Recent Articles

• ULI’s Greenprint Report Shows Progress in Real Estate Industry in Reducing Emissions, Water Waste

  October 18, 2018

  A new report from ULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance shows that the commercial real estate industry is making significant progress in reducing energy consumption, carbon emissions, water use, and waste disposal. Volume 9 of the Greenprint Performance Report™, which tracks, benchmarks, and analyzes the performance of nearly 8,000 properties globally owned by Greenprint’s members, demonstrates a 3.3 percent reduction in energy consumption, a 3.4 percent reduction in carbon emissions, and a 2.9 percent reduction in water use between 2016 and 2017.

• ULI Member Perspective: Buffalo Bayou and Resilience in Houston (Video)

  October 12, 2018

  How can a park protect a city from extreme flooding? Houston’s 160-acre (65 ha) Buffalo Bayou Park demonstrated resilience during Hurricane Harvey, surviving the storm with minimal damage and providing critical green infrastructure to the city during the peak event. In this video, learn about the park’s design and development firsthand from members of ULI’s Houston district council.

• Rising Sea Levels Pose Risk to Institutional Real Estate Investment

  September 18, 2018

  Some $360 billion of U.S. institutional real estate is in the top 20 percent of locations vulnerable to sea-level rise. Given significant portfolio allocations to gateway markets, institutional real estate portfolios have considerable exposure to climate change. This raises the question as to whether investors have factored in the challenge of rising sea levels alongside the perceived positives of gateway markets.

• Healthier Office Space Paying Dividends in Boston

  September 14, 2018

  One of the most difficult challenges for those seeking to adopt emerging technologies in commercial real estate is justifying the cost of implementing such measures. A recent ULI event in Boston highlighted the benefits of the evolving standards on health and wellness by five industry practitioners.

• Helping Pollinators Thrive in a Greener Urban Ecosystem

  August 27, 2018

  Many vibrant urban green spaces, particularly plants with flower or fruit, can’t survive without pollinators. The Best Bees Company, based in Boston, is looking to help property owners find space to help create sustainable ecosystems for green roofs, street trees, and other urban greenery.

• New Energy Star Metrics Likely to Lower Buildings’ Scores

  August 20, 2018

  New Energy Star building performance metrics being applied on August 27 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could lower the score of almost every building participating in the program, which encompasses over half of commercial real estate building floor space in the United States. This will cause some to fall below the 75-point level needed to achieve certification through the program.