Looking back on a year of partnership

If you’ve noticed that many construction sites are quieter these days, Julia Casagrande, Deputy Director of Clean Energy at the New York City Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, can explain why. In the recap episode, she outlines how New York City and the global C40 Cities network formed a coalition to speed up the rollout of electric construction equipment in North America, sending a clear market signal by committing to specify and use the technology locally.

Carl Slotte, Senior Vice President for Region Europe at Volvo Construction Equipment, joins the conversation, saying a global shift can only succeed through coordinated action across the construction ecosystem, from municipalities and builders to manufacturers, grid operators and energy providers. Making it work requires a new leadership mindset, where partnerships drive behavioral change and progress depends on everyone moving together. Gustaf Werner, Vice President for Innovation and Development at Skanska Group, says this leadership approach relies on active collaboration with partners. Working closely with forward-thinking municipalities, clients and industry partners can allow the sector to deliver far greater sustainability outcomes than any single organization could achieve alone.

In 2025, we also looked closely at the digital frontier. Dareen Salama, co-founder and CEO of construction data platform Gryps, explains that AI is now ready to deliver real value for the industry. Pairing construction expertise with a strong partnership mindset lets companies focus on what they do best and put new technology to work in ways that lift the whole sector. Mike Zeppieri, Vice President for Emerging Technologies at Skanska USA Building, meanwhile, adds that data and AI are enabling closer collaboration with clients and better decisions earlier in the project life cycle. The use of large datasets to tackle embodied carbon, supply chains and circularity is helping to steer design choices upstream, where the biggest sustainability and climate impacts can be made.

Collaborative procurement

Shifting the focus to public procurement, Karl Jonasson Collberg from the City of Stockholm's Development Department describes it as a strategic driver of innovation rather than simply a transactional process. Financial constraints along with early contractor involvement can draw out expertise, lead to smarter material choices and turn cost pressure into a spur for innovation. Building on this idea, Magnus Persson, CEO of Skanska Sweden, says contractors need to respond by drawing on experience from across projects to get the most value from public investment. 

Lessons learned through collaboration can then spread to clients, consultants and partners, driving steady improvement and tougher, more sustainable competition across the industry. Mark Humbertson, Construction Administration Manager at the University of Virginia Facilities Management, says close collaboration enabled the UVA University Hospital expansion project to aim for ambitious net-zero water goals. Capturing rainwater and HVAC condensate for reuse has allowed the hospital to meet its annual water needs.

Turning to the field of human-centric design, Dr Whitney Austin Gray, Senior Vice President at the International WELL Building Institute, says today’s workforce is demanding healthier, more supportive environments, particularly as people spend longer indoors. Poor indoor air quality can worsen existing health issues, making human-centered design essential rather than optional. Myrrh Caplan, Senior Vice President for Sustainability at Skanska USA Building, says meeting these expectations depends on close collaboration across design, construction and operations, alongside ongoing dialogue with occupants. Building technology, automation and tenant feedback into projects from the outset helps create healthier, more comfortable and genuinely human-focused workplaces.

Cooperation shapes healthy public spaces

From offices to residential communities, collaboration is also reshaping neglected urban spaces. At Prague’s Modřanský Cukrovar redevelopment, Ondřej Flanderka, Sustainability Manager at Skanska Residential in Czechia, explains how interdisciplinary collaboration made it possible to build a blue-green infrastructure where landscaping is shaped for function as much as form, linking water management, cooling and urban greening. Petr Dušta, Senior Project Manager at Skanska Residential in Europe, adds that this collaborative planning also shapes energy performance, with building envelopes, heat recovery, greywater reuse, shading and green roofs working together to cut consumption and prevent overheating. Sustainability is built in from the earliest design decisions, shaped by both technical expertise and input from local residents. 

At a global scale, Dr Stephen Hammer, CEO of the New York Climate Exchange, says New York Climate Week reinforced the same lesson, that tackling climate challenges calls for collective action. Bringing diverse perspectives together in dedicated collaborative spaces helps turn big ideas into practical, scalable solutions.

Taken together, the conversations of 2025 show that collaboration is no longer a supporting act in shaping sustainable places. It is the force that drives change, delivers results and moves the built environment forward.

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