The best, most green building is the one that's already built

In this episode of Buildings 2.0, Jose speaks with Patrick Chopson, Co-Founder, Chief Product Officer at cove.tool.

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They discuss the changes the architecture industry needs to encourage innovation, training, and new software, as well as how to rethink SaaS subscription models. They also discuss the current trend in computational building, what regulations are encouraging reduced carbon buildings, and how AI can serve as a consultant.

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Topics discussed:

How architectural design has vacillated between performance and aesthetic, and how the current trend is computationally deriving a building.
Why the backwards-looking model of architecture is preventing innovation, new software, training, and other growth areas.
How regulations like the Inflation Reduction Act are incentivizing the building of reduced carbon buildings.
How AI can serve as a consultant and bridge the knowledge gap for those who want to build green buildings.
How to rethink SaaS subscriptions when architecture firms may only need one-off or done-for-you services.
Lessons learned from growing a business, including measuring execution and prioritizing change management.

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Patrick's Quotes:

#1.) "The best, most green building is the one that's already built. So people doing as-builts and things like that, like what you guys a lot of times will help with, too. That is oftentimes the key to being able to hit our carbon targets. Like, if we just renovated a few more buildings. I think there was something from MIT where it was like, I want to say it was like under 10% of the existing buildings, if they were renovated, we might hit a lot of our carbon targets just because there's so much carbon in an existing building that if you just renovate it and reuse it, that's the greenest building that you can get." (15:37-16:11)
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#2.) "The business model of architecture is a backwards-looking model because you're protected by a stamp. Innovation is not intrinsic to how you win work and make money." (9:27)
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#3.) "People need an easy button where they just say, ‘I need a green building’ and all the recommendations are provided to them as if they're speaking to a consultant." (15:12)
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#4.)"The more the AEC startups can focus on the per-project and the on-demand model, the more likely it is they can achieve a scale that is going to allow us to solve big problems." (40:51)