2021 AGENDA (AS OF JUNE 30, 2021)

Resilience + Reinvention: Real estate in a time of fundamental change

	Tuesday, July 13 - Resilience
9:00 AM EDT	Welcome Steve Weikal, Head of Industry Relations, MIT Center for Real Estate
9:15 AM EDT	Keynote Prof. Sandy Pentland Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences Founder, Connection Science + Human Dynamics Labs, MIT Media Lab
9:45 AM EDT	Session A Water, Wind & Fire: Understanding the impact of climate change Climate change may be one of the most urgent issues facing our industry. In this session we’ll consider various aspects of climate – flood, temperature and extreme weather – and their long term impact on development, investment and operation of real estate. The threats are real, global, and will fundamentally alter what, where and how we build. Host: Prof. Kairos Shen, Executive Director, MIT Center for Real Estate Guest: Emilie Mazzacurati, Global Head, Moody's Climate Solutions | Founder, FourTwentySeven Guest: Dr. Jeffrey Fisher, Professor Emeritus, Indiana University
10:30 AM EDT	Session B CRE Retrofit: Decarbonzing the built environment Buildings generate nearly 40% of annual global GHG emissions and 85% of buildings are more than 20 years old, according the US Energy Administration. This presents a tremendous global task – and opportunity – to retrofit real estate to be more sustainable, efficient, and perhaps even carbon negative. In this session, hear about the technologies, innovative financing models, and new strategies for de-carbonizing and future-proofing real estate assets. Host: Dr. Andrea Chegut, Research Scientist, MIT Center for Real Estate | Director, MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab Guest: Olivier Elamine, CEO, Alstria Office REIT-AG Guest: Peter Merrigan, CEO + Managing Partner, Taurus Investment Holdings Guest: Hewson Baltzell, President + CEO, Helios Exchange
11:15 AM EDT	MIT Innovation Showcase Alpha Arsano, Creator of ClimaPlus, MIT Sustainable Design Lab
11:30 AM EDT	MIT Innovation Showcase Dr. Sai Ravela, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Earth, Atmospheric + Planetary Sciences
11:45 AM EDT	Break

	Resilience (continued)
8:00 PM EDT	Welcome Back
8:15 PM EDT	Interviews with the Innovators Anthony Malkin Chairman, President + Chief Executive Officer Empire State Realty Trust
8:45 PM EDT	Session A Air Quality and the Value of Consumer Cities The current pandemic and climate change are threatening the health and well-being of urbanites, who are increasingly exposed to extreme temperatures, air pollution, and in the past year, airborne viral diseases. In this session, Prof. Siqi Zheng, Dr. Seema Banghar, and Dr. Juan Palacios share the latest research and technology insights on how air quality shapes our health, performance, and well-being inside and outside buildings.   Host: Prof. Siqi Zheng, Samuel Tak Lee Professor of Entrepreneurship + Development | Director, MIT Center for Real Estate Host: Dr. Juan Palacios, Postdoctoral Research Associate, MIT Sustainable Urbanization Lab Guest: Seema Bhangar, Senior Indoor Air Quality Manager, WeWork
9:30 PM EDT	Session B Digital Twin: How virtual buildings can make the physical more sustainable As the built environment continues to converge with the digital world, digital twin technology – essentially a virtual copy of a building – will be a powerful tool to help real estate practitioners overcome some of the most difficult challenges of sustainability, understand how to make the best use of space, create the most productive workplaces, and ensure a higher quality of life for all. This session addresses how to harness the full potential of digital twin, plan strategically, and navigate the digital transformation. Host: James Scott, MIT Innovation Lab Guest: Kevin Danehy, CEO of North America, Willow Guest: David Weir-McCall, Business Development Manager, Unreal Engine Enterprise @Epic Games Guest: Dr. Ramya Ravichandar, VP of Product Management, Sustainability, JLL
10:15 AM EDT	Close

	Wednesday, July 14 - Reinvention
9:00 AM EDT	Welcome Steve Weikal, Head of Industry Relations, MIT Center for Real Estate
9:15 AM EDT	Keynote Our Road to Net Zero: Further and Faster, Together Dr. Edgar Blanco Director, Net Zero Carbon - Worldwide Sustainability, Amazon Founder, MIT Megacity Logistics Lab
9:45 AM EDT	Session A (un)Real Estate: A real estate economy grows in the Metaverse The Wall Street Journal recently proclaimed that there’s a digital land grab happening—in video game worlds investors and gamers are buying, selling, owning and operating millions of dollars worth of land that exists only in the virtual world. In this session, learn from experts who are creating the mechanisms and platforms that enable this bold new frontier of real estate. Host: Steve Weikal Guest: Justin Banon, CEO + Co-founder, Boson Protocol Guest: Janine Yorio, Managing Director + Head of Strategic Assets & Initiatives, Republic
10:30 AM EDT	Session B Capital Evolution: New models for real estate finance The old models of real estate are being challenged by new, tech-enabled approaches – real estate finance is no exception. The intersection of technology and commercial real estate promises to make investing more seamless, transparent and dynamic. This session considers single asset stock listings, tokenization, and NFTs, with insight from trailblazing experts who are pursuing these promising mechanisms for reinventing real estate finance. Host: Dr. Thomas Wiegelmann, Managing Director, Schroder Real Estate Asset Management  Guest: Bjorn Holta, Business Development Lead, Digishares Guest: Richard Croft, Executive Chairman, M7 Real Estate
11:15 AM EDT	MIT Innovation Showcase Rachelle Villalon, Co-founder and CEO, Hosta Labs
11:30 AM EDT	MIT Innovation Showcase MIT Tech Tracker Dr. Andrea Chegut, Research Scientist, MIT Center for Real Estate | Director, MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab Ben Breslau, Chief Research Officer, Americas, JLL
12:00 PM EDT	Break

	Reinvention (continued)
8:00 PM EDT	Welcome Back
8:15 PM EDT	Interviews with the Innovators Dr. Parag Khanna Author, MOVE: The Forces Uprooting Us Founder, ClimateAlpha Dr. Daryl Fairweather Chief Economist, Redfin
8:45 PM EDT	Session A A New Level of Smart: When 5G and real estate go hand-in-hand 5G (i.e., fifth generation) wireless technology will set the new standard for data communications, improve performance, and deliver blistering data speeds up to 100 times faster than current networks. In this session,  hear from the experts how 5G will change the tenant experience, drive location decisions, and provide new ways for owners and operators to monetize their data and communications infrastructure. Guest: Durga Satapathy, Director Advanced Technology + Innovation, T-Mobile Guest: Jeffrey Chulick, Partner, Technology and Innovation Leader, EY Real Estate Services​ Guest: John Gilbert, COO/EVP/CTO, Rudin Management Company
9:30 PM EDT	Session B Redefining Structures: New materials change what we build The urgent push toward sustainable real estate is forcing architects, engineers and developers to re-evaluate traditional building materials and consider promising new solutions, such as intelligent concrete, green steel, and mass timber. This session explores these new and innovative techniques and materials that are reinventing our approach to building construction. Host: Prof. Dennis Frenchman, Professor of Urban Design + Planning, MIT Center for Real Estate Guest: Prof. Sheila Kennedy, Director of Design & Applied Research, MATx | Principal, Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd. Guest: Kirsten Ritchie, Global Design Resilience Leader, Gensler Guest: Dr. Randy Kirchain, Principal Research Scientist | Co-Director, MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub
10:15 PM EDT	Close

Note: Program is subject to change without notice