NBBJ's Brita Everett Discusses Climate-Ready Workplaces at CoreNet Global Summit
As temperatures rise, corporate real estate leaders face a difficult task: protecting employee comfort and performance while controlling costs and fostering building resilience. At the same time, longer and more frequent heatwaves are placing growing pressure on building systems, energy budgets and business continuity, raising important questions about how workplaces should be designed and operated in a changing climate.
At the 2026 CoreNet Global North America Summit, NBBJ’s Brita Everett presents “Heat and Energy Are Rewriting the Rules of Office Buildings.” Connecting emerging research on heat and human performance with practical workplace design and portfolio strategies, Brita challenges the conventional approach of relying on increasingly energy-intensive cooling to maintain comfortable indoor environments.
Instead, the presentation explores how thoughtful design decisions—from shading and solar control to smarter material choices, thermal zoning, air movement and localized comfort solutions—can reduce heat gain and direct cooling where it is needed most. Flexible work settings and occupancy strategies offer additional opportunities to adapt workplaces to changing conditions while improving energy efficiency and employee experience. Together, these approaches can help corporate real estate leaders establish more resilient workplace standards, prioritize investments and create environments that support human performance while reducing long-term operating costs.
