CEO Letter

Year in Review - So Much Bad

2025 was a unique and challenging year for The Green Engineer, Inc. Like many of our clients and partners, we face a “triple whammy” of market forces creating headwinds. While many larger companies have implemented some kind of back-to-the-office policy, the demand for new office space has not really recovered here in the New England area. Our lab boom turned out to be a lab bubble, which has now burst, resulting in overbuilding and cancelled projects. And borrowing costs have remained stubbornly high. These three factors, in combination, have significantly slowed the pace of private development.  

On top of that, actions in Washington have created uncertainty due to the ever-changing tariffs, while support and funding for renewables, energy efficiency, and decarbonization have been pulled back or eliminated. Acronyms like ESG and DEI are now seen by some as bad words, and some organizations have stepped away from commitments, while others have continued, but gone underground.

Research funding has also taken a big hit. Colleges and Universities are facing taxes on endowments and potential unwanted attention from the current administration, in addition to these funding cuts. As a result, new capital projects have slowed, and many ongoing projects have been cancelled or put on hold. 

That sounds dire, and it is. But we’ve also had many successes and see reasons for hope.

Small Part of Big Things – Adds up to Big Impacts

As sustainability consultants, we are a small part of a lot of big things. I am prone to pointing out “our buildings” to friends and colleagues (and my children) when travelling around town. But we didn’t design them or build them – what exactly did we do? To paraphrase an old advertising slogan, "We don't make a lot of the buildings you see, we make a lot of the buildings you see better." With our help, architects, engineers, and builders are creating buildings that are lower in carbon emissions, more energy efficient, with healthier indoor environments, and higher levels of occupant satisfaction and productivity. We help owners maximize utility, other third-party incentives, and plan for the future. Our efforts improve the triple bottom line of sustainability (people, profit and planet).

We helped 33 projects achieve some form of green building certification in 2025, representing over 7 million(!) square feet of building space.  Not bad for a small outfit like ours. Add to that many projects not pursuing formal certifications, work on campus master plans, existing building decarbonization, help with BERDO and BUEDO, and many utility Technical Assistance (TA) studies, and it really adds up.   

A few highlights worth bragging about:

• Five projects achieved LEED v4.0 Platinum
• Green Building United: Groundbreaker Award - University of Pennsylvania Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology
• Built Environment Plus (BE+): Green Building Showcase - Sustainable Whole-Building Renovation - 40 Thorndike, Cambridge
• Eversource: Energy Excellence Award – 15 Necco Street, Boston
• And our first Passive House design certification - Bartlett Station Building F5 (PHIUS CORE 2021)

I would be remiss if I did not also mention our educational work and volunteer efforts. We have long been a USGBC Education Partner and are proud to work with BE+ through their education efforts and consortia. In 2025 we delivered 80 hours of educational content through BE+, including sessions on building codes, energy modeling, healthy materials, and LEED v5. We also contributed more than 300 hours in volunteer and pro bono work, including contributions to the development of LEED v5 and the evolution of the ASHRAE 90.1 energy code.

We are proud of what we have accomplished.  

What Next? – Hope!

I recently read a book by the late Jane Goodall called “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times”. It’s a powerful read, and I certainly recommend it.  In it, she differentiates between optimism and hope. 

“Hope” she says, “is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking: I hope something will happen but I’m not going to do anything about it. This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement.”

“When we feel we can make a difference, and we’re given the means to do so, positive outcomes can happen that in turn allow hope to prevail.”

As I look toward 2026 and beyond, I can’t help but be hopeful. I’m surrounded by a great team that’s committed to the work we do. We’re trying some new things, like our new webinar series, The Green Boost. We’re gearing up for our first LEED v5 projects – putting LEED-certified projects back in a leadership position beyond business-as-usual. There is a huge need for multifamily, and we see a lot of interest from developers ready to move forward. And more and more owners are looking at decarbonizing their existing buildings.

Markets are cyclical and will turn around eventually. Politics too. Climate change is something we can’t wish away, but we have the tools and technology to solve it, and we will. I am hopeful. I see a pathway to a positive outcome. At The Green Engineer, we are ready to help tackle these problems, to find a pathway. Perhaps we can help you do that too? I hope so.

Committed to our shared future,

Chris Schaffner