for them to help each other . To illustrate the effectiveness of this , Vargas and her team started the Better Buildings SWAP , which sees two organizations swapping places , learning , and collaborating on ideas .

“ While we established the importance of sharing information , we were trying to think about how we could prove it in a way that was fun and engaging ,” explains Vargas . “ Energy efficiency by itself is typically not the most exciting of topics , and yet the reality is there ’ s a lot of really cool stuff going on . We realized that even if companies were willing to share information , they probably thought they could only share within their own sector . A hospital can only learn from other hospitals , a grocery store can only learn from another grocery store – that ’ s not true .

“ We wanted a way to demonstrate in a fun , interactive way that learning can happen across the market , and eventually we came up with this notion of a swap .”

The first series of the Better Buildings SWAP features Hilton and Whole Foods – both giants in their field , one very corporate and one very proud of being the opposite of corporate – swapping places and sharing the details of their organizations in the most open way possible .

“ One of the Whole Foods team said ‘ there ’ s never been suits in

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