Christopher Wedding, PhD
Christopher Wedding, PhD

Dr. Christopher Wedding is an entrepreneur, adviser, and professor focused on investment, innovation, and strategy in clean energy, green real estate, and corporate sustainability. He has nearly 20 years of experience in private equity, startup incubation, green building innovation, solar power finance, business development, leadership training, teaching, and research. Dr. Wedding is the Co-Founder of IronOak Energy Insights, a clean energy market research platform supporting investment decisions with trend analysis, data curation, and collaboration software; a Senior Adviser at Cherokee Investment Partners, a private equity firm that has raised over $2 billion in private equity funds and, separately, founded or invested in 80 startups and venture funds; a faculty member with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Kenan-Flagler Business School; a faculty member with the Institute for Defense and Business; a faculty member Duke Corporate Education; and a faculty member with the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University; a biomimicry expert trained as a Biologist at the Design Table by Biomimicry 3.8; and one of the earliest LEED Accredited Professionals with the US Green Building Council.

The Age Old Question: Does Green Power Cost More? Of Course (Not)
16 Aug 2016 • openbook 3 minute read
Nobody likes paying more than they should. And my dad is a CPA, so this is definitely true for me, too. But this barrier is not unique to renewable electricity. The same expectation is true for most non-luxury goods and services. Yet I still hear the objections everyw …
Solar and wind energy

Solar: Efficiency is Irrelevant. Cost is King
25 Jul 2016 • openbook 3 minute read
You’ve seen many headlines touting “record new solar panel efficiency.” We get excited seeing those, too. But they don’t matter. Alright, that was shock value. Let me explain. First, take a gander at the mind-numbing chart from the US National Renewable Energ …
solaratnight

Report: REITs Improved on Sustainability Reporting, But Still a Long Way to Go
27 May 2016 • openbook 3 minute read
A recent study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School highlights the progress that 119 U.S. REITs have made between 2013 and 2015 regarding their sustainability reporting. The research also identifies areas for improvement and …
pexels-photo-29675

Strong Projections for Solar + Storage Investments: So What?
10 Feb 2016 • openbook 2 minute read
Solar + storage installations are expected to grow 50x between now and 2018, totalling $1B in value, and then rising to $8B by 2026 (Source: GTM). Drivers include falling solar costs, falling energy storage costs, corporate go-to-market partnerships, utility interest in …
solar-scott-webb

Is the Low-Carbon Economy a Business Opportunity, Moral Mandate, or Both?
13 May 2015 • openbook 2 minute read
An increasing number of corporations, financial institutions, and foundations are making headlines with bold initiatives focused on mitigating climate change via real estate and infrastructure investments. Is this just about doing the right thing? We at g-bit (green bu …
wind power

Can $2 Trillion in Clean Energy Investments Be Wrong?
28 Apr 2015 • openbook 1 minute read
How many times have you heard that green building, solar, wind, or biomass are too expensive and do not make financial sense? Many times, I’m sure. Yet recent estimates from Bloomberg and the United Nations show that over $2 trillion has been invested in clean energy …
Solar Panels

4 Ways to Pitch a Smarter Built Environment
19 Mar 2015 • openbook 2 minute read
Smarter buildings and communities start with smarter marketing and communications. Which words do you choose – smart, green, profitable, eco, resilient, healthy, clean, high tech, cool, secure, fun? Whether we like it or not, we are all in sales and this kind of messa …
istockphoto

Biomimicry: 3 Ways That Nature’s R&D Can Improve Your Bottom Line
02 Feb 2015 • openbook 3 minute read
The world’s R&D investment of $1.6 trillion per year plays a big role in advancing what we know, what we are capable of doing, and how well we do it. Along the way, we come to believe that, well, we’re pretty smart. However, our knowledge pales in comparison to …
The brilliantly colored Morpho butterfly has inspired innovative biomimetic solutions.