At the 2011 ULI Fall Meeting at the Los Angeles Convention Center, leaders in real estate development, urban design, and local government came together to share their experiences in sustainable city building. Participating in a session titled “Carbon, Climate Change, and City Building,” discussion leaders focused on how land use and transportation initiatives, coupled with “green” building design and operations, can help cities accommodate population and economic growth while reducing carbon emissions to deliver a high quality of life for residents.
The discussion leaders identified several key questions:
- We recognize that our communities are changing along with the climate itself, so how do we do our best to address these changes simultaneously and in ways that benefit each?
- How can we consistently deliver greater density in our cities and their neighborhoods?
- Can we develop robust district energy plans and put them to practice in pilot projects throughout our cities?
Each of these questions was explored generally, as well as in the context of the Pacific Northwest, where panelists Bert Gregory, chairman and CEO of Mithun; Dennis Wilde, chief sustainability officer at Gerding Edlen; Sadhu Johnston, assistant city manager, city of Vancouver; and Elizabeth Dunn, founder, Dunn & Hobbes LLC, and consulting director, Preservation Green Lab, each call home for their respective practices.
“Natural beauty, healthy urbanism, and clean futures are major themes that people rally around,” said Gregory, whose point was echoed by Wilde, who added that “the NGO [nongovernmental organization] community and partnerships with private stakeholders drive successful sustainability efforts throughout our region.” Reminding those in attendance that cities generate 60 to 70 percent of CO2 emissions, Johnston shared the story of how Vancouver is proof that cities can reduce CO2 in accordance with the goals of the Kyoto Protocol while improving mobility and economic competitiveness. He noted that in Vancouver’s case, the city has increased tenancy in its downtown 75 percent over the past 25 years, and by assertively planning land use and mobility initiatives prioritizing modes together—walking and biking integrated with transit—has met and exceeded CO2 reduction goals. Next on the city’s agenda is to address energy concerns by promoting eco-districts and the use of district energy across the city both in public and private development projects.
Dunn also highlighted work undertaken in Seattle, where older neighborhoods have been reinvigorated by real estate and community interest in the value and proximity of existing buildings. “Life-cycle energy use analysis of old buildings forthcoming,” she said, “and the rise of ‘local access communities’—those with jobs and an array of local amenities—show that the new economy is happening [in] old neighborhoods.” This is witnessed in many major real estate markets—New York and San Francisco, among others—where companies like Google are attracting young talent by locating office space in districts where planning professionals have also been eyeing the potential for eco-district pilot programs. Eco-districts have been a subject of growing interest in cities committed to mitigating their carbon output, though the challenge of how to accurately quantify and gauge the success of overall CO2 reductions from such measures as green roofs, permeable pavement, natural daylighting, and building-integrated renewable energy systems remains.
The panel also remarked on the importance of public/private partnerships (PPPs) as key to aligning real estate investment interests with the environmental objectives of the public sector. “A healthy real estate market in tandem with a robust climate plan in Washington State is having a positive effect on carbon management, though stronger energy codes and new disclosure initiatives will help,” noted Gregory. And as public and private agendas continue to harmonize in the Pacific Northwest and in other U.S. cities to achieve individual carbon reduction goals, new partnerships are likely to drive innovation; and the success of these innovative regulations and real estate ventures will lead to new models for low-carbon, climate change–conscious city building that raises residents’ quality of life.
