How a two-week Fellowship by the Holcim Foundation and ETH Zurich turned the EU’s “Renovation Wave” into a practical playbook for policy, finance, and culture.

Given the pressing challenges facing real estate globally on advancing building decarbonization, ULI is honored to announce the eight District and National Councils selected to participate in the fifth Net Zero Imperative (NZI) Cohort, joining nearly 30 global communities that have engaged with the program to date. NZI is a multiyear initiative to accelerate decarbonization in the built environment and is a significant aspect of ULI’s work to advance its net zero mission priority.

As the race to net-zero emissions intensifies, one question looms: how to pay for it? According to the International Monetary Fund, global investment in climate solutions needs to jump from $900 billion in 2020 to a staggering $5 trillion annually by 2030. The real estate sector alone faces a $1.7 trillion-per-year price tag to decarbonize buildings and infrastructure to achieve net zero.

The Trump Administration is proposing further budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for fiscal year 2026, which begins October 1. The agency, a branch of the U.S. Commerce Department, lost about 30 percent of its funding in 2025, and it is set to spend 14 percent less for climate research than Congress mandated. Real estate professionals often rely on NOAA data to make informed investment decisions, and the possible impact of the budget cuts could be significant for the industry.

Formerly at U.S. Department of Energy, Witteman discusses her mission to integrate sustainability and affordability in commercial real estate, revealing how ULI is leading the charge for decarbonized communities.

The opportunity to plan and design more than 50 acres of inner-city urban development in any city is significant, but in Pasadena, California, it is a possible inflection point in the city’s history, an opportunity to redress past mistakes, and to set the stage for future generations to benefit from perceptive and forward-thinking planning.

ULI’s Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate has now released the fifth and final installment of its premier primer on achieving net-zero-building carbon emissions through dynamic engagement between owners and tenants. The series explores practical strategies for reducing emissions at both the asset and portfolio levels—highlighting how all parties working together can drive meaningful emissions reductions across all aspects of real estate.

A two-week program, hosted by UCL’s Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering and led by José Torero, Matthew Heywood, and Michael Woodrow, with a cohort of early-career professionals tested the limits of The London Plan and imaged what could lie ahead through a fellowship themed “Innovating Tomorrow’s Resilience.”

Climate Week NYC, run by the nonprofit Climate Group and held in parallel with the United Nations General Assembly, makes its annual return this September 21–28 with hundreds of in-person, hybrid, and virtual events. This jam-packed week brings together a powerful cross-section of climate leaders, including inspiring activists; visionary artists; and industry leaders in real estate, business, finance, and government.

In September 2023, Hong Kong was hit by its heaviest rainfall on record—nearly 6.3 inches (160 mm) in a single hour. Link Asset Management’s Temple Mall North, like many other buildings, suffered severe flood damage. In response, the company invested in detachable flood barriers and Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors to mitigate future risk. For Link’s bottom line, this resilience investment translated into an 11.7 percent reduction in insurance premiums.