TALK    [MERL Seminar Series 2022] William M. Sisson presents talk titled Sustainability, Innovation and Technology

Date & Time:

Tuesday, December 20, 2022; 1:00 PM

Abstract:

Sustainability today encompasses three interconnected imperatives that all businesses must face and help to address: the increasing impact of climate change, the degradation of natural systems, and the growth of inequality. Business leaders today are increasingly understanding, particularly with the engagement of capital markets, that investors, consumers, and other business stakeholders are setting expectations on how companies are responding to these challenges and preparing for their business impact. More and more companies have shifted from sustainability as a single function in the company to one the is integrated across the firm. This translates directly into how companies are rethinking their product design and innovation efforts for sustainability and the technologies they will require. Some product categories, like heating and air conditioning systems for buildings, are both a part of the problem as well as potentially offering real solutions.

Speaker:

William M. Sisson
WBCSD North America

William (Bill) Sisson is presently the executive director for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) North America, a nonprofit based in New York City, operating as an international office of WBCSD in Geneva. He oversees WBCSD’s regional strategy, relations and growth efforts, sustainability focused member projects and strategic engagements. Bill also supports WBCSD’s work on the Built Environment, working closely with the Geneva based project team. Prior to his role with WBCSD, Bill gained over 30 years of private sector experience with the multi-national conglomerate United Technologies Corporation (UTC), where he capped his career as Senior Executive Director for Sustainability reporting to UTC’s Chief Technology Officer. While at UTC, his responsibilities included directing Carrier’s long-range HVAC research as well as managing Carrier’s Commercial Controls division. Bill is the former Chair and continues on the Board of the Global Building Performance Network (GBPN). Bill was a member of the Technical Review Committee of the Global Cooling Prize, administered by Rocky Mountain Institute, and of the expert group for Aspen Global Change Institute’s research on Industry Decarbonization. He holds advanced degrees from Virginia Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Business, where he is a Sloan Fellow alumnus.

MERL Host:

Scott A. Bortoff