Transcript

Kevin Kennon CEO, Beyond Zero DDC Inc | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby

From Coffeez for Closers with Joe Shalaby · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 46 min · 6,200 words · 81 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Kevin Kennon CEO, Beyond Zero DDC Inc | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby", an episode of Coffeez for Closers with Joe Shalaby published February 14, 2026 (46 min, about 6,200 words). It mentions 6 people, works and ideas, including Beyond Zero, Kevin Kennan, World Trade Center, LEED, MoMA.

What this episode is about

Kevin Kennon, CEO of Beyond Zero DDC Inc, leads an innovative architecture firm focused on creating carbon-negative buildings to combat climate change, addressing the significant role the built environment plays in global greenhouse gas emissions. With a background in global architecture and sustainable design, Kennon leverages his expertise to transform the architectural landscape, turning environmental challenges into opportunities for groundbreaking design and sustainable practices.

Key takeaways

  • 40% of global emissions come from buildings—architects aren't just designing; they're tackling a climate crisis!
  • Thinking of architecture? Forget just aesthetics; it’s a battlefront in the war against greenhouse gases.
  • Robots in construction? Welcome to Lego buildings, where efficiency and innovation blend seamlessly!
  • Growing up amidst cliffside homes sparked Kevin's passion—talk about building character in architecture!
  • Beyond Zero isn’t just a name; it's a mission—because in the race against climate change, mediocrity isn’t an option.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: Beyond Zero, MoMA, Kevin Kennan, Venice Biennale
  2. – 20:00: World Trade Center
  3. – 25:00: Beyond Zero
  4. – 30:00: Beyond Zero, LEED
  5. – 40:00: Beyond Zero
  6. – 45:00: Beyond Zero
  7. – 45:58: Kevin Kennan

Notable quotes from "Kevin Kennon CEO, Beyond Zero DDC Inc | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby"

  • And he's known for pushing boundaries from iconic skyscrapers to breakthrough tech platforms. At Beyond Zero, Kevin is pioneering the future of carbon negative buildings.…
    about Kevin Kennan · at
  • Recently. Beyond Zero is actually a real estate development company and we specialize in wilderness hotels and resorts. and when you build anything in extreme environments,.
    about Beyond Zero · at
  • Skyscrapers, etc. but the one project that completely changed my life was a right after 9/11. we lived I you know we still do actually you know a few blocks from ground zero…
    about World Trade Center · at
  • Of what we call greenwashing, where or or kind of bean counting where you're there something called LEAD and it's a organization that essentially assigns points for if you do…
    about LEED · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Kevin Kennan — Person · Main guest · 2 mentions · first at
    Primary interview subject; discusses his architecture career and his company Beyond Zero, focusing on decarbonization/carbon-negative building approaches, robotics/prefab construction, and conservation-first development in wilderness environments.

Companies & orgs

  • Beyond Zero — Company · Business focus · 8 mentions · first at
    Kevin Kennan's company specializing in carbon negative buildings and wilderness hotels.

Concepts & topics

  • LEED — Concept · Framework · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a certification system in architecture, criticized for being insufficient.

Places & events

  • World Trade Center — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at
    Mentioned in the context of Kevin Kennan's project post-9/11.
  • MoMA — Place · Exhibition venue · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as a place where Kevin Kennan's work has been exhibited.
    Sustainable design. Kevin brings a rare blend of vision and execution to every project he leads. His work has been exhibited at MoMA and the Venice Bennol.
  • Venice Biennale — Event · Exhibition venue · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a place where Kevin Kennan's work has been exhibited.
    Sustainable design. Kevin brings a rare blend of vision and execution to every project he leads. His work has been exhibited at MoMA and the Venice Bennol.

Full transcript with timestamps

Thank you. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Everything. What's up everybody? Welcome to another episode of Coffees for Closers. Today we have an absolutely very special guest. His name is Kevin Kennan. He's the founder and CEO of Beyond Zero. Beyond Zero is an awardwinning architecture firm that is revolutionizing decarbonizing a built environment. What does that mean now? Within a he has a legacy that spans over global architecture, innovation strategy, and sustainable design. Kevin brings a rare blend of vision and execution to every project he leads. His work has been exhibited at MoMA and the Venice Bennol.

And he's known for pushing boundaries from iconic skyscrapers to breakthrough tech platforms. At Beyond Zero, Kevin is pioneering the future of carbon negative buildings. That's right, guys. Carbon negative buildings. Combining both deep architectural expertise and cuttingedge science, he's transforming the climate crisis into a design challenge. His story is one of creativity, conviction, and commitment to a better built world. Please welcome the one, the only Kevin Kenn.

Thank you, Joe. Kevin, thanks. Thanks for coming in. so humble, so meek, but doing things to literally revolutionize the world. If you can, and I I didn't do a good enough job describing what you do because, you know, it is truly, you know, beyond innovative, but please explain to the audience what is carbon negative mean in building and um what do you do at, you know, just give us a 10,000 foot overview.

Sure. Um well I think a lot of people might be surprised that over 40% of global greenhouse gases that those emissions come from the built environment. Um some from buildings and cities. Um and so uh many of us who are in the building industry uh you know have uh developed a sense of responsibility about that. Um, and that goes beyond just making sure that we build uh buildings that uh do do their best to minimize those uh greenhouse emissions, but also uh to build safely, to build uh lean and efficiently. Uh and so there's there's just basically a whole movement out there of um determined individuals who are changing the landscape of how we build. Uh it's exciting thing to be a part of.

Beautiful. Now you know you've been such a legend in architecture in general. What really drew you to architecture in the first place? What was it that really was the catalyst for you?

Uh well my father was an architect so I I guess I grew up in that environment and he was a great guy. very u and also ahead of his time in terms of uh designing um buildings that were environmentally responsive. Um, and so I guess I have that in me. And um, uh, and uh, you know, I grew up uh, in just south of Los Angeles. And I I think one of the first things that I loved about being, uh, in that environment was, uh, th those crazy houses that were always built on the side of cliffs. They looked like they were barely uh, being supported. And I thought those things were so cool. So, um there's something about living on the edge, I guess, that that drew me to to uh explore architecture and it's just continued to be a very uh fulfilling career ever since.

Now, uh when did you start Beyond Zero? Uh recently. Uh Beyond Zero is actually a real estate development company and we specialize in wilderness hotels and resorts. Um uh and and when you you build anything in extreme environments, uh you the you have to build with nature. You can't just come in there and bulldoze things because conservation is a big part of what we do.

I see. Um so as an you you're still you still have your t your normal architecture firm that does the big

That's right. I have Yeah. Have a separate firm. I wear I wear lots of hats. So that's part of my my daily existence. Um yeah, so I have a separate firm that just does architecture and I have another firm that just does real estate development which is beyond zero. Now what do you think the future looks like with with you know with the strate you're your building strategy now to decarbonize current builds? What does that future look like? what motivated you to and create, you know, a healthier building?

Well, yeah. So, first of all, what's what's really exciting is um there are so many incredible uh um techoriented green green technology oriented uh startups and companies out there. They're doing incredible things. So, you know, the the the in a way the the you know, the the horses left the barn. Um the genie's out of the bottle. You know, people are doing this and um and I spend a great deal of my time connecting with all of these innovative um types of of companies and some of them you really should get on your show because they're doing incredible things. Um and and that so our world is changing and and it's going to change rapidly. I think uh especially with with AI already, but certainly with robotics in terms of how we build and and how we build in extreme environments.

You mentioned something and that's obviously a very hot topic. Will robotics completely change the way you're building right now? And when do you think robotics will be implemented in decarbonization building strategies? I

it already is. I mean, uh, so robots aren't just simply, um, you know, the the, uh, the little little animated men. Um, you know, they they're everywhere. They're already in all of our machinery and manufacturing. And so, with the trend that we're going to see more and more is that buildings are going to be built almost like Legos. um they'll the they're individual pieces that are manufactured in controlled environments in factories and they're standardized and then shipped to the site and assembled. Um some of them, you know, entire components like if you're doing hotels, you might have an entire room that's actually shipped on the on a flatbed and then kind of plugged in uh to those environments. And so um so that's that's that's already happening and it's only going to continue to accelerate uh because uh the cost to build is still prohibitively high and and you know that's something that all

of us are concerned about. So you know in residential housing that's considered manufactured housing.

Uh yes I mean that people call it manufactured housing. I I I'm simply saying that the um less in terms of pre-fabricated homes and think more in terms of uh standardized components of buildings that are uh you know built offsite and then delivered to the site and installed. And so the less time that you have on site itself, that's where a lot of the expense comes in. That's where a lot of the headaches come in. Um also it's a safety issue as well. You want to we want to design safely. Um so that that type of um production is uh going to change uh and and I think rapidly change what we do.

You know there's so many theories about mitigating the cost to build. One of them and I saw this and I don't know how viable it is. 3D printing buildings soon or 3D printing houses. They're talking about that that as an option and it's been done but

I don't know what kind of standards they they are. Uh you know people are looking for so many solutions to solve the housing crisis because cost of building is astronomical. Labor wages have also like tripled and uh you know imports are just getting more expensive. Lumber is just through the roof. I mean, every f everything just tripled and uh there's just not enough houses for people.

Yeah. Does what you do solve for the housing dilemma or it's just purely uh you know, a commercial endeavor? Um, you know, specifically we're we're um trying to push the envelope on how you build in extreme environments. I mean, wilderness environments. You're talking about um uh you know, edges of of cliffs and um rocky beaches and, you know, in far-flung places all over the world. Um but the the way in which we do it um has a lot of real world applications to helping solve uh what is a huge problem which is housing and the affordability of housing. Um, so I anything that we can do um to start to to revisit, you know, how we make things and how we can do things more efficiently um and safely. I I think all of that goes into ultimately how we're actually going to solve a problem of, you know, how do we take care of of ourselves?

Now, if you were to look back at all the projects that you've done, you know, is there one project or or a moment that you that that truly put you on the map where you're at now? Something something that really catapulted you to this level of notoriety that you have now in this space?

Yeah. I Well, again, I've been fortunate to design, you know, very complex buildings all over the world, you know, skyscrapers, etc. Uh but the one project that completely changed my life was um uh a right after 9/11. Uh we lived I you know we still do actually you know a few blocks from ground zero the World Trade Center. Um and within about a week my wife and I decided we would go down and take a look at the site. And what we saw was just complete bedum, you know, people climbing fences and guys hawking uh World Trade Center souvenirs. And you know, I just thought there there had to be a better way, a more dignified way.

So I I developed the design and pitched it to the mayor and they they thought it was great. And um they said with one condition, you got to find the money to build it. And so we did and um we we built a temporary viewing platform at ground zero. Um you know I kind of conjolled a a local scaffolding company to to sort of put it together at cost and um it was all made of you know plywood and and you know prosaic New York City scaffolding components. Um, and it was it was an amazing uh experience and you know, one of the most fulfilling things I've done and more than likely will ever do.

Wow. So that so that was one of the original viewing sites of Ground Zero, huh?

Yeah. Before they built the buildings there. Yeah. And it was uh actually a deputy mayor had the idea of like where to locate it, which was really terrific. It was right next to St. Paul's Chapel, which is a corner of the World Trade Center complex that was remarkably unscathed. Um, and behind it was a a cemeter cemetery with about 300 foot tall sycamore trees uh there. And uh we we located adjacent to that. And so it was an elevated um uh platform. So you kind of ascended up to the about 25 ft up in the air and you couldn't hear a thing. It was it was incredibly and almost eerily silent. You could just look over and see the devastation and um at the same time you heard the kind of rustling of the trees adjacent to you.

So it was very profound thing to do and it was uh remarkable I think uh terms of having that emotional impact and being able to understand the power of of humility and humanity. So in the face of horror,

what a remarkable experience. And that really transcends way beyond your architecture fulfillment. Right.

The irony is I'm doing exactly the same thing. And in terms of how we're building these um hotels, it's it's very similar in terms of, you know, how it's put together and and we're using a lot of wood uh mass timber and cross laminated timber to to build these. Um, so, uh, it's, uh, it, you know, everything I found in my life, everything I' I've done, I've to some degree I've already done and just kind of redo it over again and and it changes in and different environments. It's like it's an amazing uh, an incredibly fulfilling um, enterprise.

Now, I have to ask, uh, you know, you're in one of the most competitive industries. It's a very brutal industry.

Yeah. Uh, pretty cutthroat. Now, being in an industry that's so hyper competitive and only a there's only a few renowned architects and there's so many people trying to be a brand in architecture,

right? What's a myth or what's something they don't tell you about the climb in that industry?

About the client? The client. The client. If you don't have a healthy relationship with your client, you're not going to get anything done and you're not going to succeed. So, um, you you have to be able to, um, you know, the way I like to talk about it is that, you know, I I feel like what I I'm able to do is tell a client's story um, in terms of building and and sometimes that is uh means a lot of listening, which architects don't do very Well, frankly, and um and at the same time, a lot of recalibrating. You you know, you have to be able to sometimes uh tell your client that that that particular idea, you know, if we really pursued it, it may not work. But you have to do it in a way that's, you know, generally a part of a a great conversation. And and ideally, it's a great experience for everybody. uh and it's typ diff difficult to do. It's a it's a perilous journey for a lot of people. There's a lot of money at stake

and it's extremely risky at the beginning. You're starting with nothing. Um and you hope you're going to be able to get to, you know, someplace where everybody's satisfied, but if you don't pay attention um and and bring the client into the process, you know, you're making a big mistake. Now, how did you rise to that level of notoriety in your space? Like what was it that you know allowed you to to rise to you know above everybody else? Well, one of the things and and this is another myth. Um, you know, if people a lot of people get their ideas about architects from, uh, reading The Fountain Head, um, or seeing movies like The Brutalist. Um, but and and typically the image of the architect is a kind of loner who who doesn't listen to people and goes off and does their thing and it's their way or the highway. But in reality, architecture is a very social activity. It is you collaborate uh a lot with and you put together team

of experts. You know, I I I work with the best engineers in the world, uh other architects, you know, interior architects, landscape architects. Um and that's really what we do. Uh, and I guess I'm I think I'm particularly good at working well with others and and and guiding them and leading them. And you know, I like to say I'm a conductor of a symphony of experts.

I was just going to use that same exact analogy. I was like going to say you're you're a conductor

in a symphony then, you know, and that and that's really how the architects shine is how well can they get everybody to collaborate.

That's right. That's right. Create a masterpiece. Yeah. Didn't look at it like that, but you know, this is why I love this show. I always learn a lot.

Um, now let's talk about your pivot to beyond zero because you know that's obviously your focus now. That's where your passion lies and

yeah, frankly that's kind of like the hottest thing in building right now anyways is building

you know the way you're doing it now. What was the turning point that made you say you know I got to do this business?

Well, yeah. I I think the pandemic was a big part of it. um you know when you you get you're under lockdown and in New York we got hit pretty bad with that and you're you're you're still working you know remotely but you know you have a little bit more time just to think um and I kept going back to my my youth you know I I grew up in Palisuries and just south of LA and we lived right on the ocean on you know kind of a cliff uh and um I think you you know the thing about living on on in California uh in particular you know you're always faced with the power of nature if you live on that sort of edge there you know either it's floods or fire or landslides or you know what have you you know you're you're dealing with um some pretty uh significant forces of nature and I grew up uh in that millia and I I I spent a lot of time outdoors and hiking and surfing and skiing and um going all over uh California, which

itself is just incredible. Um and I'm very fortunate to have done that. Um so I guess it just kind of came back. I started thinking more and more about that and um then I I then I was asked by um a uh major uh country in Middle East uh to evaluate a hotel in an area that was not dissimilar to Monument Valley um in the US and they they wanted to put a a 500 room hotel on the top of a beautiful mesa with nothing else around it, just incredible landscape. And um I masked it out for them and did a feasibility study and then I told them they were crazy. Um they didn't like that idea, but I did I did think it was an actually really interesting uh thing to pursue, but on a much smaller scale that would be more appropriate for uh the beauty of the site.

Now let me ask you there's a there's a lot of misconceptions about this decarbonization movement in architecture now.

What do you think the biggest misconception is with decarbonization in architecture right now? You know, I think there's there's a lot of what we call greenwashing, you know, um where um or or or or kind of bean counting where you're um there something called LEAD um and it's a organization that essentially assigns points for if you do X, Y, and Z, you get so many points and we add up all those points, you either get a lead silver or gold or platinum. Um, and and I I don't think that's that's really enough. I mean, I think people should really look at everything they do in terms of the specificity of that site and what its impact is going to be. Not just in terms of can I, you know, lower my greenhouse emissions, but also what am I doing with the local community? How are you giving back to it? How am I impacting the the land itself? And uh am I conserving I'm like, you know, what what what are

so taking a sort of longer view about the impact of what we do? Um and you know and and then in imbuing that sense of responsibility on everyone and uh and I found in my career when you know everybody has a stake

in uh the enterprise of of putting something together and um developing pride in what they do, you just get a better outcome. I I I really want everyone to feel like they built the building, not me. But you know, so

I love that. Now, you know what? Um, we're hearing we're hearing so much right now about sustainable buildings and eco designs,

but Beyond Zero takes it further than that. How are you actually making buildings carbon negative?

Well, we start with with um I would say we'd start from a conservation first, you know, sort of nature first approach. So uh uh we right now um and all the different hats that I have to put on, you know, one of them is evaluating land. Most of the land we're looking at are is are ranches in the um southwest. Um we're talking about 1,500 acres plus. Uh so they're you know big sites and we the we try to uh create as small a footprint uh of the building as possible. So letting the rest of the site just be uh conserved the way it is.

Um so that's I think that's a big part of the approach. And then in terms of how we build, we want to make sure we build with renewable um uh materials um and um that we do as little as we can to disturb the conditions of our environment. It's not easy. It's not easy. I I you know, I'm not here to proclaim that we're, you know, we we're going to be masters of of everything we do, but at least going into it, that's our proposition. Gotcha. Now, and you're foreseeing like this is this process is going to get much easier with AI, robotics.

Absolutely. Also with uh I mean just you know you the the the current uh political party is also trying to really expand on building guidelines.

Yeah. you know, the uh mitigating a lot of the red tape that you're dealing with in construction, right?

Solve for oh my gosh, the endless issues uh that the red tape is causing, you know, the the added bureaucracy has made it a nightmare to build.

Yeah. Driving costs up. Yeah. How have you been dealing with that in your industry now? And uh what are your hopes for the future under uh the current political party? Well, you know, as a real estate developer, you you you take on a lot of risk and you and risk is inherent in time, you know, so the more time that it takes to do anything um you know, the riskier it gets. And the unfortunate part is that what we call the entitlement process and other people call it regulatory. Um but that entitlement process uh is and managing that is probably one of the hairiest things that you have to do because it's it so much of it is unknown you know um there there's there's strategies for how to do that and fortunately I've been involved in a lot of projects that that people have done that very well um but you know it's it's investment in um in that process. So, anything that we can do and I I you know

I I've been hearing a lot of this from you know both sides of the the the aisle so to speak um that that uh that that regulatory part of it um which was you know I think it was originally paved in good intentions but um has really unfortunately become um an impediment to building anything uh that that has got to change.

Yeah. I mean, all legislation and uh you know, all all these regulators are all paid with good intentions.

Yeah. But they're just government workers that have no idea of what the heck you do.

Yeah. And they add red tape without the proper research and then they make your job a nightmare. Yeah.

And then they now we have to get new political influence just to to reverse what they just did.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Uh yeah. No, I mean, uh, New York is has notorious for that as well. Um, it's gotten better. I mean, there there's there's bit, excuse me, some streamlining, uh, but, you know, you're still dealing with human beings. Um, and and bureaucracy and, uh, you know, that just, uh, that's where a lot of that red tape can, uh, kind of fall out. So you know I ideally uh we start to understand that there um and and this is where I think architects can play a huge role you know because you know we we have the training uh a lot of training and and we're have a lot of the liability on on uh these projects. we should be able to self-certify that we're in compliance with the code and um and and not have to go through um panels of architecture review boards and um you know it's which I I find a lot of it just kind of pointless um and a huge waste of time and money and resources but yeah I think

that if you were you were able to basically come in and say, you know, here I am. I'm licensed here. I can I I do this. I follow the the rules and regulations and I certify that we're compliant. Uh we would save a lot of time.

Now, what do you think are the real blockers for you right now with scaling and and being able to, you know, kind of grow this negative carbon architecture platform? Well, you know, we we certainly, you know, we're losing um some incentives that were there before, but I again, I don't see that as a huge impediment to what we're doing because we're really partnering with innovative companies uh to do that. So, we're just driven mainly by tech, frankly, and you know, and and accessing tech and and using uh we you know, these are these are luxury uh resorts and they're sort of all built around regeneration and wellness. Um they're they're really about, you know, people coming to our our um one of our hotels and re, you know, regenerating um resetting uh in an an incredible environment of of pristine beauty. I mean, that's really what we're trying to uh achieve. Um, and and you know, how how you get there, um, I think is is

really is is all part of, um, it's all part of what we do. Um, and I don't know, it it it seems to me that that once you start to focus on that, um, everything else sort of falls in place. And so the you know what what had been um looking at oh well you know we we're kind of an environment where um there might be some of the incentives the economic incentives that were there before for you know say installing solar and um or in geothermal which is something we're very interested in. um it it kind of goes by the wayside because people are already doing it and there's terrific companies out there that have invested in it and they're not going to stop.

Now, what do you think you're most excited about right now about the intersection of design, tech, and climate? Like what excites you most about this huge intersection? the fact that that it's becoming just part of and and not to overuse this term, but you know, part of our whole ecosystem. It's it's uh it's embedded into what we do. I I think the I think what's interesting for me and I use AI a lot in what I do. Um and I I find it to be very liberating. Uh and now I have the benefit of almost 40 years of experience where I understand is is producing BS uh and I can interrogate it and get it, you know, back on track. But I I think more and more people are going to start to use it and in that way it's going to be extremely liberating for what we're able to do. Um, and I think it's going to create efficiencies uh that we're only now just beginning to to realize um in inefficiencies and a lot of innovation. See, that's that's

the part of the story that people miss. You know, the the negative side is, oh, we're going to lose out all our jobs, etc. No, we're going to create a lot of new jobs and new, you know, markets and and new types of companies that, you know, we we can't even begin to imagine right now. So, I'm very so far, you know, with, you know, certainly guard rails put into AI, but I'm very pro AI.

Yeah. I mean, what you what you described is basically everyone's hesitation, but the reality is, you know, markets will find a way. Yeah. We're going to continue to expand and use these tools to benefit mankind,

right? And uh it is kind it's exciting to see all these changes happen so rapidly and how fast our society is going to progress.

Yeah. Especially with, you know, with the big concerns with like global warming and all the issues and environmental issues and all these things that now we're solving for on the developmental on the real estate developmental side that never were factored in ever.

Yeah. Ever. Right. And that's the thing you can it's so easy to do. You can keep inputting more and more parameters and it just gets better. uh you know and and for me as somebody who's always uh been acutely aware of the practical side of what we do you know making sure that we can design really cutting edge architecture but get it built you know realize it um and and and that in order to do that you have to be able to to to think about every aspect of that design all the way through construction realization all the way to, you know, when the first guest opens the door. Um, and then, uh, you know, writes a great review and more people come and, uh, then it's it's, uh, it's a living, um, uh environment.

Now, a couple last questions I have for you. Uh, this one's about, you know, your legacy. What legacy do you want to leave behind? with with your company Beyond Zero, not just as a designer, but as the actual founder.

Uh well, I you know, I guess a lot I get, you know, a lot of people I think and certainly some architects I know go into uh architecture because, oh, I'm going to build something. it's going to be there forever and you know it's it's that's that's going to be my uh my legacy. I I don't think of architecture that way. um uh you know my legacy I hope is that is uh somebody who's more interested in humanity um and making uh the world just a little bit better than when I left it. I think uh if that's if that's what people remember me by that's for me that's would be extremely satisfying.

Now, what's a personal goal that you have for yourself, a business goal that you have for your business, and a family goal you have for your family?

Well, I'm going to reverse that. I I you know, I'm a dad first, so I my I have two great kids, and they're both in college right now and um so I'm very excited for their next chapter in their life. Um

any What's that? any third generation architects? Uh, I don't think so. I don't think so. We'll see. You know, you know, they they're they pro they kind of strike me as being more academics. Um, but, uh, we'll see. You never know. Um, and if they do, that's great. You know, it's not anything that I I uh um necessarily um, you know, proitize. Uh, But uh and and in terms of my you know business goals right now, you know, I I really am excited about this journey that I'm on. Um when I talk to my investors, I talk to the talk and you know, real estate is is a different kind of investment. Uh because it's it's you're investing typically for the long term. It's not like buying stocks. Um and so you know I always tell people who are investing with us that you you know it if for real estate you have to imagine yourself living there or staying there or going to work there. Um if you can't do that just walk away. You know

if you can't project you know that it's something you want to do. And for Beyond Zero you know we're really looking for our our future guests. you know, people who really would want that kind of experience, want to be in the wilderness, who love nature, um, and love nature when it's great and you want to be outdoors, but also love it when, you know, you want to hunker down and and, uh, sit by a fire and talk to your friends. And so, um, you know, so that's, uh, that is for me the the goal of of the business. I I didn't I didn't I'm not really doing it to make money.

I'm really doing it um because I I think that type of experience is something that I would want very much in my life. And I I think there are other people out there who share that that sense of adventure and um you know want to dream big. And your personal goal?

And my my personal goal is is every day, you know, to hopefully make someone in my I very much day-to-day thing. And uh every day I woke up and I I said I, you know, I hope I make somebody I encounter in my daily going about their lives a little bit better. That's it. You know,

that's what it's about. My last question for you, you're doing so much in terms of really creating your business to be of service to mankind and there's a lot of honor in that. And uh I am a deep belief that you know you do God's work. He always does your work. And I really feel like what you're doing with with with with your passion project, not having to probably even work at this stage in your life, but being so concerned about the future, it's going to have such prolific impact for generations. With that said, when you're in front of the ply gates, what do you think God's going to tell you?

Well, I hope it's God first of all and um yeah, I I you know, I hope that uh he looks at the the you know, nobody's perfect. I I would be the first to admit it, but you know, he looks at at the or she, you know, looks at the you know, my overall life and and says, you know, you did okay.

Kevin, you've been a blessing to have on the show. So, I hope you have every single one of your goals. Keep crushing. I want you to build so many skyscrapers in the future and help so many people just get out of this crazy carbon buildings that we have now.

Yeah. If people want to connect with you, how can they find you? Uh, well, the easiest way is you Google me. There's only one. Uh, Kevin Kennan. Uh, ke v I n ke n o n. Um, and from there, you know, it's you can find me all over the place. The other easy place to get me is on LinkedIn. So

Kevin, it's been a pleasure. We'll drop some stuff here in the notes. God bless. Keep doing what you're doing. It's been an absolute blessing to have you on the show.

Uh Joe, it's an honor. I really appreciate uh your patience and um and just terrific uh um um questions and you're you're a great host and I love the show. So, it's great to be here.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Kevin. All right, buddy. Thanks for tuning in, guys.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Kevin Kennon CEO, Beyond Zero DDC Inc | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby"?

Joe Shalaby (Host), Kevin Kennon (Guest).

What is "Kevin Kennon CEO, Beyond Zero DDC Inc | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby" about?

Kevin Kennon, CEO of Beyond Zero DDC Inc, leads an innovative architecture firm focused on creating carbon-negative buildings to combat climate change, addressing the significant role the built environment plays in global greenhouse gas emissions. With a background in global architecture and sustainable design, Kennon leverages his expertise to transform the architectural landscape, turning…

What is mentioned in this Coffeez for Closers with Joe Shalaby episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Beyond Zero, Kevin Kennan, World Trade Center, LEED, MoMA, Venice Biennale. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Kevin Kennon CEO, Beyond Zero DDC Inc | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby"?

The episode runs 46 min; the transcript is about 6,200 words in 81 timestamped sections.

More from Coffeez for Closers with Joe Shalaby

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated February 14, 2026.