For more information, contact:
Peter Walker at 44-20-7487 9586  (Europe)
Robert Krueger at 202-624-7086 (U.S.)

PARIS (December 3, 2015) — The Urban Land Institute (ULI) is endorsing the formation of a Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GABC) to advance the real estate industry’s efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change and reduce the industry’s carbon footprint on a worldwide scale. In pledging its support, ULI joins more than 20 other global organizations seeking to position real estate as contributing to solutions regarding climate change and protecting the environment.

ULI is a global research and education institute with more than 36,000 members worldwide dedicated to leadership in land use. The agreement to form the alliance is being signed in Paris today on behalf of ULI by Helen Gurfel, executive director of the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance during “Buildings Day,” an event held in conjunction with the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. Currently, the built environment is responsible for at least 30 percent of the carbon emissions released worldwide. The purpose of Buildings Day is to raise awareness of actions that the building and construction industry is taking and can take to reduce carbon emissions, reduce energy consumption and improve the quality of the environment on a global scale.

“We are very excited to help launch the formation of the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction,” Gurfel said. “Being part of this diverse group with such extraordinary reach will help greatly in advancing ULI’s work to promote environmentally conscious operations development practices around the world. Real estate has a significant role to play in mitigating climate change and creating resilient communities. What, where and how we reposition existing properties and develop new ones is an important part of the solution.”

The formation of the alliance provides an opportunity to unite organizations around the world that are collectively committed to:

• Putting the buildings and construction sector on a course to help limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius
• Aligning existing initiatives, commitments and programs to achieve greater scale and increase the pace of efficiency actions
• Catalyzing stronger collaboration and targeting sectoral and cross sectoral action and solutions for all

The goals of the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction fit well with efforts by the Greenprint Center to reduce the carbon emissions and energy consumption of commercial buildings. Part of ULI’s Center for Sustainability, Greenprint is a worldwide alliance of leading real estate owners, investors, and strategic partners committed to improving the environmental performance of the global real estate industry.

Through measurement, benchmarking, knowledge sharing and education, Greenprint’s mission is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, which is in line with the goals of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Since Greenprint began tracking building performance in 2009, its members have reduced their emissions and energy consumption by 11 percent, which is well on target to meet the 2030 reduction goal. Its most recent building performance report is based on more than 5,200 property submissions representing 112 million square meters across 51 countries.

“With Greenprint’s considerable expertise, ULI can advance the GABC initiatives through a variety of activities, such as analyzing data to support action in existing buildings, sharing operational or technological best practices, and assembling real estate owners and investors around the common cause of reducing emissions from the built environment, Gurfel said. “By engaging with the global private commercial real estate sector, ULI can help reduce carbon emissions and catalyze greater action within the industry.”

In addition to ULI, other organizations endorsing the formation of GABC are: the United Nations Environment Programme, France; Architecture 2030; Climate Technology Centre and Network; Energy-cities; Global Buildings Performance Network; Global Environment Facility; ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability; Institut de la Francophonie pour le Developpement Durable; International Energy Agency; International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation; International Union of Architects; The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group; Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors; Sustainable Energy for All Initiative; 10-Year Framework of Programmes  Sustainable Buildings and Construction Programme; The Energy and Resources Institute; UNEP Global District Energy in Cities Initiative; UNEP-Finance Initiative; UNEP-Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative; UN-HABITAT; World Business Council for Sustainable Development; World Green Building Council; World Resources Institute; Reseau Habitat et Francophonie; Global District Energy in Cities Initiative; Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency; the Brazilian Sustainable Construction Council; Cooperative Research Council for Low Carbon Living; Federation Francaise du Batiment; and the European Construction Industry Federation.

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 36,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

About the ULI’s Center for Sustainability
The ULI Center for Sustainability is dedicated to creating healthy, resilient, and high-performance communities around the world. Through the work of ULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance and Urban Resilience Program, the Center advances knowledge and catalyzes adoption of transformative market practices and policies that lead to improved energy performance and portfolio resilience while reducing risks due to a changing climate.

About ULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance
As part of ULI’s Center for Sustainability, the Greenprint Center for Building Performance is a catalyst for change, taking meaningful, immediate, and measurable actions to generate real estate solutions that improve the environment through energy efficiency while demonstrating the correlation with increased property values. The center focuses on reducing the carbon footprint of existing buildings through education and action. Greenprint is led by an advisory board, and its members are active participants in every level of the organization, bringing a depth of senior-level experience and knowledge that is unmatched in the real estate industry. Using the collective power of its membership to lead by example in lowering carbon emissions by exploring and implementing energy-reducing technologies, the center shares the performance results with the public through the Greenprint Performance Report.