E88. Sustainable Construction & The Future of Cities with Saint-Gobain

When we talk about climate change, we usually talk about how we have to fly less, drive less, eat less meat, cut down our plastic, etc. What we don’t often talk about is the impact of cities, yet cities are responsible for 80 percent of all greenhouse emissions! And cities are only expected to grow. With approximately half of the global population living in cities right now, we’re expecting to see that number increase to two-thirds in 2050. So how do we rise to this challenge? Is it really possible to make cities net-zero or even net-positive?

That is what we’ll get into in this conversation with Benoit Bazin, CEO of Saint-Gobain!

Our Guest

Benoit Bazin is the current CEO of Saint-Gobain, one of the top ten oldest corporations in the world, and an aspiring worldwide leader in sustainable construction. The company was first founded in 1665 by the French King’s minister Colbert, with the intention to get France ahead of the mirror-making business, and ended up producing all the glass for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.

With 167,000 employees spanning 110 different nationalities and industrial operations in no less than 70 countries, Saint-Gobain is a company we want with us on the sustainability ride! You currently find their windows in Le Louvre, The Statue of Liberty, the Whitney Museum, and other impressive buildings around the world.

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