The Climate Gap

Digital twins have been in the smart building conversation for more than a decade. What is changing now is the expectation.In this Climate Gap Quick Cuts episode, Ben Muwoki sits down with Rick Szcodronski, Chief Product Officer at Willow, to unpack how digital twins are evolving from visualisation and data layers into decision-making platforms that operators can actually trust and use.This conversation covers what separates digital twin projects that scale from those that stall, why speed to value has become the real maturity test, and how AI is shifting operator workflows away from dashboards and towards clear, actionable decisions.Key topics covered- Why owners and operators are expecting measurable value from digital twins- Speed to value and why ROI has to show up in days, not months- Why adoption and internal champions determine whether deployments stick- Balancing technical accuracy with usability and real operational outcomes- Why the future is enterprise workflow integration, not standalone visualisation- How AI interfaces reduce cognitive load and change how decisions get madeAbout RickRick Szcodronski is the Chief Product Officer at Willow. He has spent his career in the smart building sector, starting in design consulting and smart building strategy before moving into product leadership. At Willow, he focuses on digital twin platforms and operational AI, helping owners and operators turn complex building data into practical decisions at portfolio scale.Subscribe for more interviews on smart buildings, digital twins, building automation, energy management, and operational AI.

In this episode of The Climate Gap: Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki sits down with Deepinder Singh, Founder and CEO of 75F, to unpack a problem many facility operators already understand: the issue is not data. It is deployment.While enterprise towers often receive bespoke engineering attention, the mid-market, small, and midsize buildings where most people actually work face a different challenge. Equipment diversity, inconsistent standards, retrofit history, and fragmented systems make repeatability difficult at scale. The conversation explores whether AI can meaningfully improve smart building deployment, not by replacing expert engineers, but by helping everyday operators perform more consistently.Key themes include:Why mid-market buildings are not “simple” in aggregateThe concept of the zero-interface buildingAI as assistant, not replacementRaising the floor, not the ceilingClean data, consistent algorithms, and digital twinsStandardising deployment across diverse portfoliosThis episode challenges the industry to move beyond dashboards and toward systems that are easier to deploy, commission, and operate at scale. If you operate, design, or invest in building automation systems, BMS, energy management platforms, or AI-driven controls, this discussion is for you.About Deepinder SinghDeepinder Singh is the Founder and CEO of 75F, a vertically integrated IoT-based building controls company focused on intelligent HVAC automation for commercial buildings.A serial entrepreneur, Deepinder previously built companies in high-speed networking and infrastructure technologies. He is known for bridging advanced networking and software thinking into the building automation and energy management space. At 75F, he is leading the development of AI-enabled controls, digital twin architectures, and the concept of the “zero-interface building”, where operators interact conversationally with building systems rather than through traditional dashboards.His work focuses on improving deployment speed, commissioning quality, and operational consistency across the fragmented mid-market building sector.

Recurring Revenue, Real-World Results – Closing the Post-Sale GapRecurring revenue models are everywhere. But recurring value is still where many subscription, SaaS, and IoT businesses struggle.In this episode of The Climate Gap: Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki sits down with Beth Skierski, founder of EGS Solutions, to explore why Customer Success often falls short and how companies can close the post-sale gap that quietly drives churn.Across climate tech, smart buildings, and enterprise SaaS, many teams invest heavily in product, sales, and onboarding. What happens after the contract is signed is often handled informally, reactively, or inconsistently. This is especially true for project-led businesses moving into subscriptions and IoT vendors shifting into software models.Beth shares a practical framework for treating the post-sale journey as something that can be deliberately designed, measured, and improved.In this episode, we cover:Why recurring revenue is an operating challenge, not just a pricing decisionThe difference between reactive account management and true Customer SuccessHow to design a proactive customer journey that supports adoption and outcomesWhy renewals are lagging indicators, and what leading indicators matter moreHow IoT and hardware-led businesses can avoid common mistakes when moving into softwareWhat customer health really looks like beyond renewals and dashboardsIf you are scaling a SaaS business, transitioning from project delivery to subscriptions, or leading Customer Success, Revenue, or GTM teams, this episode offers grounded, real-world insight into what actually drives retention and expansion.About Beth SkierskiBeth Skierski is the Founder and Principal of EGS Solutions, where she helps B2B, SaaS, and IoT-driven companies build sustainable Customer Success organisations.With a background in engineering, Beth brings a methodical, outcome-focused approach to Customer Success. Her work sits at the intersection of technology, commercial execution, and customer outcomes, helping teams move beyond reactive account management toward proactive, repeatable value delivery.Beth partners with organisations navigating shifts from project delivery to subscriptions, and from hardware or IoT-led models into software, supporting them in designing customer journeys, defining success metrics, and improving retention and expansion through better post-sale structure.Watch now and subscribe for more conversations across smart buildings, energy, climate tech, and the teams turning performance into proof.

Many “smart building” conversations still assume a clean slate at the start.New buildings, new systems, new budgets.That’s not how it usually plays out.Most of the buildings that will still be in use over the coming decades already exist today. And many of them were never designed for modern connectivity, analytics, or decarbonisation.In this episode of The Climate Gap: Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki sits down with Peter Rake to talk about where real progress actually happens: brownfield portfolios.The buildings that already exist.The systems that are already stretched.The teams that are already firefighting.Peter has spent years in the trenches of brownfield modernisation, working with owners and operators who are trying to improve performance without ripping and replacing everything in sight.One theme kept surfacing in the conversation:- Upgrading the technology is only half the battle.- The harder part is getting results seen, trusted, and funded by the business.In this episode, we cover:* Why brownfield is where the real decarbonisation opportunity sits* What to look for when assessing a legacy building for digital enablement* How to decide what to integrate, what to retire, and what to leave alone* Why operational wins rarely reach the C-suite* How to translate comfort, energy, and maintenance into business language that resonates* Why starting with simple data builds credibility faster than ambitious pilots* What actually turns operational progress into repeatable investmentAbout Peter RakePeter Rake is a smart buildings and energy technology leader with deep, hands-on experience in modernising brownfield commercial real estate. He began his career on the tools as an electrician before moving into building systems, connectivity, and platform-led portfolio transformation.Over the past decade, he has worked closely with owners and operators across mixed-vendor estates, helping them improve legacy infrastructure, establish secure connectivity, and turn fragmented building data into credible, business-ready insight.Listen if you are:- An owner or operator managing brownfield or mixed-vendor portfolios- A facilities or operations leader trying to make outcomes visible to leadership- Trying to move from pilots to repeatable, portfolio-wide investment

In this episode of the Down Low with Joe, Lewis & Joe sit down with Ted Atwood at FutureBuilt.Ted has spent decades at the forefront of energy compliance, sustainability, and climate technology, building, scaling, and ultimately exiting a major platform in the space. Today, he advises companies across energy, real estate, and climate tech on what actually drives outcomes.We go deep on:What’s fundamentally broken in the built environment, and why progress feels slowThe biggest false beliefs holding sustainability efforts backWhich technologies genuinely move the needl,e and which are just good marketingThe hard truth behind ESG targets and why most companies miss net zeroHow policy really gets shaped and where industry influence often goes wrongWhat “audit-proof” compliance actually means for CEOs and operatorsPlus a lightning round on overrated tech, underrated solutions, and bold predictions for the future of climate tech.

If your demand response program looks good on paper but fails under scrutiny, you don’t have a performance problem. You have a measurement problem.Ana-Paula Issa, CEO of Encycle, explains why.Utilities are offering more incentives than ever. AI, analytics, and advanced controls are being deployed across portfolios.And yet many operators still miss demand response targets, struggle to defend savings to finance, or confuse demand response with demand management.In this episode of The Climate Gap: Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki sits down with Ana-Paula Issa, CEO of Encycle, to cut through the fog around “utility grade,” multi-site AI, and why scale breaks so many energy programs.Ana-Paula has been working directly with utilities and large retail portfolios since 2008. She explains what actually holds up when incentives, baselines, bids, and finance reviews are involved and why many programs fail quietly until the end of the year.We dig into:What “utility grade” really means and why it leaves no place to hideWhy baselines are the most common failure point in M&VHow multi-site scale breaks single-building AI assumptionsThe real difference between demand response, demand management, and consumption managementWhy demand response targets are missed more often because of misalignment than technologyHow portfolio thresholds can wipe out DR revenue even when most sites performWhy incentives often fail to get credited to the right buildings or teamsAbout Ana-Paula IssaAna-Paula Issa is the CEO of Encycle. She has spent nearly two decades working at the intersection of building controls, demand management, and utility programs, partnering directly with utilities and large multi-site operators. At Encycle, she focuses on turning demand flexibility and efficiency programs into measurable, defensible outcomes at scale.Watch if you are:An owner or operator managing large, multi-site portfoliosAn energy or sustainability leader accountable to financeA vendor selling AI, controls, or DR programs into portfoliosTrying to turn utility incentives into outcomes that survive scrutinyUtility programs do not fail because teams lack technology. They fail because measurement, alignment, and incentives are misunderstood.

Recorded live at FutureBuilt, Steve Hamby joins Joe Aamidor (Aamidor Consulting) and Lewis Martin (Element Six) to talk about what actually happens when facilities and real estate teams try to deploy technology at scale.Steve has spent his career working across facilities technology, IoT, and connected solutions. He has advised operators, vendors, and industry groups on how technology is adopted, where it breaks down, and why outcomes often lag behind capability.This conversation focuses on the gap between promise and execution. Why connected buildings are still hard to deliver. Why data ownership remains unclear. Why AI and IoT adoption continue to move more slowly than expected inside large portfolios.No theory. Just lived experience from someone who has been in the middle of it.Topics include:What connected buildings really look like in practiceWhere FM and real estate tech adoption stallsData ownership and accountabilityWhat operators should demand from vendorsWhat actually drives measurable outcomesRecorded live at FutureBuilt.Hosted by Joe Aamidor and Lewis Martin.

In this episode of the DLWJ, we’re joined by Maureen Ehrenberg, one of the most respected leaders in the global built environment.Maureen currently serves as Executive Managing Director of Strategic Growth and Solutions Development at Sireas Global Real Estate Advisors and is President Elect of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) for 2026. Her career spans decades of executive leadership at organisations like WeWork, JLL, CBRE and Grubb & Ellis, and she’s a recognised authority on strategic real estate operations, digital transformation, and facilities management at scale. In our conversation, Maureen cuts through the noise around technology in CRE and FM to focus on what actually drives value inside real portfolios. We explore:Why data infrastructure still outpaces dashboardsHow investors and operators talk past each otherWhat happens when you lean on AI without solving data readinessThe skills and organisational changes that actually move the needleA grounded discussion about what it really takes to move the built environment forward.