For Climate Week NYC 2026, leaders of our Sustainable Engineering Studio hosted a strategy workshop, “Electrifying Buildings: Delivering 35 by 35.” Convened by the World Green Building Council in partnership with the Electrify Now campaign, C40 Cities, We Mean Business Coalition, and the Under2 Coalition, the workshop brought together leaders from across the built environment, cities, business, and climate action community to explore how we can accelerate the transition to electrified buildings at scale.

The session focused on advancing the COP31 Presidency’s 35 by 35 ambition—a global goal to increase electricity’s share of final energy demand from just over 20 percent today to 35 percent by 2035. As one of the world’s largest energy-consuming sectors, buildings have a critical role in delivering this transition, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and accelerating progress toward a clean energy future. 

“35 by 35 is not simply a target for how much electricity we use. It is a choice about what kind of system we build around that electricity,” said Partner Chris Cooper in his opening remarks. “We can not make that choice in 2035. We must make it now—in every code we write, every investment we make, every piece of infrastructure we plan, and every building we design.”

These initiatives build on the ongoing work of our Sustainable Engineering Studio, where research and projects converge to reimagine how the built environment responds to the climate crisis.