S4E7: Retrofitting the Future
In this episode of Sustainability Forward, we turn our attention to one of the most practical — and often underestimated — parts of the climate challenge: buildings.
After previously exploring the carbon footprint of individuals, we saw that while transport dominates, the home is not far behind. And unlike transport, buildings are one area where change can happen now.
To help us unpack the challenge, we are joined by Ascanio Vitale, a sustainability science expert with more than 30 years of experience in environmental advocacy and decarbonisation. With a background spanning engineering, policy, and consulting, Ascanio has worked with Greenpeace, WWF, the European Commission, and now leads Stop CO2, where he advises on sustainability and ultra-efficient buildings.
Together, we explore why building retrofit is still moving too slowly, what households can do first to reduce energy use and bills, why commercial buildings struggle with split incentives, whether current grants and subsidies are working, and which technologies are genuinely promising.
This is a conversation about more than carbon. It is about comfort, health, resilience, affordability, and how better buildings can become a real part of the transition.
CEO, StopCO2
Ascanio is an expert in sustainability science, having developed a multidisciplinary knowledge base over the course of 30 intensive years dedicated to environmental advocacy. With a dual background in aerospace and electronic engineering, he worked as Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace, WWF, and as a COP delegate. He has also authored papers for the European Commission.
Since 2006, he has founded and directed Stop CO2, which provides comprehensive sustainability and energy consulting services to companies and designs ultra-efficient buildings. He contributed to the development of the most advanced carbon footprint calculation platform for commercial aviation, which received the European Seal of Excellence in 2017.
He has served six years as a board member of Population Matters an international charity dealing with overpopulation.
Ascanio has written for numerous media outlets and curates his own newsletter on Substack (currently in Italian and soon in English): Sustainability Pills.
