USGBC-CA’s Ben Stapleton on Wildfire Recovery & Building Decarbonization
VX News recently sat down with Ben Stapleton, Executive Director of the U.S. Green Building Council California (USGBC-CA), to discuss the organization’s priorities since expanding statewide last year including collaborative efforts to align policies on building performance, championing resilience in reconstruction efforts, and navigating key challenges in the building and construction industry exacerbated by recent federal uncertainties, including rising costs related to labor shortages, tariff threats, and supply chain disruptions. As an appointee on LA County’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire Safe Recovery, Stapleton elaborates on efforts to enhance housing and community resilience in the aftermath of the Eaton & Palisades Fires.
“If we can remove the guesswork, negotiate cost reductions with manufacturers through volume, and streamline access to these solutions, we can create a scalable model for sustainable homes”
Ben, it's been almost a year since we last interviewed you when USGBC California launched. Give our readers a quick update on the organization's statewide expansion, what you're focused on now, and your current priorities.
A lot of last year was about infrastructure building for us as an organization—getting a unified, statewide community together. We've established leadership in the Bay Area, Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Diego. This year is about implementation, rolling out our programs and education statewide, amplifying our voice at the Capitol, and strengthening our influence on local policy.
Two major priorities come to mind. First, wildfire recovery and resilience. Unfortunately, this year will always be synonymous with the devastating wildfires we've experienced. In the past, we've done significant work following the Thomas and Woolsey fires, helping people rebuild by connecting them with architects, landscapers, and general contractors, and hosting community workshops. Through this, we gained a deeper understanding of trauma and the long recovery timeline—people still reach out to us years after those fires.
As a result, we developed a Wildfire Defense Toolkit and a wildfire defense certification program for contractors and landscapers, which we've had about 1,300 people complete. In response to recent fires in Los Angeles, we're leveraging that experience. We're also launching a rebuilding guide in the next two to three weeks in collaboration with Arup and various advisors, along with conducting community workshops, facilitating matchmaking between residents and rebuilding professionals, and expanding contractor training, particularly focused on post-wildfire rebuilding. This is a significant focus area for us.
The second major priority is building performance standards. These are closely related because many standards governing how we build and operate structures are evolving. Currently, we have 35 cities across California participating in a collaborative effort to align policies on building performance. We're working on standardizing terms like energy use intensity and square footage thresholds to avoid a fragmented patchwork of regulations.
To support these efforts, we're launching a full-service Building Performance Hub—a mix of digital and human resources designed to assist developers, owners, and managers in complying with policies and improving building efficiency. My vision is that hundreds, if not thousands, of buildings will go through this hub in the coming years.
Drilling down on that, what is the current state of building performance standards in California?
Right now, the California Energy Commission is working on defining a statewide policy and pathway, with recommendations expected to take effect in 2030. In the meantime, many cities are crafting their local policies. Here in Los Angeles, the City of LA, County of LA, West Hollywood, and Santa Monica are actively working on building performance regulations. San Francisco, Chula Vista, and other cities across the state are also developing their approaches.
Some of these policies will take effect soon. West Hollywood and Santa Monica are leading the charge in the LA area. I feel like the City of LA has lost some momentum in this space, especially with everything we have just been through, but I believe we'll get there.
Why is this important for our readers?
That’s a great question. Building performance can seem like a wonky, technical term, but in simple terms, it's like the letter grading system for restaurants—except for buildings. If you're an office building, for example, your energy performance is rated, and the goal is to improve that by 20–30% over the next 10–15 years. This helps reduce energy costs and lessens the strain on the electrical grid.
Some laws already exist to require energy benchmarking in LA, meaning building owners must track and report their energy usage. The next step is mandating improvements to meet agreed-upon performance standards based on the building type and age. This is the direction the entire country is heading. New York’s Local Law 97 caused a stir a few years ago by introducing stringent building performance requirements. Washington, D.C., and Colorado have also adopted similar policies. California is now moving in that same direction, and this will soon become the standard for how we manage existing buildings.
Well, Ben, how do you respond to the concerns about rebuilding after the devastating fires in Altadena and the Palisades and balancing the desire to rebuild quickly with the regulatory agenda you're describing?
This tragedy also presents a profound moment—an inflection point—for what we've been working for in the green building world for years now. It has always been challenging to scale sustainable single-family home construction. The message to families needs to be that rebuilding this way is cheaper, faster, and safer. Ideally, in five years, homeowners will realize their energy bills are lower, their indoor air quality has improved, they enjoy natural light, and they feel healthier in their homes—without necessarily thinking of it as a "green" building.
To support this, we’re working to provide templated architectural plans, landscape designs, and even MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) plans that feature fully electric appliances. If we can remove the guesswork, negotiate cost reductions with manufacturers through volume, and streamline access to these solutions, we can create a scalable model for sustainable homes.
Give us an example of how you're going to prove this model.
We're launching a rebuilding guide in a few weeks—Version 1.0 will be a detailed, interactive PDF with clickable links. Version 2.0, which I hope we can achieve, will be a digital tool featuring a marketplace. For instance, if someone clicks on roofing materials, they would see "good, better, best" options, along with discounts and purchasing options directly through the platform. The same concept would apply to siding, windows, or ventilation systems—essentially, all the recommended elements in the guide.
We want to make this accessible for homeowners and contractors alike. Contractors who complete our training could get certified and then use the marketplace to source materials efficiently for their rebuilding projects.
Given the rising energy and water costs nationwide, a primary goal of USGBC California’s agenda—lowering utility bills and improving efficiency—will be put to the test. How do you plan to address that in your communication strategy?
I think this is exactly the point–we need to get systems in place and embrace this holistic approach to our homes that reduces our energy and water costs, creating a more resilient environment. We're going to have fire, but our homes don’t have to burn in the fire, and that reduces costs for society and energy use. When we use healthier and more resilient materials, we're reducing some of those long-term health impacts.
We need to also be creating access to more green space and housing in addition to all these other things. What you're talking about in terms of rising costs—costs will go up. This is why we need systems in place that design the other elements to reduce those energy and water costs long term so that we're not going to be overburdened–which we already are, right? People pay too high a share of their rent and bills for their energy and water use.
Address the tension of wanting a streamlined recovery process by eliminating requirements for buildings with the imperative to build back better—both safely and affordably.
We’re already seeing it. One of Mayor Bass’s first executive orders was to waive the all-electric ordinance. I was quoted in the Times and elsewhere saying that was a mistake and that it sent the wrong message. The implication was that all-electric homes are more expensive or take longer to build, but that’s not true. Designing a home is designing a home—it doesn’t add time. We know all-electric homes can be cheaper to build and have lower long-term utility costs, especially when built to high-performance standards with good insulation and a well-sealed envelope.
Another key consideration is infrastructure. If we replace gas infrastructure in Altadena, the Palisades, or similar areas–costs will rise. That infrastructure is being phased out anyway and presents ongoing risks, especially in earthquakes. Building back all-electric isn’t just cost-effective—it ensures homes retain value and avoid future retrofits as policies and codes evolve.
On fire resilience, we already know effective risk-reduction strategies—fire-resistant fencing, double-pane windows, strategic design elements. The state’s Chapter 7A building code for high-fire areas should be extended to include recently burned regions. We also need maintenance policies for homes that didn’t burn because fires will return. In 2025, we’re seeing major fire events almost every year. This wasn’t the case a decade ago. People who lost homes in the Tubbs Fire and others have told me: "You can’t say 'sustainable'—people will ignore you. They need their homes rebuilt fast and affordably." My message is: we can do this quickly, cost-effectively, and make homes safer. We just need to commit to the right strategies now.
How are federal uncertainties, regulatory shifts, and other factors affecting your agenda?
That’s a great question. First, we have to acknowledge the uncertainty everyone is living with. There’s a lot of fear—people not showing up for construction jobs because they’re afraid of raids. And we’re talking about needing maybe 10,000 construction workers or more in the next year. How we reconcile that with labor shortages will be a major challenge, not to mention supply chain issues, tariffs, and other factors.
Last year, we unified as a statewide entity, and the timing couldn’t have been better. California has the opportunity to lead the way, especially since we know we won’t get federal support on building policy, embodied carbon, or sustainability measures. Even Europe is rolling back some of its corporate sustainability regulations, but California is holding firm. That puts the responsibility on us to prove that these initiatives can be cost-effective, grow the economy, and work at scale. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. Without federal support, we have to organize more as a sustainability community and build business models that make financial sense. We need to show people that these solutions are viable, and I believe we can. We have the innovation, we have the right people, and we just need to prove it.
You were appointed to the LA County Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire Risk. What’s the agenda and what impact do you hope to have?
It’s a fantastic group of leaders. We’re making both immediate and longer-term recommendations, which will go to the Board of Supervisors and likely the Governor. We’re working with UCLA’s Sustainable Grand Challenge research team to analyze fire-impacted communities, economic and supply chain impacts, workforce needs, and housing solutions for displaced residents and workers.
We’re looking holistically at key issues—building codes, land use, workforce development, and community resilience. While we don’t have the authority to mandate changes, we do have strong leadership on this commission, and I appreciate Supervisor Horvath for putting it together.
You have an event coming up, and my readers might be interested. Can you share the details?
On April 9, we have our Wildfire Recovery & Rebuilding Guide Launch Webinar. This follows our recent Climate Risk and Insurance event (recording).
In May, the California Green Building Conference—our big annual event—will be in the Bay Area for the first time, on May 21-22, with five tracks that include Resilience & Recovery and Water Innovation.
In November, Greenbuild, the world’s largest green building conference, will be in LA. I’m a co-chair on the host committee, and we expect around 10,000 attendees. It’s a perfect opportunity to showcase our recovery, resilience, and rebuilding efforts, and to highlight what we’re planning for the Olympics.
