NOTE TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS: Members of the media and public are invited to a virtual presentation of the panel’s findings on Thursday, February 10 from 9:00 am PT to 11:00 am PT. Click here to join.

WASHINGTON (February 7, 2022) – A group of renowned urban planning and real estate experts representing the Urban Land Institute (ULI) will make recommendations this week to the City of San Jose, California, on implementing renewable energy resources in market-rate and affordable multifamily housing developments. The panel will focus on how electric and renewable energy in multi-family housing can unlock positive environmental, health, and social outcomes for the community as well as how to increase the financial viability of such projects.

The ULI representatives will be conducting the program for the city of San Jose February 7-10 through ULI’s virtual Advisory Services panel (vASP) offering. The panel is a multiday virtual program that is tailored to meet a community’s specific needs, bringing together real estate experts in different areas such as land use, urban renewal, and community growth. They will spend time interviewing local stakeholders, understanding the community’s needs, and delivering advice on how best to tackle the issue at hand.

Sponsored by the City of San Jose and the Kresge Foundation, the panel will provide strategic recommendations on the following:

• How the city can incentivize the implementation of renewable energy resources in existing multifamily properties and how these new energy-efficiency projects can be accomplished in a way that accommodates the grid’s capacity;
• How the city can unlock public and private funding to accelerate the rate of retrofits for energy efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy generation and storage in existing multifamily housing;
• Which new business models and public-private partnerships the city should consider to generate revenue and catalyze the execution of renewable energy projects;
• How developers, property owners, and tenants can benefit financially from electrification and energy efficiency strategies;
• How the city can ensure that low-income residents, especially those living in gas-powered buildings, are not negatively impacted by the shift to all-electric buildings; and,
• How the city can address environmental justice, equity, and fair housing goals while promoting electrification and renewable distributed energy resources (DERs).

The panel will be chaired by Jeff Kingsbury, managing principal, Ancora Partners LLC, in Indianapolis, Ind. “The need to shift towards electric and renewable energy in multifamily housing is increasingly pressing, but it’s essential that we pave the way for a sustainable transformation that ensures a safer and healthier environment for all San Jose residents to thrive in,” said Kingsbury. “We look forward to collaborating with local leaders to advance the city’s climate and social equity goals.”

Kingsbury will be joined on the panel by Kevin Bates, founder of SHARP Development Company in Greensboro, Ga.; Jose Bodipo-Memba , director of sustainable communities at Sacramento Municipal Utility District in Sacramento, Calif.; Page Bolin, senior project developer at Community Energy in Arvada, Colo.; Marta Schantz, senior vice president of the Urban Land Institute’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance in Washington; and Molly Simpson, manager of Fannie Mae Multifamily Green and Healthy Housing Financing in Boston, Mass.

In addition to interviewing stakeholders, the panel will tour the area before developing recommendations that will be presented at the conclusion of the panel’s visit.

Now in its 75th year, the ULI Advisory Services program assembles experts in the fields of real estate and land use to participate on panels worldwide, offering recommendations for complex planning and development projects, programs, and policies. Panels have developed more than 700 studies for a broad range of land uses, ranging from economic revival to climate change adaptation.

According to Thomas Eitler, senior vice president of ULI’s Advisory Services program, the strength of the program lies in ULI’s unique ability to draw on the substantial knowledge of its 45,000-plus members, including land developers, engineers, public officials, academics, lenders, architects, planners, and urban designers. “The independent views of the panelists bring a fresh perspective to the land use challenge,” Eitler said. “The Advisory Services program is all about offering creative, innovative approaches to community building.

Past sponsors of ULI Advisory Services panels include federal, state, and local government agencies; regional councils of government; chambers of commerce; redevelopment authorities; private developers and property owners; community development corporations; lenders; historic preservation groups; non-profit community groups; environmental organizations; and economic development agencies.

For more information, email [email protected]

###

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 45,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information on ULI, please visit uli.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.