If Your Consultant Doesn’t Ask What Keeps You Up at Night, You’ve Hired the Wrong One
- Octavian Vasilovici
- May 27
- 2 min read
Let’s be honest: when most energy and carbon consultants walk through the door, the conversation starts with data. Energy models. Emissions targets. Spreadsheets.
But buildings don’t make decisions. People do. And people don’t make decisions from spreadsheets alone.
At OptiBuild Consulting Engineers, we’ve seen what actually builds trust with owners — because we’ve been on your side of the table. Before we were consultants, we were building owner reps. We’ve felt the pressure of aging systems, capital constraints, and tenants who expect more every year.
And that’s why we approach consulting differently. We don’t start with the utility bill. We start with the human behind the asset.
Trust Starts With Understanding the Owner
Too often, sustainability efforts are framed like a compliance exercise: Here’s your baseline. Here’s the model. Here’s what you “should” do.
But what about what you need? What you fear? What’s keeping you up at night?
Most owners aren’t just chasing carbon targets. They want:
Peace of mind
Lower insurance risk
Fewer system failures - Tenants who stay longer and complain less
Smart upgrades that hold their value when it’s time to sell, refinance, or report to investors
They want a building they can be proud of — without second-guessing every dollar spent. That’s not emotional fluff. That’s the real business case.
How We Start the Conversation
Before we talk kilowatt-hours or carbon coefficients, we talk about you. We ask questions that rarely show up in technical RFPs:
“What keeps you up at night about this building?”
“What are you most proud of when you walk the site?”
“If we could fix one thing this year, what would it be?”
“What kind of partner are you looking for — not just now, but long-term?”
These questions aren’t just icebreakers. They’re how we map the emotional drivers behind your technical decisions. And that’s the foundation of trust.
Only once we’ve earned that do we start crafting solutions.
Listening First. Diagnosing Second.
Energy and carbon consulting should never feel like being sold to. It should feel like being understood.
That means:
Taking the time to understand the full lifecycle of your asset
Being honest about what’s worth doing — and what isn’t
Giving you clarity, not just data
Acting like we’re investing in your building alongside you
Empathy isn’t soft. It’s how you deliver hard results in complex environments.
The OptiBuild Way
We don’t sell equipment. We don’t just write reports.
We advocate for owners — with a focus on long-term asset value, carbon performance, and clarity in decision-making.
We know what it’s like to stand in your shoes and weigh a six-figure capital ask. We know how it feels to be accountable for the outcome — not just the analysis. And we’ve built our approach around that experience.
If you’re looking for a partner who starts by listening — not selling — let’s talk. We’ll help you turn uncertainty into strategy, and sustainability into real-world results.
