Sustainability Street: Happy Earth Day!

Commercial Property Executive

Today is the 55th Earth Day! How will you be marking the occasion?

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this special Earth Day episode, I interviewed Marta Shantz of the Urban Land Institute. Marta is co-executive director of ULI's Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate and a fount of knowledge about CRE's reckoning with climate change.

The theme of this year's Earth Day is "Plastics vs. the Planet," so Schantz and I discussed how CRE is progressing with the circular economy and other impact-reducing strategies and opportunities. This is a critical time for CRE sustainability. Firms are being more "strategic" than ever about getting to net zero and being greener overall, Schantz said, while having to contend with anti-ESG and now anti-DEI sentiments.

Here's a sample of what you'll hear:

Tactical sustainability (1:17)

Leaders and laggards (2:39)

Landlord & tenant collaboration (4:30)

ESG, DEI and greenhushing (6:22)

Circular strategies and future-proofed buildings (9:25)

The IRA and untapped opportunity (13:21)