Net Zero
Net Zero
Phase 2 of the Willets Point redevelopment project is transforming an industrial part of Queens that once-inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “valley of ashes” in The Great Gatsby in 1925. A century later, Queens Development Group—a joint venture between Related Companies, Sterling Equities, and New York City Football Club—is converting 23 acres (9.3 ha) of underutilized land into a $3 billion mixed-use community.
In January 2025, the Holcim Foundation played host to a second Global Fellowship—this time for Latin America—in Mexico City. The immersive two-week program occurred in collaboration with UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and focused on sustainable construction rooted in the social, environmental, and political realities of the region. The Fellowship is part of the Holcim Foundation’s global initiatives to support next-generation practitioners in the built environment.
This year, global ULI Greenprint real estate members reported a 6.3 percent year-for-year, like-for-like reduction in absolute carbon emissions. This result marks the second year in a row that members have reported a reduction of more than 6 percent in absolute carbon emissions—a testament to ULI Greenprint members’ leadership in making progress on their sustainability goals. In addition to leading by example, members continue to fund ULI resources that support the broader industry’s decarbonization progress.
ULI’s Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate held roundtable discussions with members of the ULI Americas Sustainable Development Council, the ULI Asia Pacific Net Zero Council, and the ULI Europe Sustainability Council to inform an outlook for 2025. During the discussions, members addressed sustainability topics and issues that are on the rise, why they matter, and what actions the industry should pursue in the future. Based on expert knowledge shared by those who attended, ULI identified five issues that will shape real estate decision-making in the coming months.
Increasingly, such disasters as storms, wildfires, pandemics, and flooding are spurring cities across the United States to prioritize resiliency. Coastal communities throughout Florida know the urgency firsthand. From the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, many Florida communities were isolated in 2024 when hurricanes and other weather-related events closed roads and cut off power. Our most vulnerable populations took an especially hard hit. Planners, academics, and community members are rethinking how to elevate their response and help communities become more resilient. Could one answer be on four wheels and a chassis?
Governments, businesses, and communities need to collaborate to reduce carbon emissions to ensure that decarbonisation is not just a buzzword.
A new initiative aimed at promoting low-carbon steel in China’s real estate sector has been launched, co-convened by ULI Greenprint, the World Steel Association, and the China Iron and Steel Association. This collaboration unites major real estate developers and steel manufacturers to drive the transition to low-carbon steel production, with the goal of significantly reducing emissions in Mainland China and Hong Kong. China’s steel industry plays a pivotal role in global efforts to combat climate change.
Against the iconic backdrop of Hong Kong’s skyline, a room filled with cross-disciplinary real estate experts engaged in a lively display of unprecedented collaboration. Brightly colored sticky notes plastered across the floor-to-ceiling windows mapped out an intricate web of relationships between developers, tech providers, facility managers, investors, utilities, and more. The pioneering systems change workshop was piloted by ULI APAC Greenprint and aimed to address a critical challenge: how to accelerate climate tech implementations that will lead to long-term sustainability.
According to the second annual C Change Survey, 93 percent of respondents report incorporating transition risks into their real estate investment decisions, indicating the industry’s growing awareness and commitment to integrate climate-related financial risks into decision-making processes.
Given the pressing challenges real estate is facing globally on advancing building decarbonization, ULI is honored to announce that 10 District and National Councils have been selected to participate in the fourth Net Zero Imperative (NZI) Cohort. 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.
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