The One Hundred Year Decision

Every day we make thousands of decisions. Some of them carry more weight than others.

The life of a building’s envelope is usually a hundred years or more.

That makes a decision to build a conventional building (instead of a high performance one) a 100 year decision.

That’s 100 years of fossil fuels and CO₂ emissions. That’s 100 years of air pollution and rising asthma rates.

With each new conventional building we add to the inventory of long term emissions sources and reduce our ability to respond to climate change.

And what about the occupants of the building?

It’s a 100 year decision for the occupants of the building too.

That’s 100 years of high heating and cooling bills, 100 years of chronic exposure to air pollutants. 100 years of distraction and sleep interruption from noises outside the building.

High performance buildings are much quieter inside, use very little energy, require fewer repairs and the air is cleaner inside them.

Changing what people expect from a building

Erase40 uses behavioral science to help people make better decisions when it comes to buildings.

The decision about what type of home to build or apartment to rent or office to lease is one that can impact many areas of our lives: the quality of our sleep, our ability to save, the condition of our lungs and heart, and how well we can focus.

We look at what’s behind the decisions of renters, home buyers, developers, lenders and others to connect those decisions to better individual and social outcomes.

With 40% of emissions coming from buildings and $1.2 trillion being invested in new construction each year, the trajectory is toward a growing inventory of fossil fuel-reliant buildings.

However, we see an opportunity to reverse this trajectory by targeting the small number of behaviors and perceptions that occur when people are making rental and buying decisions.