Forbes – Maximizing What Already Exists: The Case For Efficiency In The Built Environment

As energy demand accelerates at a previously unimaginable pace, the question becomes: “How do we generate more power?”

While expanding generation capacity is vital for long-term energy security, it’s a slow and costly path. What’s often overlooked is the smarter, faster solution already within reach: maximizing what we already have. An estimated 30% of energy consumed by commercial buildings across the United States is wasted, indicating a staggering opportunity for efficiency in the built environment nationwide.

Over the next five years, demand is projected to increase by nearly 16%, a significant jump from the 2.8% forecasts made as recently as 2022. Driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), electrification, domestic manufacturing and data center expansion, this acceleration would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Yet, with demand continuously increasing, we’re charging toward that future with grid infrastructure designed mainly in the mid-20th century.

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