from Dan Probst LEED® AP
Chairman Energy and Sustainability Services
Given my role with a full-time focus on energy and sustainability, I can’t help viewing everything through the lens of sustainability. With that said, I have certainly noticed an overall air of general industry optimism at the ULI Real Estate Summit. The attendance at the summit is up, which is a positive sign in itself. There seems to be a “buzz” that the economy is in recovery and that the industry will soon benefit from an overall increase in activity. With growing optimism that the recovery is occurring, I also noticed that the topic of environmental sustainability seems to be woven into many of the conversations. From the opening general sessions where both the Mayor of Boston and the Governor of Massachusetts both mentioned their environmental initiatives to the first day Town Hall – “Looking to the Future: What is the Role of the Real Estate Company Today?” where more than one panelist emphasized that energy and sustainability need to be higher priorities in our industry. The topic is discussed in a wide range of contexts from new transit oriented residential developments, office leases, new building design, technology and existing building retrofits. There seems to be an expectation that new and existing buildings need to become “high performance buildings” that operate more efficiently, provide a better work environment and are close to public transportation or where people live. Two of the councils focused full time on the topic, the Sustainable Development Council and the Responsible Property Investment Council, while other councils focused on related topics such as the Transit Oriented Development Council. Today, we measure progress on this topic by this increase in focus and discussion.
We will know that we have been successful when the topic of energy and sustainability is no longer something new or different, but rather is simply woven into the fabric of everything we do.
-Dan
