40 years of distinguished experience. Based in San Francisco, his engineering expertise has contributed to 50 LEED platinum projects, the highest number by any engineer in the U.S.
Felicia Davis, Founder of HBCU Green Fund
Felicia M. Davis is a staunch advocate for measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency retrofits, green building, renewable energy solutions, and an array of sustainable practices. In 2016, she founded the HBCU Green Fund to help finance green projects at historically Black colleges and universities. She has cultivated an extensive network of faculty, professionals, and student climate, energy, and environmental justice advocates.
Dr. Richard Schulterbrandt Gragg III
Dr. Richard Schulterbrandt Gragg III Is a professor of environmental science and justice, sustainability, and human health at Florida A & M University. In addition, he conducts research and community engagement in environmental justice and health disparities, workforce development in STEM, and environmental science and policy teaching. He collaborates across disciplines and sectors to foster participatory action and solutions. Currently, he serves as President at the up-and-coming HBCU Energy Institute, a National Technical Association project.

BDLA Monthly Webinar: Boosting Energy Autonomy Through Decarbonization with Hip Hop Caucus
June 7, 2024 11am-12pm PT
Bank Black & Green works to flow capital away from systems invested in mass incarceration and the fossil fuel industry. Stephone Coward II will present his work with Black-owned banks funding local community and Black-owned projects, as well as urban greening projects they have successfully completed. He will explain economic “Just Transitions” and the growing importance of energy democratization. In all of this work, it is integral to decarbonize buildings when separating dependence from the fossil fuel industry and also adding value to the communities Bank Black & Green represents. He will explain the reasons how and why decarbonized buildings play an important role in reducing dependence on systems that inhibit social, environmental, and economic justice.

A graduate of University of Texas at Arlington, Stephone possesses a Bachelors of Arts in History and Master of Science in Sustainability. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and is a freelance writer for several publications.
Stephone has recently become a Just Economy Institute Fellow. The Just Economy Institute educates and connects a growing movement of financial activists who are shifting the flow of capital and power to support the well-being of all people and the planet. Because of his work and passion, Stephone has been named one of Forbes Next 1000 as a Social Entrepreneur.
Webinar Recording
Presentation Materials

BDLA Monthly Webinar: Cooking Up Clarity – Insights on Gas Stoves and their Influence on Indoor Air Quality
May 2, 2024 12pm-1pm PT
Dive into one of the hottest decarbonization topics in recent years: gas stoves. RMI expert Brady Seals and Dr. Rob Jackson of Stanford team up for a discussion on the burning questions they get about the indoor air quality ramifications of cooking with gas and the health benefits of switching to electric.

RMI

Webinar Recording

BDLA Monthly Webinar: Building Decarbonization Goes Mainstream – How a Quarter of the US Adopted Electrification Policies
April 12, 2024 11am-12pm PT

Lawrence Garber

Webinar Recording

Building Decarbonization Virtual Teaching Symposium
March 8, 2024
- Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization: Why They Should Not Be Ignored
Amory Lovins, Co-founder of world renowned RMI and Lecturer at Stanford University - US Government Policies, Practices, and Successes
Cara Carmichael, White House Council on Environmental Quality - An Update on Building Decarbonization: The Fastest Growing Clean Energy Sector Ever
Panama Bartholomy, Director of the Building Decarbonization Coalition - Teaching Decarbonization: Gaming Simulation
Alpha Arsano, Architect, Building Scientist, and Educator at Northeastern University
Workshop Recording

BDLA Monthly Webinar: Build Beyond Zero
February 16, 2024
Webinar Recording

BDLA Monthly Webinar: Accelerating Decarbonization with Equity and the Risks of Not
January 26, 2024
Webinar Recording

Building Decarbonization Teaching Workshop
December 8, 2023
The BDLA hosted a 3-hour virtual workshop for professors who are interested in incorporating the BDLA teaching materials into their existing curriculum. The workshop provided professors with a thorough understanding of the BDLA’s instructional materials. This class is geared towards professors teaching architecture, building engineering, and engineering management. Topics covered included embodied carbon, electrification, renewables, teaching methods and more.
Workshop Recording

Developing Building Decarbonization Curriculum
August 2023
- Architectural Responses
- Building Electrification
- Renewable Energy
- Hot Water and Cooking Electrification
- Embodied Carbon
Notable sessions include: Equitable Decarbonization taught by Dr. Anthony Kinslow II and Advanced Energy Efficiency taught by world-renowned speaker and Co-Founder of RMI, Amory Lovins.
Workshop Recording

Building Decarbonization Virtual Teaching Symposium
May 17, 2022

Mark Chambers
- 9:30am: Welcome – Dr. Sarah Billington, Chair of Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Dr. Martin Fischer, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Director of the Center for Integrated Facility Engineering
- 9:45am: Keynote – Mark Chambers, White House Climate Team, Senior Director for Building Emissions & Community Resilience
- 10:30am: Session 1: Panel on Decarbonization Teaching Techniques and Lessons Learned – Nea Maloo, AIA, Lecturer at Howard University and Dr. Raymond Tesiero, Assistant Professor at North Carolina A&T State University, Zaria Ancar, Architectural Engineering Student at NCA&T, and Dean Bailey Architecture Student at Howard
- 11:30am: Break
- 11:40am: Session 2: Industry
- Perspective on Decarbonization – Bob Pragada, Jacobs Engineering Group, President and COO
- 12:15pm: Closing Remarks – Peter Rumsey, Founder, Stanford BDLA