Save the Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
Morning Keynote
Ann Kosmal, FAIA, LEED AP BD_C, CPHC, PDC Principal & Sustainable Design Leader, Resiliency, HOK
Presentation: The Opportunity Lens: Finding Practical Opportunities in Changing Conditions
Presentation Description:
Resilience is often framed around threat, loss, and uncertainty. This interactive session takes a more practical and opportunity-focused approach by showing how existing buildings can become the primary arena for resilience, continuity, and smarter capital planning. Rather than beginning with what can go wrong, the session begins with what owners, designers, and operators can still get right, especially for buildings already in service.
Using Cincinnati as a living case study, the course explores how inland communities are facing compound pressures, including severe storms, extreme rainfall, riverine flooding, smoke and air quality concerns, heat, insurance pressures, and potential growth associated with migration due to changing conditions. The session then connects those pressures to mission-critical operations, including healthcare and science and technology facilities, where downtime can affect care delivery, workforce readiness, research continuity, controlled environments, emergency response, and public trust.
Participants will learn how to translate changing conditions into practical questions about business /mission, acceptable downtime, exposure, disruption pathways, critical systems, recovery, and investment timing. The course emphasizes that resilience does not require perfect prediction or a single capital project. Instead, it offers a structured way to identify opportunities that can be aligned with planned renewals, renovations, equipment replacement, master planning, emergency planning, and owner risk tolerance.
Lunch Keynote
Z Smith, PhD, FAIA, LEED Fellow, WELL AP Principal & Director of Sustainability & Building Performance, EskewDumezRipple
Presentation: Transforming Our Buildings For Good
Presentation Description:
Two thirds of all the buildings in the America of 2050 are already standing. Shiny new construction net zero energy buildings may get the most attention, but the only way we can achieve anything close to the goals so many have announced is to transform our existing building stock. Most of these buildings are not historic; they're mostly just old. Some are low on charm; many are just plain ugly. But we can't afford the cash or the carbon associated with knocking them down and starting over. This session celebrates the grubby work of transforming existing under-loved buildings into places that are better—not just better in terms of energy and carbon, but better places to work, learn, and live. With most clients, we can bring about these transformations by focusing less on the environmental impact than the human impact—fostering better health and productivity and delight.
Afternoon Keynote
Joel Cesare Growth Lead: Cambio
Presentation: Less Talk. More Action. Closing the Gap Between Climate Ambition and Building Performance
Presentation Description:
The built environment has no shortage of climate commitments, certifications, pilot projects, or new technologies. Yet global building emissions continue to rise, and too many organizations struggle to turn ambitious goals into measurable progress. The challenge is no longer knowing what to do, it's executing at the speed and scale the moment demands.
Drawing on lessons from city government, Google, climate technology, and years of working alongside building owners, this keynote explores why some organizations consistently move from strategy to action while others remain stuck in planning. Attendees will learn practical principles for overcoming common barriers, aligning stakeholders, prioritizing high-impact projects, and building momentum that delivers measurable environmental and business outcomes.