Landlords, tenants, designers: Who decarbonizes the building?

​Building decarbonization is entering a more demanding phase. Climate commitments now have to compete with leases, capital plans, operating priorities and the physical limits of buildings and infrastructure. The central challenge is no longer whether action is needed, but how organizations make decisions when responsibility, cost, control and value are divided among owners, tenants, designers, investors and institutions.

​Through a panel discussion during NYC Climate Week with leaders from Vornado Realty Trust, NYU and HOK, the session will explore decarbonization as a real estate and organizational challenge, not only a technical one. It will consider the tension between ambition and execution: who pays, who benefits, who controls the asset and what happens when the preferred solution is constrained by lease terms, grid capacity, existing systems or internal priorities. It will also examine how regulations, investor expectations and tenant demands are changing the financial and operational case for action.

​Panelists:

• ​Lauren Moss: Chief Sustainability Officer at Vornado Realty Trust

• ​Cecil Scheib: Chief Sustainability Officer at NYU

• ​Kyle Hopkins: Operational Sustainability Lead at a Financial Firm in NYC

• ​Anica Landreneau: Director of Sustainability at HOK

​Moderator:

• ​Apoorv Goyal, Firmwide Decarbonization Lead at HOK

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​Agenda:

​Thursday, September 24, 2026.

• ​08:45 AM

  • ​Gates Open

• ​09:00 AM

  • ​Breakfast Networking (30 Mins)

• ​09:30 AM

  • ​Introductions + Panel Presentations (25 min)

  • ​Panel Discussion (45 min)

  • ​Q+A (20 min)

• ​11:00 AM

  • ​Conclude + Networking (30 mins)