The Green Impact Report Quick take: A masterclass in transforming sustainable building practices into regenerative design, featuring insights from HDR’s Director of Sustainable Development on pushing beyond net-zero to create net-positive impact buildings.
Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion
Colin Rohlfing as the Director of Sustainable Development for HDR’s Global Architecture practice, where he leads a team of 20+ sustainability experts. With over 20 years of experience, Colin has been recognized on BD+C’s “40 Under 40” list and is a frequent speaker at major events including TEDx and SXSW.
Breaking Ground on Better Building
In this episode, Colin shares revolutionary approaches to sustainable design:
Key Insight #1: The Evolution Beyond Sustainability
The Challenge: Traditional sustainability metrics have become watered down over the past 20-30 years.
The Solution: Implementing regenerative design frameworks that target pre-industrial revolution performance metrics.
ROI: Achieving net-positive impacts in energy, carbon, water, and human health.
Key Insight #2: Mass Timber Revolution
The Challenge: High-carbon traditional building materials and construction methods.
The Solution: 75+ mass timber projects, including first-of-their-kind healthcare facilities.
ROI: Reduced embodied carbon while maintaining structural performance and expanding into new building types.
Key Insight #3: Electrification & Resilience
The Challenge: Fossil fuel dependency in building operations.
The Solution: Full building electrification with integrated resilience strategies.
ROI: 99% of California projects now all-electric, with growing adoption nationwide.
Sustainable Soundbite
Your Green Building Action Plan
Transform your next project with these steps:
This Week: Start tracking both operational and embodied carbon in your projects.
This Quarter: Implement energy modeling with payback analysis on all projects.
This Year: Develop regenerative design metrics for your practice that go beyond traditional sustainability targets.
Connect & Learn More
- Connect with Colin: LinkedIn Profile
- Read the transcript: Full Episode Transcript
- Watch Colin’s TEDx Talk on regenerative design at Ted.com