Why Commercial Real Estate Can't Execute Its Net Zero Plans (And How to Fix It)
The Future We Build, A Brave Ideas network affiliated show featuring Alex Edds
In this episode of The Future We Build, host Alex Edds sits down with Pål Hauff Hvattum, CEO of CQuel to discuss why 70% of retrofits are simpler that most people think.
The Future We Build - Season 1, Episode 5
Commercial real estate has no shortage of decarbonisation plans. What it lacks is the infrastructure to execute them.
Pål Hauff Hvattum, CEO of CQuel, knows this from the inside out — and he's spent the last two years building the solution.
Spun out of Hines Global Ventures with Aroundtown as a second shareholder, CQuel is a tech-enabled implementation platform for commercial real estate retrofits.
Not another dashboard.
Not another consultant.
A marketplace that connects vetted retrofit suppliers with asset managers who have a decarbonisation plan sitting in a drawer and no clear path to execution.
Pål brings an unusual perspective: fifteen years building online marketplaces across Europe (including Gumtree), followed by a stint scaling a solar energy marketplace across Europe.
Key Timestamps
[00:01:35] — Why This Podcast — Incubating Ideas in Real Estate
[00:02:27] — From Marketplaces to Missions — Pål's Origin Story
[00:05:02] — The Hines Phone Call — How CQuel Was Born
[00:07:49] — Sandbox First: Testing Inside the Portfolio
[00:10:21] — Who Is the Customer and What's the Value Proposition?
[00:11:15] — The 70% Opportunity — Why Light Retrofits Are the Real Play
[00:13:58] — The Three Broken Options: Consultant, In-House, SaaS
[00:14:46] — The Implementation Platform — How CQuel Works
[00:16:08] — The Brief Builder — Why a Better Brief Gets 40% Better Prices
[00:16:53] — A Two-Sided Marketplace — 16-Step Supplier Vetting
[00:24:28] — Two Corporate Parents: Hines Ventures + Aroundtown
[00:28:48] — The Numbers: 80% Time Reduction, 8% Cost Pressure
[00:29:35] — 83 Bids, Five Megawatts, One Procurement Nightmare
[00:31:13] — 200 Hours to 30 — How AI is Tackling Q&A in Tenders
[00:38:09] — The Rate of Retrofit Needs to Triple
[00:39:06] — Why Nobody Wants Another Dashboard
[00:40:55] — What Problem Needs Solving?
[00:41:12] — What Government Must Do ?
Organisations Mentioned
• Hines Global Ventures
• Aroundtown
• CQuel
• Otovo (solar marketplace)
• Schibsted / Gumtree / eBay
• Mac49 (venture builder)
What You'll Learn About
Why the decarbonisation problem is implementation, not planning
How marketplace dynamics apply to commercial real estate retrofit
The three broken models: consultant, in-house team, point SaaS solutions
What a good tender brief is actually worth (hint: up to 40% better pricing)
How AI is cutting procurement time from 200 hours to 30 hours
Why 70% of retrofits are simpler — and more scalable — than the industry thinks
What corporate venture building looks like when it works
Why regulatory clarity matters more than regulatory perfection
Why the retrofit rate needs to triple — and what that demands of the supply chain
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