Expert Columns

In its approach to carbon credits, Amazon focuses on reducing tropical forest loss, restoring degraded land, and advancing technologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Learn more about how Amazon quantifies these actions to track its contributions to the fight against climate change, and how carbon credits fit into its overall sustainability strategy.

Who doesn’t love healthier, safer, more affordable-to-operate buildings? In this column, Cherylyn Kelly, IMT's Manager of Building Energy Codes and Policy, shares her annual energy code outlook: the good, the bad, and the delightfully mired in political intrigue. 

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, momentum for clean hydrogen continued to build in 2024 across the United States and globally, with costs going down, scale ramping up, and key technologies improving in performance.

In 2024, Google pursued a range of actions to procure more energy and drive new technological and market innovations to meet growing electricity demand affordably, sustainably and reliably.

Located in Washington County, Maine, Sunrise Opportunities (Sunrise) is a rural, grassroots nonprofit organization serving families, seniors, and people with disabilities for over 60 years, operating an older housing stock across seven buildings in one of the coldest climates in the U.S. In this column from Better Buildings, learn how Sunrise planned for HVAC heat pump installation through a capital needs planning process, maintaining oil heating as a backup during the coldest months, and engaging residents to understand the new technology.

According to the Carbon Leadership Forum, buildings and construction account for 40% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. When it comes to decarbonizing buildings, Amazon focuses on two critical areas: the materials and methods used in construction, and the energy consumption and operational impacts throughout a building's lifecycle. From fulfillment centers to data centers to grocery stores, Amazon is testing and scaling new tech to push toward net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Cement in concrete is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions but is also integral to the data centers behind Meta's technologies and programs. As the company focuses on reducing its emissions and achieving net zero emissions across its value chain in 2030, it is exploring new approaches to data center design to minimize environmental impact.

Using energy and building performance data to implement no-cost operational improvements and achieve utility cost savings, Louisville Metro Government (LMG) reduced building energy use and spending. In this column from Better Buildings, learn about LMG's focused effort on utility billing analysis, building audits, and building automation systems.