Leon Levine’s Post

Both #ESG frameworks and green building practices contribute to long-term sustainable growth. Companies that integrate these principles often enjoy improved financial performance and resilience against market fluctuations. By addressing environmental and social risks proactively, businesses can mitigate potential threats and ensure more stable operations. Lets bridge the gap between ESG and Green Buildings Practices.

Implementing ESG practices and achieving green building certifications can enhance an organization’s reputation and provide a competitive advantage. Companies with strong ESG performance are increasingly attractive to investors and consumers. Similarly, green buildings can attract tenants and buyers who prioritize sustainability, leading to potentially higher property values and rental rates.

With sustainability increasingly becoming a key focus for the real estate and construction industry, our ESG director and head of sustainability, Meredith Davey, shared his opening remarks at Gallagher Specialty’s Sustainable Development Risk Vs Reward event last night. Speaking to a room of industry experts, Meredith shared his thoughts on how, through responsible placemaking, we can overcome prevalent and challenging issues around climate change, carbon and regulation, and leave the built environment in a far more stable and sustainable position that can be enjoyed by future generations to come. Commenting on this, Meredith said: “At Sellar, sustainability is a core value, not an add on, and is central to how we create places and leave legacies. The industry is changing due to drivers from planners increasingly looking towards low carbon and retrofit first policies, funders being increasingly regulated towards green capital, tenants demand for net zero sustainable spaces to assist their own corporate net zero objectives and our own desires to be thought of as good ancestors to our descendants. We want to make sure our great grandchildren can think of us as a generation that helped incite positive change, rather than people who pillaged the planet.” #Sustainability #RealEstate #BuiltEnvironment #SustainableDevelopment

Last month, as part of BREEAM USA’s ongoing #SustainabilityWebinar series, we hosted "Multifamily Market Breakdown: Sustainability Trends and Outlook," an expert panel highlighting sustainable trends and opportunities in the multifamily market.         The conversation featured timely insights from market experts — Cope Willis, Managing Director, Sustainability at Greystar; Thomas S., Managing Director of Sustainability at Stoneweg US, LLC; and Giuliana Kunkel CEM, LEED AP, Associate Director, ESG at MetLife Investment Management — who explored how recent economic challenges have affected the adoption of sustainable strategies, the growing importance of data and reporting for investors, and the role residents play in shaping green initiatives.     What were your key takeaways from the conversation?         Check out our blog recap of the panel to learn more and access the full webinar recording: https://lnkd.in/gBFpss_4    #SustainableCRE #Multifamily #BREEAMUSA #GreenBuilding #MultifamilyInvestment   

JUST RELEASED: Ferguson Partners, led by ESG and sustainability leader Matthew Hardy, is the proud sponsor of the Urban Land Institute Global Sustainability Outlook. Read the 2024 report to learn more about the five issues that will shape real estate decision-making in the months ahead and beyond. #realestate #sustainability #urbanresilience #community #future https://lnkd.in/dmBztuzS

ESG pulls together through governance and finance the necessary matrix for issues that are of great importance to us all. DEI, CSR, and carbon/climate initiatives align with a strong ESG program and can be measured. Corporate America is realizing that survival in business is not just a bottom-line concern. In fact, the bottom line and ESG have a mutually beneficial relationship that is tantamount to future business success.

The end of a long week of catch-ups and conferencing (some might say a long few weeks, with one more week of Auckland Climate Festival activities to go - programme details here: https://lnkd.in/gEczB9gC) involved a panel kōrero on #ESG at the 2023 Property Council New Zealand conference. My opening reflection for the panel was that whilst this was 'the ESG panel', there were ESG themes in practically every session of the conference. We kicked off the conference with discussions on #leadership and #governance aspects, hearing about ways of leading that are more appropriate for the world we live in now, approaches that seek to build #resilience and focus on empowering our #people, particularly younger generations with very different value sets and definitions for success. We also heard several speakers speak to the importance of better engaging with #communities as we design the places and spaces that must adapt and mould both to their changing needs and the changing environment around us. We learnt about the opportunity presented by listening to and learning from indigenous knowledge - a critical aspect given the place-based focus of the #property sector. We didn't gloss over the elephant in all our rooms of #ClimateChange, both specifically on issues like #ManagedRetreat and #adaptation, but the importance and need for #EmissionsReduction and shifting modes of movement to more be localised and active. Yes, the importance of ESG is elevated by #investor needs and demands, by disclosure frameworks that are reshaping capital flows and placing a greater focusing on addressing #environment, #social and #governance issues. But the truth is that ESG isn't just something that sits in isolation, within #sustainability and #finance teams - it pervades all of our decisions and isn't something we should shy away from, or be afraid of the shifts that it may generate. Two final reflections. A couple of times, speakers were asked what can we individually do to advance our response to these massive issues and a the common response was to talk about it. The importance of #normalising topics that we conventionally push to the side, either because it's uncomfortable, or because we know it sparks debate cannot be underestimated. It's hard, but it's important. Finally, another question was the cost of action, whether #consumers are willing to pay for action. We need to flip this question around. Things are only currently cheap because we have externalised so many issues - be it #carbon, #environmental damage, #social impacts - what we're seeing now is actually a rebalancing of our #economic structures to bring those issues back onto our #fiscal ledgers, because our planetary ledger has always factored them in. Many thanks to Leonie Freeman and the Property Council NZ team who pulled together a fantastic, thought-provoking programme and for all the speakers who shared such interesting insights. #TPC23 #ThePropertyConference

“BoardClic’s ESG Maturity Assessment helped us elevate our sustainability discussions to the board, transforming them into actionable initiatives rather than just agenda items. The platform’s comments feature gives each board member a voice, which fosters a harmonised vision for our initiatives”, says Lilia Kouzmina, Head of Sustainability, Eastnine AB Read more in our latest blog about how Eastnine, a Swedish real-estate company with sustainability at the heart of its strategy, is using BoardClic’s ESG Maturity Assessment to turn board-level conversations into real, actionable sustainability initiatives. https://lnkd.in/d6vtx-uZ #ESG #boardeffectiveness #boardclic #corporategovernance #boardevaluation #boardperformance #boardreview

These days, most companies and BODs, do have an ESG agenda that is incorporated in the strategy and daily operations. However, we have learned through our clients, that it's still challenging to get everyone on the same page to then elevate debates and decisions to the next level. BoardClic is on a mission to raise the bar in the board room. We also think ESG activity is key to a sustainable future for companies and individuals. To support leadership teams, we are offering an ESG Maturity Assessment that already is helping a profound number of teams and BODs to making actionable initiatives out of agenda items. Read more below. #esg #boardofdirectors

On October 19th, BREEAM’s US Director of Operations Breana Wheeler will be at NAIOP’s CRE.Converge Conference moderating a panel entitled “Advancing ESG Performance in the Built Environment: Mitigating Risks and Meeting Stakeholder Demands.”      This discussion will address the growing need for accurate and robust building performance data, alongside holistic reporting methods, to provide insights into the financial-related climate risks facing the built environment.         The panel’s all-star lineup of expert speakers includes Heidi Creighton, FAIA, Vice President of Sustainability at Skanska USA; Anita Jeerage Director of Sustainable Real Estate at Unico Properties LLC; Katie Zilka Hanson, CEM, LEED AP, Vice President of Client Success at RE Tech Advisors; and Daren Moss, Principal of ESG at Ares Management Corporation.      #CREConverge #BREEAMUSA #ESG #ClimateRisk