Commercial Real Estate Praised in Climate Change Fight

While commercial property has been blamed for generating nearly one-third of the world’s climate-destructive carbon emissions, a new report from the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance is detailing how leading commercial real estate owners and managers are making an exemplary effort to reduce energy wastage in their buildings

The new report tracks more than 5,400 commercial properties around the world that are owned by Greenprint’s members and found a 3.4-percent reduction in energy consumption, a 3.9-percent reduction in carbon emissions and a 4.8-percent reduction in water use between 2014 and 2015. Within the U.S., the ULI report found San Jose experienced the most significant reduction in energy use by office buildings, with a 10 percent drop, followed by Houston at nine percent, San Francisco at seven percent and Chicago and Washington, D.C., at six percent. San Diego led the in reducing water use by office buildings, registering a nearly 40 percent drop that was achieved despite water-stressed conditions facing that part of California.

Greenprint has stated a goal for a 50 percent reduction in global building emissions by 2030.

ULI Global Chief Executive Officer Patrick L. Philips praised the results, noting that this type of effort “makes good business sense under any conditions.”