8 New Real Estate Leaders Align With ULI Net Zero Goal

Together, these real estate companies represent over 2,400 buildings, more than 849 million square feet, and over $397 billion in assets under management.

Eight new real estate leaders, representing over 2,400 buildings, plan to reduce the operational carbon emissions of their collective portfolio under operational control to net zero by the year 2050, the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance recently announced. This is on top of the 17 ULI Greenprint members that have already publicly aligned with this goal.

The ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance is a research center focused on climate mitigation, making the business case for green buildings by tying carbon reductions to increased asset value. ULI Greenprint is organized within the ULI Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance, which also oversees ULI’s Urban Resilience Program and the Building Healthy Places initiative.

The new Greenprint members publicly aligning with the ULI Net Zero Goal are:

  • AEW Capital Management

    Net Zero Carbon
    (Credit: Getty Images/NicoElNino)
  • Brookfield Properties
  • CP Group
  • Clarion Partners
  • Lendlease (by 2025)
  • SL Green Realty Corp.
  • Tishman Speyer
  • WashREIT

Together, these real estate companies represent buildings covering over 849 million square feet and over $397 billion in assets under management (AUM).

“It is tremendous to see such firms align to the ULI Greenprint net zero carbon operations by 2050 goal. I commend these real estate titans for their leadership,” said Marta Schantz, senior vice president of the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance. “This commitment shows a pragmatic understanding of the industry’s responsibility and opportunity to combat climate change across their portfolios and work toward a carbon neutral future.”

ULI Greenprint real estate members are dedicated to reducing carbon and increasing energy efficiency in their real estate portfolios as part of their business strategy. To date, members have improved energy efficiency and reduced year-over-year greenhouse gas emissions by over 46% and are on track to meet ULI Greenprint’s original goal of 50% reduction by 2030 (with a 2009 baseline).

This net zero carbon goal is designed to meaningfully reduce the built environment’s impact on climate change beyond existing efforts. It encourages portfolio-wide carbon reductions across spaces under operational control via deep energy efficiency improvements, on-site renewable energy, green utility power and building electrification, off-site renewables, renewable energy credits, and offsets. The goal is in line with the Paris Agreement and findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report to limit global warming to 1.5⁰ C.

In total, 25 companies – half of all ULI Greenprint real estate members – that are now aligned with the net zero carbon goal by 2050 represent over $917 billion in assets under management (AUM), over 1.7 billion square feet, and over 6,700 properties across 20 countries.

Companies that have previously made the commitment include:

  • Allianz Real Estate
  • Boston Properties (by 2025)
  • City Developments Limited (CDL)
  • CommonWealth Partners
  • Heitman
  • Hudson Pacific Properties (by 2025)
  • Jamestown LP
  • Kilroy Realty Corporation (by 2020)
  • LaSalle Investment Management
  • Morgan Creek Ventures
  • MultiGreen
  • NEO
  • Nuveen Real Estate
  • PGIM Real Estate
  • Rudin Management Company
  • Savanna
  • The Tower Companies

Learn more about the ULI Net Zero Goal here.

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