The One With… the Aerospace Engineer who spotted Real Estate's broken system — and built a firm to fix it

This episode is sponsored by MapMortar - the capital planning management tool that turns portfolio risk from a spreadsheet headache into a boardroom-ready capital plan in around 50% of the time and cost. Check out ⁠⁠https://mapmortar.io⁠ Basil Demeroutis founded FORE Partnership in 2012 with one conviction: sustainability and financial performance aren't in tension — the industry just built a system that treats them as if they are. Trained as an aerospace engineer at Cornell and shaped by years managing the real estate portfolio of Jeff Skoll's family office, Basil thinks in systems. And the system, he argues, is broken — not just the buildings, but the procurement, the capital allocation, and the culture that produced them.This episode goes deep on what innovation in real estate actually looks like in practice. At TBC.London, FORE tracked 2 million components from 565 suppliers. At One Poultry, they partnered with Breakthrough Energy and UKGBC to build a Commercial Retrofit Innovation Map — 160 points of intervention, 100+ products evaluated, 16 adopted — to stop good ideas dying at RIBA Stage 3. And at CADWorks Glasgow, switching to all-electric mid-build didn't cost more. It saved £200,000.Key timestamps[00:04:00] - From Cornell aerospace engineering to Jeff Skoll's family office to founding FORE[00:09:00] - What surprised Basil most when moving from advisor to principal investor[00:12:00] - TBC.London: 2 million components, 565 suppliers — the supply chain reality of a single retrofit[00:17:00] - "No one's ever asked me that" — the leadership failure slowing real estate innovation[00:19:30] - Introducing the Innovation Map: 160 points of intervention[00:21:30] - How the FORE, Breakthrough Energy and UKGBC partnership at One Poultry came about[00:25:00] - Bacteria-fired tiles from a North Carolina cave — backing early-stage material science[00:32:00] - The 3% problem: climate VC targeting 38% of global emissions[00:37:30] - How going all-electric mid-build saved £200,000 at CADWorks Glasgow[00:34:00] - Innovation for innovation's sake is just theatre[00:44:30] - What problem Basil is trying to solve right now[00:46:00] - Policy asks: VAT harmonisation for retrofit and the case for carbon pricingOrganisations mentioned:FORE Partnership, MORE, Breakthrough Energy, UKGBC, Capricorn Investment Group, Skoll Foundation, 2150, MapMortar, Q Flow, KKR, Sage Group, Stiff + Trevillion Architects, McKinsey, GallupWhat you'll learn aboutRetrofit-first investment strategy, Commercial Retrofit Innovation Map, procurement and innovation adoption, supply chain complexity in deep retrofit, climate capital misallocation, the green premium myth, VAT and carbon pricing policyThe Future We Build is a podcast exploring sustainability, innovation and systemic change in the built environment, hosted by Alex Edds.New episodes released weekly.Filmed at Podcast RoomsProduced by Atalor.Follow the showLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-future-we-buildApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-future-we-build/id1877617346Connect with AlexLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexeddsMore about our guestsConnect with Basil Demeroutis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/basil-demeroutisFORE Partnership: https://www.forepartnership.com