WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance shows that the commercial real estate industry is making significant progress in reducing energy consumption, carbon emissions, water usage and waste disposal.
The Greenprint Center, which is part of ULI's Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance, comprises an alliance of the world's leading real estate owners, investors and financial institutions who are committed to improving environmental performance across the global property industry.
In light of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report documenting worsening impacts of climate change, methods to optimize energy usage and reduce environmental impacts are becoming more urgent. Volume 9 of the Greenprint Performance Reporttm, 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.
In a statement accompanying the release of the report, Lynn Thurber, Immediate Past Chairman of the Sustainability Center's Advisory Board, pointed to the correlation between improved building performance and improved investment returns over time. "Nine years in, Greenprint continues to expand its value proposition by working with its members to develop market solutions that will further reduce environment impact and increase asset-level net operating income," said Thurber, who is a former ULI Global Chairman and Chairman of JLL Income Property Trust.
Globally, buildings account for more than one-third of global climate-changing carbon emissions. The results from the new report indicate that Greenprint members are on track to exceed Greenprint's target of a 50-percent emissions reduction by 2030, which is in line with the goals of the IPCC and ratified by the Paris Climate Accord. This marks the eighth consecutive year that members have experienced improved building performance, in terms of energy consumed and emissions reduced. The reduction in emissions in 2017 are the equivalent of 1.5 million trees planted, 12,600 cars taken off the road, 6,300 homes consuming no energy, and 136,000 barrels of oil not consumed.
"The ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance continues to help its members take demonstrable and meaningful action to create high-efficiency buildings," said ULI Global Chief Executive Officer W. Edward Walter. "Greenprint demonstrates how owners and developers can efficiently conserve water and energy and be part of the solution to climate change. The results that the Greenprint members achieve are inspiring a broader movement within the real estate sector to improve building performance."
The report reflects the results of hundreds of practices Greenprint members have undertaken to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Examples include:
The report identifies several industry trends related to the reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions, including:
The 7,950 properties owned or managed by Greenprint members included in this report's analyses are located across 28 countries and account for nearly 2 billion square feet of building area. The value of real estate assets under management by Greenprint members exceeds $760 billion, which is almost 4 percent of the value of high-quality commercial properties globally. Future Greenprint initiatives will continue to grow engagement with real estate leaders globally, with heightened attention in the Europe and Asia/Pacific markets.
The data used in the report was submitted to the Greenprint Center by its 33 members and affiliated partners. Greenprint's real estate members include: Berkshire Communities; BlackRock; CalPERS; Clarion Partners; CommonWealth Partners; DWS; First Washington Realty, Inc.; GID; GI Partners; GLL Real Estate Partners; Granite Properties; Heitman; Hines; Howard Hughes; Invesco; Jamestown Properties; Jones Lang LaSalle; Kilroy Realty; LaSalle Investment Management; Morgan Creek Ventures LLC; Parkway Properties; PGIM; Prologis; Rudin Management Company, Inc.; Savanna; Sonae Sierra; Tishman Speyer and The Net Group.
About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 42,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information, please visit uli.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
SOURCE Urban Land Institute
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