We all care about reducing the environmental and carbon footprints of our current and future buildings - AND about affordability and attainability. What strategies and approaches help our communities accomplish all this as we support retrofits or new builds? What is the role of new construction and heating technologies? How do we better identify return on investment and minimize capital costs to developers AND future operational costs for end users? What must we do to uplift the entire industry on this front?

How can we be more efficient, move towards a circular economy, and reduce water use? How can we minimise construction, renovation and demolition waste? How will we deal with and respond to ever more scarce resources, be they natural or man-made - what needs to shift? How can we better predict how global supply chain challenges, weather patterns and lack of water will impact where and how we develop?

Our energy use decisions affect everything: our pocketbooks, building sales, and the future climate our children will face. What innovations and solutions can help us move from business as usual to lower-carbon energy sources that don’t cost us the earth - and how can we get there faster? What role do utilities play? How can we surface homes’ energy use for prospective buyers? How do we avoid bottlenecks as we electrify our systems?

Many builders build at a much higher level than the existing building code calls for. What is their rationale, and how can we get others to follow suit? How can we rationalize and incentivize more efficient buildings while ensuring the supply of housing at a reasonable cost? What would it take for Alberta to move beyond its basic Tier One Step Code? How do Codes impact cost, capacity, project viability and, ultimately, the delivery of much-needed housing in our community?

What does it look like when we all row in the same direction as we address community needs, challenges, and opportunities? How do we retain and attract community members in the face of a high-cost environment, the need for climate mitigation and resilience, attainability and affordability challenges, and labour shortages? How do we balance the economic, social, and environmental demands and pressures facing the world in 2024? How will communities prioritize these often competing demands, given finite resources? Let’s connect the dots.

What does ‘highest and best use’ mean for us, given discussions that include updating municipal development plans, managing growth, increasing density, and preserving green spaces for people and nature? What infrastructure will be needed to support these changes, and how best to deliver it? What about transportation - What role will trains, bikes, gondolas and EVs play? How do we plan for ‘last mile’ considerations to trailhead transit? How will we live, move, service and sustain communities, districts and regions?