Resilience and Sustainability
ULI is proud to announce that we have joined MEP 2040 as a supporting organization. MEP 2040 is a movement to radically reduce total carbon emissions associated with Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) systems through collective action. “The embodied carbon associated with MEP systems is a burgeoning topic in real estate ESG. ULI is proud to support MEP2040 in its efforts to radically reduce total carbon emissions associated with building systems. We applaud the work of MEP engineering and design firms who have made the MEP2040 commitment and urge the broader industry to join the movement and advance real estate’s journey to net zero,” said Marta Schantz, co-executive director of ULI’s Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate.
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued new rules requiring public companies to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures. The rules phase in over time, requiring the largest companies or public investor shares to begin making climate risk disclosures in 2025.
Arizona is at the epicenter of an evolving dynamic that can best be described with a phrase uttered by a panelist at ULI Arizona’s Trends Day 2024—disruption equals opportunity.
Since 2022, five ULI district councils—ULI Colorado, ULI Los Angeles, ULI New York, ULI Louisiana, and ULI Philadelphia—have participated in a long-term effort to tackle climate resilience, equity, and land use issues through the second Resilient Land Use Cohort (RLUC2), hosted by ULI’s Urban Resilience program.
California’s recent landmark legislation on climate disclosure, passed in fall 2023, will drive new evolution in real estate reporting on climate risk and provide more public insight than ever into the industry’s impact on climate change.
Ten projects take advantage of financial tools that promote environmentally positive development
Progress on the decarbonization of real estate portfolios is being held back by a lack of understanding and collaboration between property owners and occupiers, according to a new report from the Urban Land Institute C Change program. If better alignment between the two parties is not prioritized, it has the potential to increase total emissions from the built environment over the medium to long term as real estate decisions are often medium to long-term commitments.
2023 was the hottest year on record, according to climate change service Copernicus. Extreme heat and climate change usher in a whole host of obstacles for the commercial real estate industry to hurdle. Finding the best information on how to approach these hurdles can prove difficult. ULI has compiled our best reports, webinars, articles, and case studies covering what you need to know about how the hottest year on record is going to the industry.
On January 10, ULI Washington convened its second annual “Future Forum: Preparing for the Big Pivot—Building Our Future Around the Innovation Economy” event at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center. The all-day gathering, attended by more than 200 ULI members, featured insights from industry leaders and participants to address the future of the Metropolitan Washington Region.
Despite economic and political uncertainties, a host of market pressures—such as growing connections between sustainability and financial performance, increasing regulations, extreme weather events, and the importance of health and social equity—are driving real estate companies to prioritize sustainability like never before.
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