Solar, Batteries & the Future of Resilient Buildings with Jesse Michalski
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
Release Date: 06/03/2026
Carbon Neutral Concrete Starts with Collaboration: Education, Innovation & Building a More Resilient Future with Kerry Sutton
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
✅ The Green Impact Report Quick Take: Concrete is responsible for building nearly every community on earth—and it's also one of the biggest opportunities to reduce embodied carbon. In this episode, Kerry Sutton explains why the future isn't about finding one miracle material. It's about educating the entire industry, embracing innovation responsibly, and collaborating across every stakeholder to create resilient, lower-carbon infrastructure that lasts for generations. 🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Kerry Sutton, PE, LEED AP is the Executive Director of NEU: An ACI...
info_outline
Beyond Buildings: Scaling Climate Action Across the Built Environment with Vincent Martinez
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
💚 The Green Impact Report Quick take: The next chapter of sustainability isn't about making individual buildings slightly better — it's about redesigning entire communities. Vincent Martinez explains why the future of decarbonization depends on collaboration, adaptive reuse, electrification, and thinking beyond the building itself. 🫶 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Vincent Martinez is the President & CEO of Architecture 2030, where he has spent nearly two decades helping shape the global movement toward a carbon-neutral built environment. From launching...
info_outline
Sustainability Is Woven In, Not Handed Out: Making Green Building the Default with Dave Hubka
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
✅ The Green Impact Report Quick take: Dave Hubka has spent 20+ years turning "up to code" into "why would we settle for that?" — and his approach of building sustainability directly into the spec (instead of waiting for a client to ask) is a playbook every green building professional can steal. 🤝 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Dave Hubka is the Sustainability Practice Leader at EUA, where he lights the way for the firm's team to create healthier buildings for clients and the environment. His work starts with listening — collaborating closely with clients to uncover...
info_outline
Ken Rhee on Turning BIM Data Into a Living, Breathing Digital Twin
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: Only 3% of people on a building project can actually open a BIM file — Ken Rhee is fixing that, and using AI and sensors to turn "as-built" data into real-time building intelligence that pays off in energy, insurance, and asset value. 🤩 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Ken Rhee Joined VIM Build in Atlanta, GA as President at the beginning of January, 2026. Co-founded Integral VIM, a BIM consulting company based in Shanghai in 2021, together with Arol Wolford ; currently developing VXBOS, a VIM-based 3D building operating software....
info_outline
Leading with Influence: FAIA, LEED Fellow Kirk Teske on Sustainability, Design Leadership, and Protecting What Matters
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: After 42 years at HKS, Kirk Teske reflects on a career that helped shape sustainable design at scale. From leading one of the earliest LEED pilot projects to influencing generations of architects, Kirk shares why responsible design, stakeholder engagement, and courageous leadership remain the foundation of a better built environment. 🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Kirk Teske is a retired architect, LEED Fellow, and former Global Director at HKS, where he spent more than four decades helping transform one of the world's leading design...
info_outline
Special Episode: Building Skema.ai - Why AI-Native Building Design Is About to Change Everything with Charlie Cichetti, Robin Bienfait & Jim Grady
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick Take: What happens when a LEED Fellow entrepreneur, a Fortune 500 technology executive (turn investor), and a startup growth strategist sit down to discuss the future of building design? You get an inside look at how AI is reshaping architecture, construction, ownership, and the economics of the built environment. In this special episode, Charlie Cichetti, Robin Bienfait, and Jim Grady explore why the next generation of buildings won't be designed from scratch — they'll be built from intelligence. 🎓 Meet the Innovators Charlie Cichetti Co-Founder &...
info_outline
AI, Digital Infrastructure, & the Future of Decarbonization: Anya Eydman on Building Trust in the Energy Transition
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: AI, data centers, and digital infrastructure are transforming the built environment faster than most of us realize. In this episode, Anya Eydman explains why the future of decarbonization isn't just about technology—it's about trust, education, community engagement, and helping buildings become active participants in a cleaner, more resilient energy ecosystem. 🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion **Anya Eydman is a strategic advisor and community advocate working at the intersection of energy infrastructure, grid assets, and...
info_outline
Designing Schools That Heal, Inspire, and Perform Better: Human-Centered Sustainable Design with Bob Morris
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: What happens when sustainability stops being about buzzwords — and starts being about healthier kids, stronger schools, and lower operational costs? Architect Bob Morris breaks down how net-zero schools, biophilic design, and human-centered architecture are reshaping the future of education. 🙋 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion **Bob is an architect who specializes in the planning and design of K12 schools for EUA, a multi-disciplinary design firm with five office locations in Wisconsin, Colorado, and Georgia. Architecture,...
info_outline
From LEED to Decarbonization: Tanya Eagle's Blueprint for the Future of Sustainable Buildings
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
♻️ The Green Impact Report Quick take: Tanya Eagle has spent her career proving that sustainability isn’t a “nice to have” — it’s a smarter way to design, operate, and future-proof buildings. In this episode, the LEED Fellow and JLL sustainability leader shares why the future of green building is bigger than certifications and how decarbonization, wellness, resilience, and material health are converging into one holistic strategy. 🙋 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion With over sixteen years of experience leading sustainable design programs, Tanya is dedicated...
info_outline
Solar, Batteries & the Future of Resilient Buildings with Jesse Michalski
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
✅ The Green Impact Report Quick take: Most schools talk about sustainability. Jesse Michalski helped build one that actually runs on it. In this episode, the longtime electrician and renewable energy specialist breaks down how a Wisconsin middle school became a net-zero energy success story —without sacrificing practicality, ROI, or resilience. 🤝 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Jesse Michalski is a renewable energy specialist at Eland Electric, a third-generation electrical contractor based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. With more than 20 years in the electrical trade,...
info_outline✅ The Green Impact Report
Quick take: Most schools talk about sustainability. Jesse Michalski helped build one that actually runs on it. In this episode, the longtime electrician and renewable energy specialist breaks down how a Wisconsin middle school became a net-zero energy success story —without sacrificing practicality, ROI, or resilience.
🤝 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion
Jesse Michalski is a renewable energy specialist at Eland Electric, a third-generation electrical contractor based in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
With more than 20 years in the electrical trade, Jesse has helped lead commercial, residential, and K-12 solar installations across the Midwest.
He specializes in solar photovoltaic systems, battery storage, and resilient electrical infrastructure, helping clients future-proof buildings while reducing operational costs and carbon emissions.
🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building
🤩 Key Insight #1: Net-zero buildings don’t happen by accident — they’re designed “solar ready” from day one.
- The Challenge: Many buildings attempt to add renewables after construction, forcing expensive retrofits, structural upgrades, and electrical redesigns.
- The Solution: Jesse and his team worked with architects early in the Menasha Maplewood School project to ensure the building was structurally and electrically prepared for future solar and battery storage.
- ROI: The school avoided costly retrofit work later, streamlined installation, and successfully delivered a net-zero energy facility with geothermal heating, solar power, and battery backup.
🌟 Key Insight #2: Battery storage means different things depending on where you live.
- The Challenge: Building owners often assume batteries automatically create financial savings everywhere.
- The Solution: Jesse explained how battery economics depend heavily on local utility policies and net metering rules. In Wisconsin, batteries are primarily used for resiliency and backup power, while in states like California they also help avoid losing excess solar generation to the grid.
- ROI: Smart battery integration can provide backup power during outages, reduce generator maintenance, and maximize energy savings where utility pricing structures support it.
🤗 Key Insight #3: The future of residential resiliency may already be parked in your driveway.
- The Challenge: Homeowners want resilient backup power systems but often struggle with battery costs and infrastructure decisions.
- The Solution: Jesse highlighted the rise of vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, allowing EV batteries to temporarily power homes during outages.
- ROI: Homeowners may soon leverage existing EV batteries as whole-home backup systems, reducing the need for standalone storage investments while increasing grid flexibility.
🎙️ Sustainable Soundbite
“There is always a way to bring it to fruition. I don’t like roadblocks. They don’t exist in my world.”
— Jesse Michalski
🤩 Your Green Building Action Plan
Transform your next project with these steps:
- This Week: Audit whether your next project is truly “solar ready,” including roof load capacity, conduit pathways, and electrical infrastructure.
- This Quarter: Evaluate battery storage opportunities based on your state’s utility incentives, net metering policies, and resiliency needs.
- This Year: Build cross-functional collaboration earlier between architects, engineers, electricians, and renewable energy specialists to future-proof projects from day one.
🤝 Connect & Learn More
🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast
🎙️ Read the transcript 👉 Here
🔗 Connect with Jesse Michalski:
- Website: https://www.elandelectric.com/ , https://www.heatspring.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-michalski-43513163/
💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.gbes.com
🌟 Want More Green Building Insights?
Get sustainability tips 2x a week.
👉Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe
🎙️ Today's Episode Sponsored By:
BUILDINGPLAQUES.COM ****→ Get your FREE LEED Recognition Plaque evaluation kit today!
Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.