One of the missing pieces to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 is grid-scale energy storage, which is precisely what we are tackling in our partnership with Energy Vault.

As CNN reports, tall buildings are SOM’s specialty, which creates “an opportunity to take this expertise … and use it for energy storage, enabling us to wean ourselves [off] fossil fuels,” said Bill Baker, SOM consulting partner and structural engineer of the Burj Khalifa.

Our design stores renewable energy, such as excess solar energy, and converts it into electricity when demand is high. Unlike a traditional battery, this gravity energy storage system is designed as a building that could last for many decades without risk of fire or need for offsite storage.