By 2050, nearly 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, according to a 2018 UN report, up from 55 percent today. That means making room for and creating the infrastructure for another 2.5 billion people to live, work, move, and consume. Meanwhile, the effects of climate change are expected to grow. Those combined forces present an existential challenge—and a megalopolis-sized opportunity—for entrepreneurs.

“As population growth and weather-related pressures increase, the necessity of using our existing resources more efficiently will make the business models even more compelling,” says Senior Lecturer John Macomber, coauthor with Joseph Allen of Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity. “In other words, more and more of these companies will enter the mainstream.” The need for climate adaptation (the subject of Macomber and Allen’s next book) is accelerating that trend. “There are substantial public health impacts in wildfire smoke, extreme heat, and the aftermath of flooding,” notes Macomber, who teaches the MBA electives Business Opportunities in Climate Adaptation and Building Sustainable Cities. “How is society going to decide what assets to protect and which people to move? We all hope Al Gore and Greta Thunberg fix everything, but if they don’t, then homeowners, businesses, universities, and governments will have to do something.”

If the pandemic laid bare the impact of living in densely populated areas, it also made clear that cities offer the greatest hope (and have the biggest stake) in stewarding ever-scarcer resources such as water and power. Cities represent 70 percent of carbon emissions, according to a 2021 McKinsey report; and given their proximity to oceans and other waterways, they are also at the greatest risk from the disastrous effects of sea-level rise.

Yet cities also have the ability to act without waiting for state and federal action, adds Raphael Carty (MBA 1983), former CEO of Callida Energy, a software startup focused on reducing commercial-building energy use and carbon emissions. Currently an adjunct associate professor at NYU’s Stern School, where he teaches about commercializing carbon-reduction technologies in the course Disruption, Entrepreneurship, and Social Impact, Carty points to the significant potential of mass transit and the electrification of transportation more generally. There are potentially even greater savings to be realized in improving building efficiency, he notes, through energy audits, retrofits, and smart building software (the DOE estimates energy waste in the average US commercial building at 30 percent).

“Every rooftop should be a cool, reflective surface, a green roof, or supporting solar panels or wind turbines when possible,” Carty says. “And building wastewater can be treated and reused for flushing toilets and watering plants, for example, which has the added benefit of diverting water discharge from municipal sewer systems and minimizing the risk of flooding.” In addition, a number of seemingly futuristic sustainable technologies are already being deployed commercially, including photovoltaic cells built into the “skin” of buildings and electrochromic windows that darken automatically in response to sunlight. “It’s more about finding the will to start implementing at-scale technologies that are already working,” Carty observes.

Here, we take a look at alumni who are pursuing those opportunities, working to make tomorrow’s cities more sustainable across five key areas: mobility, power, construction, water, and waste.

As cities reshape themselves and populations increase, demand for goods will rise. And if the pandemic taught us anything about supply and demand, it’s that the trucking system—once largely unnoticed—can become a real bottleneck. Cheng Lu (MBA 2010), president and CEO of TuSimple, an automated trucking-tech company, has a simple goal: Get goods where they need to go as efficiently as possible with a limited labor force. For TuSimple, that means a focus not on the cities themselves, but rather on the long stretches of highway between them.

“Young people today—generally—do not want to be truck drivers, so there is a shortage all over the world of Class A truck drivers,” says Lu, adding that the US driver workforce also experiences over 100 percent turnover every year. According to Lu, there is a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers today that is expected to increase to 180,000 over the next five years.

TuSimple’s solution fuses camera, radar, lidar, and other sensor signals to enable autonomous trucks to “see” 360 degrees around the vehicle, and up to 1,000 meters ahead, in order to drive those long stretches of highway safely, saving the human drivers for shorter distance pickups and deliveries in cities and towns. The company had 70 trucks on the road throughout 2021, with safety operators in tow for an extra level of security. But by the end of 2021, TuSimple had completed an 80-mile run from Tucson to Phoenix without a human driver in the truck’s cab.

Routes are currently focused on the “middle miles” in the southern United States, with plans to expand coast to coast and north to south in the coming years. “Imagine if we can go from coast to coast with autonomous trucks in two days,” says Lu, noting that using a single human driver for that route would take more than five days.

For TuSimple, successfully alleviating the strain on the labor market requires not just better tech but also partnerships with manufacturers ready to build the electric trucks to incorporate that tech, as well as a scalable market strategy. That strategy depends on TuSimple’s Autonomous Freight Network, the world’s first, which Lu likens to a railroad network of tracks and terminals—in this case, terminal stops based on trucking routes that offer faster point-to-point service, a reduced carbon footprint, and useful analytics. “The long haul is the most challenging for drivers and has the largest shortage of drivers,” explains Lu. “If you can help alleviate that part of the freight network, then more labor can be reallocated for city delivery work. That’s going to make things more efficient and strengthen supply-chain security.”

That EV section of your nearby parking lot is only going to grow, says Molly Middaugh (MBA 2018). She’s director of business development for strategic partnerships at EVgo, the largest public fast-charging network in the United States, which estimates that almost 5 percent of new vehicle purchases are electric today, and that electric vehicles will make up more than 40 percent of new light-duty vehicle sales in North America by 2030. The goal of EVgo? Help power the transition to transportation electrification.

But real, systemic change takes more than just popping up charging stations every few miles or so. It takes connections—and that’s where Middaugh comes in. “So much of the work that we do is in concert with and enabled by our partnerships with governments, with automakers, with large fleet players,” she says. “My goal is to help develop these relationships that enable us to continue to increase the pace at which we are deploying electric vehicle charging infrastructure.” It doesn’t come down to a single charging station, but rather an ecosystem of electrification—from the car manufacturers and utility companies to government agencies and the public, who often have a say in where and how charging locations are implemented. An ongoing partnership with GM, for example, is enabling EVgo to deploy 3,250 new stations across the United States by 2025.

Personal vehicle owners are a large share of EVs on the road, but growth for EVgo will also come from delivery vehicles and other fleet vehicles—another area for Middaugh to foster. “A variety of large fleets have made public announcements that they are going electric over the next decade, including FedEx, UPS, and Amazon, to name a few, and a significant portion of EVgo’s growth during the coming years is expected to come from capitalizing on this trend.”

There is growing cognizance of the sea change, though, says Middaugh. The government is on board to the tune of $7.5 billion in charging infrastructure, which was built into the federal infrastructure bill that was signed in November. “I think there’s a misconception that it’s costly but otherwise it’s easy. The reality is that while it isn’t rocket science, there is still some science to it and it’s harder than people assume. Building charging stations—especially fast-charging stations—takes partnership and expertise, especially in the early days of transportation electrification.”

Access and education are important: 80 percent of California residents (where EVgo is headquartered) and approximately 40 percent of all Americans live within a 10-mile drive of an EVgo fast charger. But large swaths of the population still need to be reached. “One of the biggest changes over the last couple years is just awareness about electric vehicles and education about charging” she says. “A big part of our goal is to put chargers in highly visible places where people can see cars charging out in the wild.”

Many American cities have ambitious green-building goals, and some states—notably Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and California—have programs to support innovations in climate-related construction. But progress nationwide is slow. A 2019 US Energy Information Administration report indicated that just over 100,000 of the estimated 6 million commercial buildings in the United States had achieved LEED certification.

“Vast potential remains to go greener, particularly in retrofitting existing buildings,” says Frank Yang (MBA 2006), a partner at ADL Ventures, a firm that supports innovation in infrastructure companies through business development consulting, funding, and mentorship. Yang is ADL’s point person in the Advanced Building Construction (ABC) Collaborative, a first-of-its kind initiative to accelerate adoption of high-performance, energy-efficient materials and practices across the American construction industry.

“Our building sector today is responsible for 40 percent of the country’s energy use and emissions,” notes Yang, “and two-thirds of that stems from inefficiency and waste.” He believes the industry’s fragmented nature and massive scale, which combine to create high levels of risk aversion, have been a barrier. “No American general contractor has greater than a one percent share of the trillion-dollar building market. The resulting lack of collaboration and standardization has been a failure mode for innovation and productivity until recently,” he observes.

Yang has spent much of his career in the cleantech industry and is founder and CEO of Liatris, an eco-friendly insulation startup. He sees the ABC Collaborative as “a catalyst for industrializing both new and retrofit construction, and for driving urgent change during an era of unprecedented affordability and resiliency crises.” The five-year project, launched in 2020, has funding from the US Department of Energy, California Energy Commission, and Mass CEC, with NYSERDA as a deployment partner. ADL is co-leading the Collaborative in partnership with the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute—where Jules Kortenhorst (MBA 1986) is CEO—as well as the Association for Energy Affordability, the US Passive House Institute, and the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. The partnership works with building owners and developers, funders, material manufacturers, policy makers, architects, workforce trainers, and other stakeholders on a wide range of decarbonization endeavors. Current priorities include getting major business owners, such as hotel chains, to employ advanced building construction at scale, notes Yang. “We’re also working on supply-chain development, helping emerging technologies overcome research and validation barriers, and improving workforce productivity and opportunities,” he adds.

Success for the initiative, says Yang, would be a future where modular and prefabricated components, energy-efficient HVAC, skilled robotics, high-performance insulation, fire- and wind-resistant materials, and minimal waste are the rule on construction sites nationwide. “There are endless opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovators to contribute to the decarbonization of our cities,” Yang says, “and doing so will leave our children’s generation much better off. If we don’t get it done, the problems our cities face today will become far worse.”

As director of US Strategy for National Grid, Judith Judson (MBA 2000) designs strategy for a utility that supplies electricity and natural gas to more than 20 million customers in Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island—and has pledged to be net-zero by 2050. That promise keeps Judson focused on the advantages and challenges cities present in transitioning to clean-energy sources. “Population density offers economies of scale for some decarbonization strategies,” she says, “but many people live near coastlines, where spiking energy demands and disruptions associated with climate extremes are only getting worse. To decarbonize our cities, we need to unleash all potential solutions.”

While electric cars and buses and EV charging stations are already common in many cities across the United States, increasing the number of urban dwellings powered by clean electricity is an important next step. “Developing the infrastructure needed to connect urban populations to distant sources of hydro, wind, and solar generation is a long-term goal,” says Judson, who sees more immediate progress in local, small-scale generation. “Massachusetts and New York are at the forefront of introducing offshore wind into the mix, a resource with huge potential that’s close to the Northeast energy load.”

Expanded energy storage is another key aspect of a carbon-neutral future. The US Energy Information Administration recently reported battery-storage capacity has quadrupled nationwide in the last four years, helping communities meet peak demand and providing resilience in severe weather. “Our utility has two high-capacity batteries in New York on Long Island, and installed one of the largest battery-storage resources in the Northeast on Nantucket,” Judson notes.

To decarbonize heating, she points to electric air-source heat pumps and promising technologies that could make it possible for fossil-fuel pipelines to deliver cleaner fuels. “Existing infrastructure carries a lot of energy, and we can’t afford to take that off the table,” she says. “Renewable natural gas from sources such as landfills and animal manure, and green hydrogen produced with renewable energy, are alternatives worth pursuing.”

Judson says “access for all” is the most important feature in any strategy to decarbonize American cities. “Utilities don’t just serve those in a position to put solar panels on their roof or EV hookups in their garage,” she says. “Green energy needs to be accessible and affordable in every city neighborhood. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity right now to begin to make that happen.”

The increasing densification of urban areas will put even more pressure on how cities—and the people who live in those cities—deal with trash, according to Waste Connections CEO Worthing Jackman (MBA 1991). It requires stepping up a present-day, all-of-the-above approach, he says. First, reduce waste at the source with alternative packaging and techniques that cut back on manufacturing inputs to start. Make waste-reduction and source-separation initiatives a personal and communal responsibility (the pandemic, for example, has seen a significant uptick in single-use plastics from frozen meals and takeout). Increase waste recycling in general. And, finally, focus on capturing the energy generated when decades-old trash decomposes.

Public policy is a big factor in making a lot of this happen, Jackman points out. For starters, you have to make a greener approach economically viable. “Different parts of the country have different cost structures and regulatory requirements when it comes to waste reduction, diversion, and disposal,” he says. “It doesn’t make sense for us to build a $50 million recycling facility in a market where there’s no requirement to recycle and it costs one-tenth as much to dispose of waste in a landfill. By mandating recycling, as some states have done, you’re guaranteeing a certain volume will flow into processing facilities. There’s a return on investment.”

One piece of the puzzle will fall into place when EV fleets replace traditional diesel or CNG-powered garbage trucks, a step that’s been significantly hampered by supply. “We’ve been waiting two years for our first fully EV truck, which is incredibly frustrating,” says Jackman. “I thought we would’ve had 10 demonstration units on the street by now.” In another effort to get trucks off the road, it’s possible that more and more cities may zone or franchise waste collection, restricting the number of operators (and emissions) while improving safety in designated areas—as Los Angeles has done, with New York soon to follow.

Every landfill is at a different stage in its life cycle when it comes to energy generation, explains Jackman. He expects to see an increase in gas capture and green energy generation in the years ahead, especially given supportive legislation for sustainable fuels. Currently, Waste Connection’s 28 facilities produce enough energy to power nearly 300,000 homes for a full year. “In its first 15 or 20 years, a landfill produces a fraction of the amount of methane it hits at 30 or 40 years old,” he says. “We’re commissioning two more plants—one in Ontario, one in Iowa—because those two locations finally have enough flow for us to warrant the investment. Over time, landfills can become increasing sources of renewable fuels; in fact, we think of our Quebec landfill more as a gas plant.”

According to Freddie Mac, population migration in the United States is at an all-time low, but the folks who are moving around the country are largely headed to the south and west. The southern region of the United States gained about 1 million new residents in 2018, for example—a higher figure than any other region in the country—according to data from the US Census Bureau. These spots offer less expensive housing for residents, tax breaks for companies, and plenty of other amenities (75-degree winters, anyone?).

One thing these locations lack? Abundant water supply. Historically, water has been a plentiful resource in the United States, but not always in all parts of the country, says Bar Littlefield (MBA 1988), chairwoman and lead operating director at Resilient Infrastructure Group. “For a long time, people haven’t had to deal with water scarcity, but now it’s front and center, and it’s exacerbated by climate change,” she says.

There is plenty of innovation swirling around the water sector: Smart metering and AI, for example, allow businesses and people to better understand and improve their water consumption. “Americans are comfortable with water conservation, but we will also need to get much more comfortable with the idea of wastewater reuse. Many cities are already doing it,” says Littlefield. “Los Angeles has a big water-reuse project underway as do utilities in Southern California—they’re looking at wastewater as a valuable resource. If you don’t have water, you can’t recycle; you can reduce consumption, but you can’t create new water. Therein lies wastewater’s emerging value.”

But the path to further innovations and technology in the water space, says Littlefield, needs some creative thinking. Part of the solution, she says, is deploying private capital—a largely untapped resource when it comes to funding public water infrastructure and technology projects in municipalities that might include green infrastructure to contain runoff, water-treatment and wastewater recycling plants, and AI to help monitor water usage. “These solutions are simply too expensive for local utilities and municipal governments to do alone,” says Littlefield, who is the former CFO of Poseidon Water, a group focused on development, management, and investment in water projects through public-private partnerships. “There is no one solution.”

In her current role with Resilient, which focuses on water infrastructure and innovation in the industry, Littlefield is putting that approach into successful practice. The company is focused on water management technologies for businesses with significant water requirements. “Private equity firms look at water as a critical asset that they want to invest in for the long term,” says Littlefield. Her hope is that cities might take a page from industry and see how private capital can work with government to keep the tap running.

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