Presenting: What If We Get It Right?

June 16, 2025

65 min episode · 2 min read

Alex Bloomberg

Episode

65 min

Read time

2 min

AI-Generated Summary

Published Dec 25, 2025

Key Takeaways

✓Split Incentive Problem: Multiunit buildings face a financial barrier to solar adoption because building owners pay installation costs (often $1 million+) but individual residents pay separate utility bills, preventing anyone from capturing the savings that would justify the investment.
✓Submetering Solution: Daisy Chain Energy aggregates building electricity usage under one commercial-rate meter (cheaper than residential rates), then bills residents individually. The rate difference generates revenue to fund solar panels, heat pumps, and electrification upgrades while lowering resident costs.
✓Building Carbon Ratings: New York City assigns A-F carbon ratings to buildings, creating social pressure and property value concerns that motivate condo boards to act. Buildings with F ratings face potential fines and decreased resale values, making climate action economically rational beyond environmental concerns.
✓Virtual Power Plants: Buildings with submetering software can sell curtailed electricity back to utilities during peak demand events when rates spike 100-1000x normal prices. This transforms buildings from passive consumers into active grid participants generating revenue through demand response programs.
✓Climate Communication Strategy: Target solutions-focused content at people already concerned about climate rather than trying to convince skeptics. Make clean alternatives cheaper and better than fossil fuel options so adoption happens naturally without requiring lifestyle sacrifice or mass behavioral change.

What It Covers

Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson reunites with former How to Save a Planet co-host Alex Bloomberg to discuss his transition from podcast entrepreneur to climate tech founder of Daisy Chain Energy, solving building decarbonization challenges.

Key Questions Answered

•Split Incentive Problem: Multiunit buildings face a financial barrier to solar adoption because building owners pay installation costs (often $1 million+) but individual residents pay separate utility bills, preventing anyone from capturing the savings that would justify the investment.
•Submetering Solution: Daisy Chain Energy aggregates building electricity usage under one commercial-rate meter (cheaper than residential rates), then bills residents individually. The rate difference generates revenue to fund solar panels, heat pumps, and electrification upgrades while lowering resident costs.
•Building Carbon Ratings: New York City assigns A-F carbon ratings to buildings, creating social pressure and property value concerns that motivate condo boards to act. Buildings with F ratings face potential fines and decreased resale values, making climate action economically rational beyond environmental concerns.
•Virtual Power Plants: Buildings with submetering software can sell curtailed electricity back to utilities during peak demand events when rates spike 100-1000x normal prices. This transforms buildings from passive consumers into active grid participants generating revenue through demand response programs.
•Climate Communication Strategy: Target solutions-focused content at people already concerned about climate rather than trying to convince skeptics. Make clean alternatives cheaper and better than fossil fuel options so adoption happens naturally without requiring lifestyle sacrifice or mass behavioral change.

Notable Moment

Bloomberg discovered that convincing his 180-unit condo board to decarbonize required years of volunteer meetings, expensive studies, and millions in upfront costs with 150-year payback periods, revealing that individual building action alone cannot scale fast enough to meet climate goals.

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