Home to almost 700,000 people, Vancouver is known for its gleaming residential towers, striking natural beauty, and dense development. However, like many progressive urban centers on the west coast, it has also struggled with significant issues that threaten the quality of life for its residents, including persistent homelessness and lack of affordability.
Surge: Coastal Resilience and Real Estate, a ULI research report, documents the challenges associated with coastal hazards such as sea level rise, coastal storms, flooding, erosion, and subsidence, and provides best practices for real estate and land use professionals, as well as public officials, to address them.
As a growing number of real estate firms commit to decarbonizing their assets, securing green power is becoming an increasingly necessary step for achieving significant carbon reductions. For many owners, the most straightforward and cost-effective route to green power is sourcing directly through local utility providers. However, several barriers have made it difficult for real estate and utilities to collaborate and identify solutions for increasing the amount of green power flowing to the built environment, in ways that mutually benefits utility organizations.
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.
An upcoming ULI report highlights key steps that developers and asset managers can take to mitigate environmental impacts and enhance health through materials.
Around the globe, individuals, organizations, and governments come together each year to celebrate and acknowledge Earth Day. Since its first observance in 1970, Earth Day has served as an annual reminder of the environmental challenges the world faces while inspiring solutions and positive change. The theme of this year’s event is “investing in our planet,” which resonates with the work of ULI and its members to address environmental issues through the Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate.
Five ULI District Councils across the United States have been selected to participate in a new program focused on advancing action on equity in parks and open space over a 12-month period. Through the District Council Cohort for Park Equity, local teams will engage in two-day Technical Assistance Panels that consider specific questions related to park equity and access in their communities. The program is supported by The JPB Foundation.
