February 2021
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Green ULI Report Highlights Sustainability Topics Washington – A new report from the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance shows that the real estate industry will take an increasingly focused view of environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies in 2021. ULI is a global, multidisciplinary real estate organization whose work is driven by more than 45,000 members dedicated to responsible land use and building thriving communities. The ULI Sustainability Outlook 2021 is the Institute’s first-ever look-ahead on issues that are specific to ESG-related concerns in the real estate industry. Members from ULI’s Sustainable Development Council (SDC), along with ULI Global chairman, Owen D. Thomas, and ULI trustee, Ken Hubbard,
contributed to the report. “While the health crisis and social unrest dominated much of our attention in 2020, sustainability has remained at the forefront,” said Thomas, chairman of Boston Properties. “In fact, as this sustainability outlook shows, the events of the past year have led to health and wellness as well as a social equity cementing themselves as key components of sustainability. While this poses new
BPDA Releases Draft Zoning Overlay
challenges for how we in the industry will measure portfolio risk, value, and performance, it also reinforces just how intertwined our work is with so many aspects of people’s lives.” The Sustainability Outlook 2021 focuses on three key questions sent to the interviewees: What sustainability topics are on the rise; why do they matter; and what should the industry do about it? Based on the ULI member input received, Greenprint compiled a “top-ten” list of sustainability issues that the industry will be facing over the next year: • Real estate’s increasing role in advancing sustainability throughout the market; • Increased appetite for ESG investing; • Heightened emphasis on health and social equity;
Unitil Completes Regional Facility
Unitil’s new facility in Exeter
Boston – The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) has released a draft zoning overlay that will require new development and retrofits to take additional steps to limit the damage and displacement related to the impacts of coastal storms and sea level rise. It promotes resilient planning and design, provides consistent standards for the review of projects, and maximizes the benefits of investments in coastal resilience. The Coastal Flood Resilience Zoning Overlay District will apply to areas of the city that could be inundated during a major coastal storm event. In 2019, the BPDA adopted guidelines to provide clear strategies and best practices for developers, business owners, and residents to respond to climate change. The Zoning Overlay (Article 25A of the Boston Zoning Code) will provide
new definitions and standards for building dimensions and uses to facilitate flood resilient design for new projects and building retrofits. Intended to prevent flood damage by elevating building occupiable space, flood proofing areas beneath flood elevations, and promoting health and safety by preventing uses such as living space below the flood elevation, the specific provisions of the overlay include Building Height, Building Setbacks, Lot Coverage and Required Open Space, Gross Square Floor Area, and Limitations on Use Below the Sea Level Rise Design Flood Elevation. The BPDA has also launched the Zero Net Carbon Building Zoning Initiative to assess and identify strategies to strengthen green building zoning requirements to a zero net carbon standard for new construction, to meet Mayor Walsh’s goal for Boston to be carbon neutral by 2050.
• A baseline expectation for energy efficiency in real estate; • Tenants driving sustainability innovation; • Emissions reductions through embodied carbon of building construction materials; • Increasingly grid-interactive buildings; • Resilience and climate risk as a priority for investments; • Water as a resource to be conserved and leveraged; and • Waste reduction over a building’s life cycle. To read the entire report, visit h t t ps://k n owledge. u li. org/rep o r ts / research-reports/2021/uli-sustainabilityoutlook-2021.
Exeter, NH – Unitil, a local provider of natural gas and electricity, announced completion of its planned 54,000sf regional facility. The new facility is located on Energy Way in Exeter, just off Exit 9 on Rt. 101. The facility will be home to Unitil’s seacoast electric distribution operations as well as its forestry, engineering and centralized electric dispatch teams. New Hampshire-based PROCON served as designer and construction manager. Unitil CEO, Tom Meissner, said, “This state-of-the-art facility has been responsibly designed with a focus on sustainability to improve efficiency, lower costs and protect our environment.”
building, it was designed as an “essential” facility, meaning it will be able to operate during a man-made disaster, similar to a police or fire station. During major weather events, the facility will serve as the emergency operations center for the region and will support preparation, damage assessment, public safety, and restoration efforts as the hub of local operations. Construction on the new facility began in fall 2019.
Live wall warehouse
With no immediate ribbon cutting ceremony possible, Unitil has created a video with a “virtual tour” to celebrate its completion internally and to share progress with others, at https://youtu. be/9ZhvL-rIWEg to watch the video.
Live wall corridor
While energy efficiency practices and other environmentally-friendly design choices have been made throughout the
Unitil meter wall
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