{"id":1004167526,"date":"2017-02-24T09:48:15","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T17:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004167526"},"modified":"2022-12-08T10:18:34","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T18:18:34","slug":"nyu-schack-special-report-the-business-case-for-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/nyu-schack-special-report-the-business-case-for-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"NYU Schack Special Report: The Business Case for Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Samantha Goldberg<\/p>\n

\"Danielle<\/a>

Danielle Spiegel-Feld, Executive Director, Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law, New York University School of Law<\/p><\/div>\n

The uncertainty surrounding the new administration\u00a0remains prevalent across industries, including real estate. The green building community in particular has its concerns about environmental policy, and several leaders in the field expressed their views for the future of sustainable real estate at the NYU School of Professional Studies Schack Institute of Real Estate 6th Annual Conference on Sustainable Real Estate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While any advancement in environmental policies that encourage sustainable development at the federal level might seem unlikely, including the potential that the Clean Power Plan could be overturned, there is reason for optimism at the state and local level, said Danielle Spiegel-Feld, executive director of the NYU School of Law’s Guarini Center on Environment, Energy and Land Use Law, to kick off the conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an increasingly compelling economic argument for continuing the transition toward a clean energy economy and there\u2019s an increasingly large number of stakeholders invested in seeing that transition through,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

State and local jurisdictions have enacted innovative policies that encourage sustainable development and improving the efficiency of our buildings. San Francisco recently passed an ordinance requiring \u00a030 percent of roof space be set aside for either green roof or solar installations. In December, three major cities\u2014Denver, Los Angeles and Orlando\u2014also passed new benchmarking ordinances.<\/p>\n

New York City is leading the pack as well, joining other cities in committing to an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and improving buildings\u2019 energy efficiency will be a major part of the efforts to reach that goal.<\/p>\n

The city council and the mayor last year cut in half the minimum threshold requirement for benchmarking. Beginning next year, all buildings 25,000 square feet and above will have to benchmark instead of just buildings 50,000 square feet and above.<\/p>\n

However, \u201cthere\u2019s still a lot more that can be done,\u201d Spiegel-Feld said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot that New York City can do to lead and I think history shows that when New York City adopts a policy, other cities follow and I hope we\u2019ll do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Association Advocacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Panelists<\/a>

Panelists (left to right): John Bryant, BOMA; Henry Green, NIBS; John Parkinson, AIAI; and Patrick Phillips, ULI<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to state and local efforts, real estate industry associations can advance their programs and advocacy for sustainable development. Representatives from BOMA International, National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), The Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure (AIAI) and Urban Land Institute (ULI) shared their efforts during the conference\u2019s first panel of the day.<\/p>\n

BOMA focuses on how it can lead its members toward the \u201cnext generation\u201d of strategies, which includes folding in principles of sustainability in everything they do, noted John Bryant, vice present of advocacy, codes and standards. Member education is particularly important, and BOMA offers programs that train manages to think more about efficiency in their operations, maintenance and retrofits.<\/p>\n

The unique BOMA 360 Performance Program also awards buildings that are outperforming across all areas of operations and management.<\/p>\n

BOMA is now working on addressing the next challenge for its members, asking, \u201cwhat is the next generation of sustainability?\u201d Bryant said.<\/p>\n

One focus is on water and waste reduction, and BOMA is looking for ways to challenge its members and provide them with the resources to track and benchmark their performance “as a broader component of sustainability,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Another major focus for industry organizations is resilience. NIBS was one of about 40 organizations that signed the Industry Statement on Resilience to show \u201call administrations that the building industry is unified on this particular point,\u201d said Henry Green, president of NIBS. From the design to construction to operations and reuse, resilience is a key topic of conversation.<\/p>\n

NIBS also works with several federal agencies to look at how their buildings operate and perform and identify areas for improvement, and conducts various studies. A study it’s currently working on focuses on how private sector investment in mitigation activities not only provides protections from hazards and improves the productivity of buildings, but can also result in a positive ROI.<\/p>\n

All of its efforts \u201cgive us a strong sense of how we can look at buildings and make sure we\u2019re designing and operating them to be more efficient,\u201d Green said. \u201cAcross our organization there are a whole number of programs that have brought about significant progress from green to sustainability and now resilience. This is an opportunity for us to make sure that we operate our buildings in a manner that is proficient, efficient as well as opportunistic in terms of how we approach the building environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discussions about resiliency are also important to AIAI members, said Executive Director John Parkinson.\u00a0AIAI members often think about the lifespan of their buildings and how what they build today is going to affect the next generation that\u2019s going to manage the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make decisions that are going to affect what happens not next week, but the next lifecycle of that asset,” he said. \u201cWe\u2019re at a unique time where we have an opportunity to transform the landscape that we\u2019re all a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

ULI, another major sustainability advocate, has also been reviewing its sustainability efforts, which can be a challenge for a \u201cbroad spectrum organization,\u201d said Global CEO Patrick Phillips.<\/p>\n

If a program\u2019s focus is too broad, it diminishes the value of the impact, he said. Recognizing this, ULI took on a new strategic plan for its Center for Sustainability, which will soon be known as the Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to find ULI\u2019s distinctive voice…the resulting strategy focuses on what we\u2019re calling the business case,” he said.<\/p>\n

ULI identified five dimensions of the business case for sustainability, including market competitiveness, accessing capital, risk management (or future proofing), project execution, and operations management and performance.<\/p>\n

ULI has adjusted its centers\u2019 programs to fit this new strategy. One main focus is on building performance. Its Greenprint Center participants agree to contribute their building performance data to ULI\u2019s data management platform on energy, waste and water. The participants also have committed to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and are on track to reach the goal, Phillips said.<\/p>\n

Other focuses of its programs include improving the energy efficiency of tenant spaces, bringing urban resilience strategies to the local level and public health.<\/p>\n

Business Case Basis<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of these efforts and advancements in sustainability were largely driven by the business case for it and \u201cbecause it was the right thing to do,\u201d not because of government intervention, Bryant emphasized.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding owners and managers all realized that they could save money from doing the right thing and who wouldn\u2019t want to do that?\u201d he said. As technology has improved and the industry has matured, \u201cit\u2019s been much more ingrained in everything we do and it\u2019s no longer a movement but a core component of real estate.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he and the other panelists acknowledged that partnering with government agencies and other industry organizations is necessary to continue making progress on sustainability and resiliency in real estate.<\/p>\n

“Productive business-government relationships are essential to our long-term health and prosperity,” Phillips said. “I think we’ll see glimmers of that emerging in the coming months.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panelists discussed how local governments and leading real estate associations are increasing their efforts to promote and implement sustainable building nationwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1242,"featured_media":1004167561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22251,23891,21742,21786],"tags":[33990,34114,34113,33395],"class_list":["post-1004167526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus","category-national","category-latest","category-sustainability","tag-building-owners-and-managers-association","tag-nyu-school-of-professional-studies","tag-the-national-institute-of-building-sciences","tag-urban-land-institute"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNYU Schack Special Report: The Business Case for Sustainability - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/nyu-schack-special-report-the-business-case-for-sustainability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NYU Schack Special Report: The Business Case for Sustainability\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Panelists discussed how local governments and leading real estate associations are increasing their efforts to promote and implement sustainable building nationwide.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/nyu-schack-special-report-the-business-case-for-sustainability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-24T17:48:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-08T18:18:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2017\/02\/IMG_4675.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4032\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Samantha Goldberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/nyu-schack-special-report-the-business-case-for-sustainability\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/nyu-schack-special-report-the-business-case-for-sustainability\/\",\"name\":\"NYU Schack Special Report: The Business Case for Sustainability - 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