Marta Schantz

Get Smart: The Business Case for Grid-Interactive, Efficient Buildings addresses the imperative for constructing and retrofitting buildings to enhance their resilience, responsiveness to grid conditions, and energy efficiency.

Get Smart presents four key imperatives:
- Shape loads to respond to tariffs,
- Shift to cleanest-available sources of electricity and move consumption to the cleanest time of day,
- Shed load through traditional demand response, and
- Shimmy with… Show more

Get Smart: The Business Case for Grid-Interactive, Efficient Buildings addresses the imperative for constructing and retrofitting buildings to enhance their resilience, responsiveness to grid conditions, and energy efficiency.

Get Smart presents four key imperatives:
- Shape loads to respond to tariffs,
- Shift to cleanest-available sources of electricity and move consumption to the cleanest time of day,
- Shed load through traditional demand response, and
- Shimmy with fast-acting ancillary services such as battery storage.

The report then explores the business case for grid-interactive, efficient buildings, including reduced carbon emissions and utility costs, sustained business operations, bolstered asset resilience, enhanced comfort for occupants, and maintained long-term asset value. It presents a deep dive into factors affecting implementation, including physical design, automation, stakeholder engagement, climate resilience, cybersecurity, and scalability. In addition, the report presents case studies showcasing successful examples of grid interactivity and efficiency in buildings. Show less

The Materials Movement: Creating Value with Better Building Materials provides an introduction for real estate owners, developers, and investors to understand why and how to integrate healthy, sustainable building materials in new and existing development projects. The report highlights best practices for cost-effectively integrating nontoxic, low-carbon materials that help real estate meet sustainability, health, and financial goals. Specifically, this report:
- Articulates the real estate… Show more

The Materials Movement: Creating Value with Better Building Materials provides an introduction for real estate owners, developers, and investors to understand why and how to integrate healthy, sustainable building materials in new and existing development projects. The report highlights best practices for cost-effectively integrating nontoxic, low-carbon materials that help real estate meet sustainability, health, and financial goals. Specifically, this report:
- Articulates the real estate business case for prioritizing healthy and sustainable building materials in projects and portfolios;
- Outlines the science behind the life cycle impacts of building materials on human health and the environment;
- Highlights high-level strategies and best practices for incorporating better building materials; and
Shares innovative projects that successfully integrate healthy and sustainable materials to achieve positive outcomes. Show less

The global real estate industry continues to progress toward net zero despite an uncertain economic environment. Factors including government regulations, investor and tenant demands, new sources of capital and financial incentives, and physical and transitional climate risks are strengthening the business case and building global momentum on climate action. In addition to reducing operational carbon emissions, real estate recognizes that it must also tackle embodied carbon—the emissions… Show more

The global real estate industry continues to progress toward net zero despite an uncertain economic environment. Factors including government regulations, investor and tenant demands, new sources of capital and financial incentives, and physical and transitional climate risks are strengthening the business case and building global momentum on climate action. In addition to reducing operational carbon emissions, real estate recognizes that it must also tackle embodied carbon—the emissions arising from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials. Measuring and reducing embodied carbon requires a whole-of-industry approach. The construction supply chain is creating lower-carbon materials and adopting environmental product declarations (EPDs) to communicate materials’ relative amount of embodied carbon. Developers are working with architects and engineers to conduct life cycle analyses and understand the environmental impact of various building design and material choices. Governments are rolling out policies that result in embodied-carbon reductions, and more are sure to follow. State of Green: Greenprint Performance Report, Volume 14 presents the data and analytics behind ULI Greenprint’s decarbonization progress, including for the first-time embodied carbon data. Show less

The business case for a net zero real estate industry is clearer than ever. Rising stakeholder pressure to decarbonize, alongside the scale of business opportunity, has ensured that the companies who lead that effort will see the highest value creation.

Simultaneously, the need to address social inequity and the structural forces of exploitation – whether based on race and ethnicity, wealth and social class, gender, or any other social factor – also grows continually more dire… Show more

The business case for a net zero real estate industry is clearer than ever. Rising stakeholder pressure to decarbonize, alongside the scale of business opportunity, has ensured that the companies who lead that effort will see the highest value creation.

Simultaneously, the need to address social inequity and the structural forces of exploitation – whether based on race and ethnicity, wealth and social class, gender, or any other social factor – also grows continually more dire. Marginalized communities (such as Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color and low-income communities) experience the impacts of climate change first and worst, and are often shut out of the environmental, economic, and social benefits of the net zero transition.

Net Zero for All: A Just Transition for Real Estate provides an introduction for real estate owners, developers, and investors to understand why and how to center marginalized communities in the process and outcomes of achieving net zero. Show less

The Sustainability Outlook annual publication, first launched in 2021, is an opportunity for ULI to share insights from member experts on the key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues that will impact strategic real estate and land use decision-making each coming year.

We’ve reached the point where the real estate industry knows it needs to decarbonize and is ready to act. The climate risks – both physical and transition – are higher than ever. Stakeholder demand from investors and occupants continues to rise. More and more governments are passing regulations around reporting and performance across the globe. No longer is it too expensive for real estate to act on climate change: now, the price of inaction is too high. Real estate cannot afford a portfolio of… Show more

We’ve reached the point where the real estate industry knows it needs to decarbonize and is ready to act. The climate risks – both physical and transition – are higher than ever. Stakeholder demand from investors and occupants continues to rise. More and more governments are passing regulations around reporting and performance across the globe. No longer is it too expensive for real estate to act on climate change: now, the price of inaction is too high. Real estate cannot afford a portfolio of stranded assets that are unable to meet increasingly high public, private, and consumer expectations for carbon and energy. Climate mitigation is material to real estate operations; real estate has a fiduciary responsibility to decarbonize. State of Green: Greenprint Performance Report, Volume 13 presents the data and analytics behind ULI Greenprint’s decarbonization progress. Show less

This publication provides an overview of off-site renewable energy options, and step-by-step instructions for real estate professionals to purchase off-site renewable energy for a building or portfolio, with several options for contracting to fit different real estate development strategies, ownership horizons, tenant requirements, and energy, sustainability, and financial goals. This guide is intended for U.S. real estate professionals in procurement, asset management, property management… Show more

This publication provides an overview of off-site renewable energy options, and step-by-step instructions for real estate professionals to purchase off-site renewable energy for a building or portfolio, with several options for contracting to fit different real estate development strategies, ownership horizons, tenant requirements, and energy, sustainability, and financial goals. This guide is intended for U.S. real estate professionals in procurement, asset management, property management, engineering, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) who have the mandate to execute on the corporate sustainability strategy and energy purchasing. Show less

The Sustainability Outlook annual publication, first launched in 2021, is an opportunity for ULI to share insights from member experts on the key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues that will impact strategic real estate and land use decision-making each coming year.

Environmental Justice and Real Estate highlights the history and objectives of the environmental justice movement and the role that real estate can play in partnering with community actors to drive systemic change. Interviews with four community-based and advocacy organizations shed light on how to define environmental justice, how community efforts work to shape the built environment, and how to create collaborative solutions based on local needs. Member perspectives introducing and concluding… Show more

Environmental Justice and Real Estate highlights the history and objectives of the environmental justice movement and the role that real estate can play in partnering with community actors to drive systemic change. Interviews with four community-based and advocacy organizations shed light on how to define environmental justice, how community efforts work to shape the built environment, and how to create collaborative solutions based on local needs. Member perspectives introducing and concluding the report provide specific guidance to the role ULI and its membership can play in supporting this work. The takeaway: contributing to environmental justice provides an opportunity to engage both community leaders and the real estate sector to promote healthy, sustainable resilient places for communities to live and work. Show less

A whirlwind of a year for real estate, the economy, and the world, 2020 saw the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt everything—the real estate market, the business of our tenants, and the strategy of our investors. This disruption also posed a threat to progress toward environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals: Would the momentum seen over the past few years be lost as focus shifted to COVID response? Fortunately, the answer is no.
State of Green: Greenprint Performance Report, Volume 12… Show more

A whirlwind of a year for real estate, the economy, and the world, 2020 saw the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt everything—the real estate market, the business of our tenants, and the strategy of our investors. This disruption also posed a threat to progress toward environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals: Would the momentum seen over the past few years be lost as focus shifted to COVID response? Fortunately, the answer is no.
State of Green: Greenprint Performance Report, Volume 12 reports just the opposite: leading real estate companies doubled down on the importance of sustainability, from carbon emissions reductions to healthy building improvements. This global annual benchmark shows: The COVID-19 pandemic did not slow down investment or progress on sustainability indicators – in fact, both improved significantly in 2020, with carbon emissions dropping a record 12%. Leading global real estate companies are prioritizing sustainability as an investment strategy with strong financial, social, and environmental returns, as Greenprint members reported over 14,000 ESG projects in 2020. The importance of ESG in real estate continues to rise, and an increasing number of companies are committing to ULI Greenprint’s net zero carbon operations by 2050 goal, covering over $570 billion in assets under management (AUM) to date. Show less

"Electrify: The Movement to All-Electric Real Estate," by the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance, shows how the commercial real estate industry can shift toward a decarbonized future by moving to all-electric buildings, and the importance of why real estate firms need to be aware of the movement. As more cities pass “gas bans” or carbon emissions reductions goals, and as tenants and residents demand healthy and sustainable spaces, the move to all-electric… Show more

"Electrify: The Movement to All-Electric Real Estate," by the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance, shows how the commercial real estate industry can shift toward a decarbonized future by moving to all-electric buildings, and the importance of why real estate firms need to be aware of the movement. As more cities pass “gas bans” or carbon emissions reductions goals, and as tenants and residents demand healthy and sustainable spaces, the move to all-electric real estate is important to consider. Electrification across new and existing buildings is improving real estate’s bottom line, future-proofing portfolios, attracting high quality tenants, lowering building emissions, and improving the health and safety of building occupants. Show less

In late 2020, ULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance interviewed members of the Sustainable Development Council (SDC) Product Council to inform an “outlook” for 2021: What sustainability topics and issues are on the rise, why do they matter, and what should the industry do about it? On the basis of the knowledge shared by these experts, Greenprint identified 10 issues that will likely affect our decision-making in the months ahead and beyond.

Building on the leading sustainability work that ULI Greenprint member organizations have been implementing since 2009, this Blueprint is a comprehensive resource for real estate owners and investors looking to develop or accelerate a sustainability program, and developers looking for ways to integrate sustainability into their overall development strategy.

An in-depth look at commercial real estate firms successfully integrating health and social equity into assets across the country. Based on interviews with 44 real estate stakeholders, this report distill insights on health and social equity in real estate, analysis on the business case for these practices, and metrics to measure outputs and success, and plans for where the market might be headed next. By demonstrating what companies have already achieved at their properties, and their… Show more

An in-depth look at commercial real estate firms successfully integrating health and social equity into assets across the country. Based on interviews with 44 real estate stakeholders, this report distill insights on health and social equity in real estate, analysis on the business case for these practices, and metrics to measure outputs and success, and plans for where the market might be headed next. By demonstrating what companies have already achieved at their properties, and their motivations for doing so, Examples from the Field aims to accelerate the uptake of health and social equity initiatives in commercial real estate portfolios market-wide. Show less

Volume 11 of the Greenprint Performance Report, which measures and tracks the performance of 10,190 properties owned by Greenprint members, finds that over the past year, carbon emissions have dropped by over 3%, energy consumption by almost 3% and water consumption by over 3%. In 2019, Greenprint members invested over US$50.1 million on sustainability projects spanning from tenant engagement to building envelope upgrades and recommissioning, totaling more than 6,000 individual projects.

This recent report from ULI Greenprint, prepared in partnership with USDN, serves as a starting point for cities interested in engaging real estate leaders during the shaping of climate mitigation policies, and for real estate organizations to increase their understanding of the potential impact of these policies—providing useful tools to help city officials and those in the real estate industry engage with each other in a meaningful and ongoing way.

Unlocking Hidden Value in Class B/C Commercial Buildings explores the opportunities and challenges associated with incorporating energy efficient retrofits and upgrades in buildings that tend to be bypassed for such improvements due to skepticism regarding the payback for the effort.

Embodied Carbon in Building Materials for Real Estate prepares the real estate market for a low-carbon materials future, makes the business case for why real estate should pay attention, highlights smart steps to reduce embodied carbon, and showcases peers already addressing the issue.

Volume 10 of the Greenprint Performance Report celebrates 10 years of continued environmental performance improvement. This year’s trends highlight market drivers pushing real estate companies to stay innovative and continue integrating sustainability into their core business. Those trends are increased awareness of the circular economy and alternative materials, intensification of climate legislation that sets building performance standards, and heightened investor pressure on ESG initiatives.… Show more

Volume 10 of the Greenprint Performance Report celebrates 10 years of continued environmental performance improvement. This year’s trends highlight market drivers pushing real estate companies to stay innovative and continue integrating sustainability into their core business. Those trends are increased awareness of the circular economy and alternative materials, intensification of climate legislation that sets building performance standards, and heightened investor pressure on ESG initiatives. The report also promotes numerous best practices in building operations and development, with project profiles from leading Greenprint members. Show less

Accomplishing the 2032 goals of the DC Clean Energy Act in the built environment is no small task. Success depends on all stakeholders—D.C. agencies, building owners, business improvement districts (BIDs), and many others. At this moment, an opportunity exists to inform D.C.’s rulemaking and implementation of the act and ensure that relevant stakeholders across the built environment are prepared to collaborate and partner to achieve the ultimate goals in a fair and economically feasible way… Show more

Accomplishing the 2032 goals of the DC Clean Energy Act in the built environment is no small task. Success depends on all stakeholders—D.C. agencies, building owners, business improvement districts (BIDs), and many others. At this moment, an opportunity exists to inform D.C.’s rulemaking and implementation of the act and ensure that relevant stakeholders across the built environment are prepared to collaborate and partner to achieve the ultimate goals in a fair and economically feasible way. This ULI Advisory Services Panel report explores just those solutions. Show less

o Volume 9 of the Greenprint Performance Report shows benchmarks and progress for the ULI Greenprint portfolio, as well as how improved environmental performance can reduce operating expenses, increase tenant demand, lead to more efficient management of natural resources, and increase property value. The report promotes best practices based on the Greenprint project database, this year highlighting member projects on high efficiency lighting, high efficiency HVAC, water conservation, and waste… Show more

o Volume 9 of the Greenprint Performance Report shows benchmarks and progress for the ULI Greenprint portfolio, as well as how improved environmental performance can reduce operating expenses, increase tenant demand, lead to more efficient management of natural resources, and increase property value. The report promotes best practices based on the Greenprint project database, this year highlighting member projects on high efficiency lighting, high efficiency HVAC, water conservation, and waste management. This year’s trends highlight new and evolving opportunities that the real estate community can capitalize on to gain a competitive edge by making buildings more efficient and increasing asset value: investing in new technology, changing utility relationships, and expanding the definition of sustainability to include wellness, resilience, and transparency. Show less

Community engagement for utility commercial incentive program participation is an underutilized tactic in the industry. Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), an investor-owned electric utility serving the Intermountain West, offers a unique, new, multi-prong approach that relies on increasing community engagement to achieve Demand Side Management savings: customer segmentation, trade allies, and community-level goals. RMP identifies customer segments and matches them with customized community engagement… Show more

Community engagement for utility commercial incentive program participation is an underutilized tactic in the industry. Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), an investor-owned electric utility serving the Intermountain West, offers a unique, new, multi-prong approach that relies on increasing community engagement to achieve Demand Side Management savings: customer segmentation, trade allies, and community-level goals. RMP identifies customer segments and matches them with customized community engagement strategies to maximize customer participation. For example, to reach Commercial Real Estate (CRE) customers, RMP provides customized outreach through a CRE Connect initiative, engages the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Utah Chapter and Salt Lake City government’s Project Skyline Challenge. Further, RMP supports the City’s new commercial building benchmarking ordinance and is prepared to engage poor performers with efficiency program participation. RMP also leans on its trade allies to reach customers at scale within communities it serves. Allies are tiered into two wattsmart® Vendor Network program levels to encourage successful participation and reward high quality performance: Business Vendor and Premium Business Vendor. The “Premium Vendor” designation provides top-performing trade allies special recognition based on program participation, project quality, application submission quality, industry training, as well as customer and program feedback. Four vendors earned this status beginning in Fall 2017 and each have maintained it through Summer 2018. RMP is engaging community leaders in setting community-wide energy efficiency goals with multiple levels of corporate and technical resources. Initial engagements include community-wide electric use data trend reporting, coordinated incentive investments across jurisdictions, community-funded renewable resource development (i.e. solar farms), and coordinated community education/outreach campaigns. Show less

Utilities nationwide are developing a new approach to drive deep and persistent energy efficiency savings to meet increasingly ambitious policy and savings targets for existing buildings which is resulting in a programming called Pay for Performance (P4P). Conventional measure-based (deemed) incentive programs are being augmented or replaced by flexible P4P models that incentivize customers to maximize measured (metered) savings at their buildings. For utilities, the appeal is clear: drive… Show more

Utilities nationwide are developing a new approach to drive deep and persistent energy efficiency savings to meet increasingly ambitious policy and savings targets for existing buildings which is resulting in a programming called Pay for Performance (P4P). Conventional measure-based (deemed) incentive programs are being augmented or replaced by flexible P4P models that incentivize customers to maximize measured (metered) savings at their buildings. For utilities, the appeal is clear: drive significant savings in a highly cost-effective and low risk manner. However, P4P can complicate participation for customers in hard-to-reach markets such as Commercial Real Estate (CRE). For utilities, CRE customers are prime targets to benefit from P4P programs. Higher energy consumption at larger CRE buildings means potential to capture cost-effective whole-building savings across relatively few customers. By aggregating savings opportunities at a CRE portfolio level, utilities can mitigate risk of savings non-performance. Not all CRE customers are strong candidates to participate in P4P programs; utilities should use a criterion based on size, usage, and investment priorities to focus their engagement efforts on those that are. From a CRE customer perspective, P4P programs may seem less attractive than conventional utility incentive programs. CRE stakeholders are typically risk-averse and, when faced with upfront costs, may balk if efficiency project payouts are not guaranteed. Further, decision makers of these CRE buildings may be hesitant to adopt new program application processes in light of their general market skepticism. Show less

The innovative Utility and Commercial Real Estate partnership program, “Connect,” developed by Waypoint Building Group, leverages existing market infrastructure and data to successfully deploy energy efficiency programs. This approach was launched in Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Company service territory in 2014 in an effort to overcome barriers with traditional energy efficiency programs and market engagement practices that are often implemented without analysis of key data for owners and… Show more

The innovative Utility and Commercial Real Estate partnership program, “Connect,” developed by Waypoint Building Group, leverages existing market infrastructure and data to successfully deploy energy efficiency programs. This approach was launched in Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Company service territory in 2014 in an effort to overcome barriers with traditional energy efficiency programs and market engagement practices that are often implemented without analysis of key data for owners and tenants. The Connect Program leverages the data and access provided by these property management partners to limit marketing costs, while improving the conversion rate of individual building engagements by giving these key partners targeted support in creating effective business cases for efficiency investments. The portfolio approach of the Connect Program allows for development of strong relationships and communication channels with property managers, owners, and tenants facilitating collaboration amongst decision makers. Additionally, project energy efficiency recommendations are incorporated into annual capital budgeting cycles. As tenant spaces roll over, design guidance is also provided to help ensure that already planned renovations include cost-effective efficiency measures. Taken together, these strategies combine to increase the uptake of existing utility incentive programs in traditionally hard-to-reach sectors. Show less

Plug and Process Loads (PPLs) account for an increasingly large percentage of commercial building energy use in the U.S. due to the rising number of energy intensive plug-in devices. In addition, buildings are becoming more and more efficient and plug load energy use has become an increasingly pertinent component to achieving aggressive energy targets and net-zero energy status. For multi-tenant buildings, controlling plug loads in tenant spaces can be a significant challenge. Luckily, there… Show more

Plug and Process Loads (PPLs) account for an increasingly large percentage of commercial building energy use in the U.S. due to the rising number of energy intensive plug-in devices. In addition, buildings are becoming more and more efficient and plug load energy use has become an increasingly pertinent component to achieving aggressive energy targets and net-zero energy status. For multi-tenant buildings, controlling plug loads in tenant spaces can be a significant challenge. Luckily, there are a number of PPL reduction strategies, best practices, and lessons learned from numerous commercial real estate and higher education leaders who have successfully engaged building occupants and tenants in reducing PPL energy use. This paper provides actionable PPL reduction strategies and best practices that building owners and managers can immediately apply to their own buildings. Show less

Developing and delivering a cost-effective proactive replacement strategy for RTUs is challenging because it involves many complex factors. To successfully optimize energy and cost performance, the strategy must include evaluation of a range of economic and non-economic factors. This document introduces the key elements to consider in making the business case for a proactive high-efficiency RTU replacement strategy for facility maintenance staff and building engineers who are responsible for… Show more

Developing and delivering a cost-effective proactive replacement strategy for RTUs is challenging because it involves many complex factors. To successfully optimize energy and cost performance, the strategy must include evaluation of a range of economic and non-economic factors. This document introduces the key elements to consider in making the business case for a proactive high-efficiency RTU replacement strategy for facility maintenance staff and building engineers who are responsible for energy management of commercial buildings. Show less

A brochure that illustrates how to use advanced power strips (APS) in an office setting.