ULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance is excited to announce that four District Councils and three National Councils have been selected to participate in the second Net Zero Imperative (NZI) Cohort. Thanks to the generosity of financial donations from ULI members through the ULI Foundation, the program offers grants for technical assistance and ongoing implementation support to a selection of global cities to help accelerate efforts toward net zero. NZI is a growing, collaborative network of District and National Councils, including ULI staff, local governments, real estate leaders, and community stakeholder groups.
As NZI Cohort 2, the following District and National Councils will work to address local challenges to building decarbonization, and will ultimately provide concrete ideas and strategies to real estate owners, public sector leaders, and the general public to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment to reach net zero:
ULI Atlanta (Atlanta metro area, Georgia). Conduct 5-6 different net zero-themed mTAPs as capstone projects for ULI Atlanta’s Center for Leadership (CFL) program. The CFL participants will partner with 5-6 different public sector sponsors to assist in accelerating different aspects of building decarbonization efforts across the Atlanta region.
ULI Charlotte (Charlotte, North Carolina). In partnership with a private developer, Crescent Communities, the City of Charlotte will establish a development incentive program using the River District as a pilot to create a net zero road map for development and construction.
ULI Chicago (Chicagoland metro area, Illinios). Build resilience from climate change impacts and strengthen the Chicago region as a climate refuge by leveraging current strategies and proposing bold new measures to create a net zero future that includes residents, municipalities, and the real estate industry.
ULI Germany (Berlin, Germany). Engage through a two-phase project as part of the ULI Europe C Change program. In the first stage, the focus is on identifying assets in Berlin that could potentially be stranded, based on a common methodology developed by the ULI C Change program that assesses transition risks as part of real estate valuations. In the second phase, the aim is to identify potential solutions to decarbonize these buildings in close collaboration between all stakeholders including the private and public sector.
ULI Hong Kong (Central, Hong Kong). Create a toolkit focused on tenant engagement in high density central business districts that will draw on existing strengths and address areas of growth that will aid in major reduction in carbon emissions for owners and their tenants.
ULI Mexico (Monterrey, Mexico). Engage the public and private sectors in the creation of a city-wide roadmap to net zero. Result in actionable recommendations of potential incentives, education, or code amendments to achieve energy-efficient, net zero carbon buildings.
ULI Minnesota (Root District, Minneapolis, Minnesota). Build upon existing ULI NZI efforts to bring the public and private sector together to refine the current draft of the Equitable Framework Guide for developing a 115-acre site into a transit-oriented, net zero district. Develop long-term communication campaign to accelerate incorporation of district energy and develop a plan that can scale for infrastructure, master planning, and individual developments of similar types.
This cohort builds on the successes of the first ULI Net Zero Imperative Cohort, whose outputs can be found on the ULI Net Zero Compendium webpage under “Technical Assistance and Advisory Service Panels.” More information about the program can be found on ULI’s website here.
