Decarbonizing Buildings

Achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 requires a building-by-building approach. Asset-level decarbonization focuses on reducing emissions from individual properties within a real estate portfolio, improving energy efficiency, and enhancing sustainability.

Every building presents unique opportunities for decarbonization—whether through energy retrofits, renewable energy integration, or smarter building management. This page offers expert tools, resources, and strategies to help you assess your assets, identify carbon reduction opportunities, and take actionable steps toward a more sustainable future.

Explore our latest insights by following the link below:

Adaptive Reuse is gaining traction in commercial real estate as a sustainable, resilient, and economically sound strategy that addresses urban challenges while creating community and developer value.

” Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) best practices much be pursued with an eye to investors’ bottom-line returns, and those return estimates increasingly include factors such as heat, flood, carbon emissions, and other climate-related issues. ULI’s Decarbonization team exists to serve as a resource hub for investors across the globe.”
– Dan Cashdan
President, HFF Securities (a JLL Company)
Key Reports

ULI Net Zero Imperative: Three Years of Accelerating Building Decarbonization (2025)

The NZI program, which entered its fourth year and cohort in 2024, has engaged over 20 ULI district and national councils globally, bringing together public- and private-sector stakeholders to advance efforts to decarbonize buildings. This mid-program synthesis and impact report spotlights solutions to decarbonize buildings, communities, and cities.

 

Green Finance Unlocked (2025)

The Green Finance Unlocked report summarizes 19 green financing mechanisms with their applications and scale, along with examples from stakeholders on tactics and lessons learned. As an introduction to green finance, the report explores innovative avenues to finance sustainable buildings and retrofits, providing a useful summary of tools for real estate professionals looking to green their buildings.

 

 

Pumping Up Sustainability: Myth-Busting Heat Pumps in Commercial Real Estate (2024)

Heat pumps have a critical role to play as the real estate industry undertakes holistic energy-efficiency improvements on its journey to net zero. Practitioners in America are not yet comfortable with heat pumps, and there is a lack of resources available to guide commercial developers toward the incorporation of heat pumps into buildings.

 

Induction Cooktop Demonstration (2023)

Induction cooktops are one way many real estate companies are advancing building electrification. Induction cooktops are faster, safer, and more efficient than gas stoves or other electric alternatives. Learn about how induction cooktops are the wave of the future of cooking, and how real estate is considering them for the future.

 

Renewable Energy Strategies for Real Estate (2022)

The Renewable Energy Strategies for Real Estate report aims to help real estate practitioners understand the business case for renewables and develop a strategy to identify, prioritize, and execute renewable energy deals both on site and off site.

 

 

 

Nature Positive and Net-Zero: The Ecology of Real Estate (2022)

The Nature Positive and Net Zero: The Ecology of Real Estate report, in partnership with research sponsor and partner Jacobs, highlights key global market drivers for developers and owners to preserve and enhance biodiversity in development as part of their overall climate strategy, and provides guidance for owners and developers on best practices for implementing nature positive solutions at multiple scales.

 

 

Resilient Retrofits (2022)

The Resilient Retrofits: Climate Upgrades for Existing Buildings report introduces real estate actors, designers, policymakers, and finance professionals to the opportunities and challenges of preparing existing buildings for accelerating physical climate risks, including extreme temperatures, floods, storms and high winds, seismic risks, water stress/drought, and wildfires.

 

 

Electrify: The Movement to All-Electric Real Estate (2021)

The Electrify: The Movement to All-Electric Real Estate report highlights the path towards electrification and what that means for commercial real estate. 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.

 

 

The ULI Blueprint for Green Real Estate (2020)

The ULI Blueprint for Green Real Estate provides a practical framework for real estate owners, investors, and developers looking to build or enhance their sustainability strategies. Drawing from the expertise of ULI Greenprint members, this guide offers actionable insights to help real estate owners and investors establish or scale sustainability programs and help developers integrate sustainability into their projects.

 

Unlocking Hidden Value in Class B/C Office Buildings (2020)

The Unlocking Hidden Value in Class B/C Office Buildings report, funded by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and Yardi, and conducted by ULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance in collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Institute, delves into the challenges and opportunities for enhancing energy efficiency across Class B and C office building portfolios.

Net Zero Deal Profiles

ULI’s Net Zero Deal Profiles highlight real estate projects that successfully achieve net zero carbon emissions, while also emphasizing sustainable practices and strategies. By sharing detailed financials, these profiles provide valuable insights to help stakeholders identify practical approaches for reaching net zero in a financially sustainable manner.

 

HopeWorks Cover ImageHopeWorks Station North (2023)

The Net Zero Deal Profile of HopeWorks Station North showcases the development’s commitment to reinvesting operational energy savings from its net zero energy building into programs that support the needs of both residents and the broader community such as affordable housing and workforce development.

 

Entegrity Energy Cover Image

Entegrity Energy Partners’ NetWork Building (2022)

The Net-Zero Deal Profile of Entegrity Energy Partners’ NetWork Building showcases the development’s commitment not only to net-zero but also to industry leadership. By using simple design and off-the-shelf technologies, Entegrity achieved net-zero at low costs through passive design and renewables.

ULI Net Zero Exchange

In 2023, ULI hosted the Net Zero Exchange, a regularly scheduled series of free virtual discussions about asset-level decarbonization to facilitate conversations and dialogues between ULI members across the country. The exchange fostered collaboration and facilitated net-zero investment in real estate. These discussions served as an opportunity to share and exchange ideas through a presentation on a Net Zero topic and then a conversation between attendees.

 

Watch past Net Zero Exchange sessions: