“Plants and bacteria work for free; people and machines do not,” Anthony Sease, Director of Business Development at Natural Systems Utilities, pointed out at ULI’s 2010 Fall Meeting session, “Elevating Green Building to the New Sustainable Water Paradigm.” Read what else Sease and the other panelists had to say about how the new water paradigm should look and what can be done to achieve it.
In May 2010, it was made public that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--which hold around two-thirds of all mortgages in the country--would not allow borrowers with a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan to refinance or sell their properties unless the loans are paid off, effectively stalling the program. So what does the future of energy efficiency financing hold?
Whenever Frank Navarro of Navarro Lowrey, Inc. discusses his experiences in green building with fellow developers, two questions inevitably arise: “How much does it cost?” and “are you getting higher rents?” These two issues—cost and return—are critical for real estate investment and development decision making, yet in the realm of green building, the available data is often mixed or unhelpful. So what can a developer do to ensure his or her investment in sustainable design is a successful one?
From an open-air shopping center in Guadalajara, Mexico, to a LEED Platinum–rated convention center in Vancouver, British Columbia, and from the 5 million-square-foot (465,000-sq-m) L.A. Live development in Los Angeles to the eight-unit, 72-foot- (22-m-) wide Thin Flats townhouse project in Philadelphia, this year’s Americas winners in the ULI Awards for Excellence program integrate solutions to environmental challenges as well as social and economic challenges.
The ten Americas award winners and one Heritage winner constitute a portfolio of projects that reflect a healthy balance among economic viability, ecological stewardship, and social equity, noted jury chair Marty Jones, president of Corcoran Jennison Companies in Boston. “Many of these developments involve environmentally sustainable features, public/private partnerships, and innovative financing. All have proven to be financially successful in their industry class while enhancing and strengthening the surrounding community.”
