ULI Chairman Todd Mansfield opened the ULI’s Fourth Annual Developing and Investing Green conference with an observation that sustainable development has "entered the mainstream" of the land use industry, and is no longer viewed as a "passing fad." His comments set the theme for a highly informative opening day of the two-day event, held April 7-8 in Charlotte, N.C.
Speaker after speaker conveyed the benefits of development that is not just environmentally sustainable, but sustainable from an economic, social, and green standpoint. Keynoter speaker Peter Calthorpe, principal of Calthorpe and Associates (and 2006 laureate of the ULI JC Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development) explained to roughly 700 attendees, "Where you choose to develop is more important than what you develop."
A sample of notable quotes from panelists:
"If you are not building green, you are building obsolete." -- Doug Durst, co-president, The Durst Organization.
"We have got to change the way we are building and managing the built environemtn, and there is little time to do this." -- Dennis Wilde, principal, Gerding Edlen Development Company.
"Green is more likely to be financed in a credit crunch." -- Jonathan Rose, conference chairman and president, Jonathan Rose Companies LLC.
"Workforce housing development is just as green as a LEED building. [Investing in projects that allow] living close to jobs is just as important as investing in high-performance buildings." -- Cherie Santos-Wuest, director, global social and community investments, TIAA-CREF.
"We cannot be naïve about the impact of environmental challenges. We need to be holistic about how we address all the challenges." -- Nicholas Haskell, principal, EDAW, Inc.
From Portland, Oregon, to Dubai, the message is clear: Build sustainably or be left behind. Among the wide variety of topics discussed at the conference: how to build sustainably on the edge; retrofitting buildings; green development practices that pay off; the government’s response to sustainability; new sources of green capital; and choosing the right green certification program.
The high level of interest in the topic illustrates the "can-do" attitude that keynoter Jim Rogers, chairman, president and CEO of Duke Energy Corporation said is necessary to tackle climate change. "I believe the problem can be solved if we entertain the politics of possibilities, not the politics of limitations," he said.
More to come on the second day of the conference.
