The landmark $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will restore and expand the United States’ infrastructure. From improving roads, bridges, and rail, to expanding electric vehicle charging, to developing a more resilient grid and more efficient buildings, or to ensuring clean drinking water for all—this historic investment will spur construction in nearly every community in America.

But it’s also a tremendous opportunity to reconsider how we build. Since the majority of construction equipment relies on fossil fuels, this sector is ripe for innovations that address climate change and air pollution. A new movement, led by several cities around the world, including Oslo, Norway, is underway to create a market for climate-friendly construction practices like electrified equipment.

In this episode of Electrify This!, host Sara Baldwin speaks with three experts leading the global effort to scale clean, electrified construction practices. Learn how governments, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations are working collaboratively to create greater demand for electrified equipment, and hear insights into how these technologies could revolutionize the way we build.

Guests:  

  • Heidi Sørensen is the Director of the Climate Agency for the City of Oslo. She was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Oslo in 2001, and went on to become the State Secretary to the Minister of the Environment between 2007-2012. She has also served as a member of the Norwegian Consumer Council, the Norwegian Board of Technology, the board of the Research Council of Norway, and the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.
  • Nils-Olav Haukaas is a senior consultant with CEPartnersAS and represents Nasta AS. For nearly three decades Nils-Olav has been working in commercial sales and marketing of construction machines and mining machines. Nasta AS has represented Hitachi Construction Machines since 1982. He has also worked in health and safety, product compliance, and risk assessments. He has also served on a Norwegian Committee on Zero Emission building and constructions sites and a Zero Emission Digger construction site, and worked on the development of a zero-emissions excavator.
  • Marta Lovisolo is a Junior Policy Analyst at Bellona Europa in Brussels. Bellona is a climate NGO with headquarters in Norway and offices across several European countries. After supporting the city of Oslo in running the first zero-emissions construction site in the world, Bellona is now disseminating the Norwegian experience to European cities and countries, as well as the European Union.

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