Guest columnist Craig Schneider: Career in construction driven by concern for the future

In 1997, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution blocking the U.S. from signing the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. I was a teenager, concentrating only on my girlfriend and a future in architecture. I had always planned to be the next Frank Lloyd Wright, but the more I studied, the more I realized there was more to it than just beautiful buildings. My generation was tasked with another burden. We had to advocate individually for the planet since our government had failed to act.

I've always been detail oriented. At a seminar in 2004, I sat in a room listening to the great American building scientist John Tooley. He said something that stuck with me all these years: "Don't just do things right. Do the right things right."

At that exact moment, I knew that Building Science was my calling. I needed to combine my advocacy for the planet with this sense of accountability for detail. I went from designing and building homes to building LEED certified homes. I went from being one who followed, to being one who taught. I knew that there was more to it all than vanity or art. There was responsibility beyond measure.

After my schooling, I became an apprentice, got engaged, took a management position and had kids. It all sounds totally normal. The difference was that every one of those steps came with the burden of climate responsibility so many before had never felt.

As an apprentice, I studied the details but learned greener ways of doing them. Later as a project manager, I was responsible for mentoring but also for instilling a sense of environmental accountability.

Having kids meant that I felt an unquenchable thirst for making the world better, but also the fear that if I failed, the Earth my children knew would not be the one I did. I was so afraid that I questioned whether having kids was still a selfless act.

I remember that on June 1, 2017 when the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords, my fear turned to guilt. I felt guilty for being a parent.

I also realized that working on existing buildings was more responsible than just designing new projects. I could make more of an impact consulting and guiding project teams to reduce emissions on existing buildings than I ever could as an architect or builder alone.

I am called to lower the impact from residential development more so than I'm called to design and build new. When I was laid off early in the pandemic, I used my time to design and patent a panelized insulated exterior wall system to upgrade existing homes. I would love to design and build for my entire career but we're in this

mess because of irresponsible choices. It would be irresponsible of me if I kept forging ahead building new, despite all that we know about climate change.

Did you know that in most suburban areas the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions is from existing buildings? The Chicago suburbs have hundreds of thousands of older homes, all consuming more energy than necessary. Many are owned by low-income families who can least afford high energy costs. Simple attic insulation and air sealing can easily reduce energy consumption by 20%. That's a great first step, and it's cheap. Last year's bipartisan infrastructure bill even provided an additional $500 million nationally to fund it.

The construction industry has the capacity and knowledge to do this now, and implementing these improvements in our area would create hundreds of good jobs where we live. We just need the federal, state and county governments to streamline getting this money to those who need it most. And in a world increasingly affected by climate change, that need applies to so many of us.

The government failed to protect us on climate change 25 years ago. We can't fail again. We all have the responsibility to do what we can for the Earth, whether as students, as parents or as professionals.

• Craig Schneider is the principal building scientist at Sustained Ability Construction in Batavia. He is an advocate for all things related to energy efficiency in suburban construction and is committed to decarbonizing our region's homes.