Radio BE-Ex live podcast series by Building Energy Exchange, supported by National Grid, features thought leaders in sustainability and the built environment.

Radio BE-Ex, a live podcast series by Building Energy Exchange, features leading industry professionals working at the intersection of buildings, energy, and sustainability. 2021 marks the series’ second year of production, and first year with program partner and supporter, National Grid. The Radio BE-Ex theme for 2021 is Radical Scale: the people, processes, and technology that will ensure the built environment meets the needs of the future.

Radio BE-Ex is both a live production and podcast series. Interviews are broadcasted virtually in real time and published as podcasts shortly thereafter. The Radio BE-Ex podcast is available on all popular streaming platforms—Apple Music, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Spotify.

In 2021, the podcast has highlighted conversations on increasing access to building retrofits in underserved communities (Retrofits for All with BlocPower); financing high-performance upgrades at scale (Financing Deep Retrofits with Sadie McKeown); and the proliferation of renewable energy sources and grid modernization (The Future of the Grid with H.G. Chissell). Future episodes will cover understanding climate risk and scaling solutions (Navigating Climate Risk with Fiona Cousins), environmental advocacy in the field of architecture (Building Retrofits as Climate Action with Carl Elefante), and daylighting design and research (The Power of Daylight with Susan Ubbelohde).

2021 also marks the launch of Field Notes, a Radio BE-Ex production celebrating Building Energy Exchange’s 10-year anniversary by inviting past board directors and industry leaders who played a central role in the development of the Building Energy Exchange to share their professional history and plans for the future. Among those featured in Field Notes segments are Dan Zarrilli, New York City’s Chief Climate Policy Advisor, and Ashok Gupta, Senior Economist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Radio BE-Ex is made possible across 2021 through the generous support of National Grid.

“National Grid is proud to partner with the Building Energy Exchange to showcase critical conversations on the interaction between the built environment and our climate. The dialogue established by Radio BE-Ex, in addition to the range of resources and activities developed by Building Energy Exchange, are essential to inspiring action within our community in the face of climate change,” said Louis Rizzo, Manager, NYS Residential Program Operations, National Grid.

Building Energy Exchange launched Radio BE-Ex on the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in attempts to keep the building energy efficiency community connected and informed as shelter-in-place restrictions pushed people apart. The first year’s programming spanned eight episodes on a variety of topics—from water efficiency to daylighting; designing healthful buildings in light of COVID-19; energy policy and building decarbonization; and the Passive House building standard.

Radio BE-Ex is one of many virtual programs developed by Building Energy Exchange in 2020, in lieu of in-person programming at their center in downtown Manhattan. 2020 also marked the launch of BE-Ex Ed, a robust online platform offering on-demand accredited courses on energy efficiency and high-performance design.

These virtual offerings are an extension of Building Energy Exchange’s past programmatic initiatives, following 1000+ programs to 30,000+ building decision makers across ten years, in addition to numerous case studies, reports, and exhibits.

“Building Energy Exchange is thrilled to present Radio BE-Ex, an exciting new series that celebrates a dramatic increase in the scale and range of our organization’s impact,” said Yetsuh Frank, Radio BE-Ex host and Managing Director, Strategy & Programs, Building Energy Exchange. “We hope that Radio BE-Ex, alongside a host of live and on-demand programs and virtual resources, will connect and inspire key building decisionmakers from New York and beyond to build a more healthful, equitable, and sustainable future.”

 BE-Ex is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the effects of climate change by improving the built environment. BE-Ex accelerates the transition to healthy, comfortable, and energy efficient buildings by serving as a resource and trusted expert to the building industry.