Sustainability = Higher Value
February 28, 2008

The concept that land development projects which meet standards of sustainability should have a higher value than ones that do not is an idea that has been discussed for some time now. Evidence that the talk is turning into action is beginning to surface around the world, as indicated in this month’s issue of Responsible Investor magazine which quotes Paul McNamara, chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, in an interview on “Why sustainability has an impact on real estate value and should play a central role in investment decisions”

Citigroup’s 10 year, US $20 billion pledge climate change commitment exemplifies strategies employed by financial firms. Bank of America has made a similar 10 year, US$20 billion and will support activities such as the development and financing of ‘green’ buildings, advising clients participating in carbon markets, lending to support development of low carbon and low emissions technologies and favorable lending rates for mortgage customers whose homes meet certain energy efficiency standards. Ceres is a national network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups working with companies and investors to address sustainability challenges. As part of this mission, Ceres launched and coordinates the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), an alliance of leading U.S. institutional investors that collectively manage over $4 trillion in assets.

The concept of sustainability is also embedded in the insurance business through the practice of risk management and underwriting. The core function of insurance - to transfer risk - entails that the insurance industry plays a critical role in mitigating the adverse economic, social and environmental consequences of financial losses arising from fortuitous events. This role is particularly evident during the occurrence of major natural catastrophes and man-made disasters that are becoming increasingly frequent.

As concluded by SLDI President, Industry Relations, Greg Yoko, in his February The Last Word article, "With the financial stakeholders in our industry adopting sustainability, it will certainly help the private developers become more comfortable with designing and implementing sustainable projects."

Your participation and comments are welcome.

Terry Mock
Executive Director
Sustainable Land Development International

Promoting Land development worldwide that balanaces the needs of people, planet & profit - for today and future generation.

• Sustainable Land Development Today Magazine
• People, Planet and Profit
• Beyond Buildings
• Welcome to SLDI

• The Need for Industry Leadership - Cooperative teamwork encourages an open exchange of ideas and generates integrated, whole-system solutions.
  (February 2008)  Aligning business, social and environmental issues can often seem like a daunting, if not impossible, task. The purpose of Sustainable Land Development International (SLDI), on behalf of the industry, is not only to deliver more effective tools for industry professionals to deal with these issues, but to be such an instrument itself.
  Source: Sustainable Land Development Today Magazine

• Ethical investing: funds that favor planet savers.
  (February 25, 2008) Climate change is gaining traction as an important theme for investors. But not all investment products with a climate-change theme are committed to finding solutions. Some could be profiting from it.
  Source: Christian Science Monitor

• Branson's coconut airways--but jet is on a flight to nowhere, say critics.
  (February 25, 2008) Yesterday, a Boeing 747 running on jet fuel and the oil from 150,000 coconuts became the first commercial aircraft flight to be powered partly by biofuel. Is this environmentally responsible aviation?
  Source: London Guardian, England.

• Environmentally friendly investments becoming ever more popular today.
  (February 26, 2008) Apparently it's not enough to buy fluorescent light bulbs anymore. These days, your retirement investments ought to be environmentally friendly, too.
  Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania.

• Water Quality Rules key to good Land Use in County
  (February 25, 2008) Looking out over piles of record-setting snowfall, ready to melt someday soon over frozen ground a regional study projects that, if development continues as currently practiced, extreme flooding would reoccur
  Source: The Capital Times

• Now it can pay to go Green
  (February 24, 2008) Research carried out by the Investment Management Association
  Source: London Independent, England

• For Money Managers, Green is in
  (February 23, 2008) From investment management firms to pension funds and big banks, "sustainable investing" is now a serious part of their corporate mandates.
  Source: Toronto Globe and Mail, Ontario

• Cashing in on Pollution
  (February 22, 2008) Cherokee Investment Partners buys contaminated industrial properties, cleans them up and turns them into green communities.
  Source: Fortune

• How Green is my Realtor
  (February 19, 2008) More real-estate agents are marketing themselves as eco-friendly -- connecting environmentally conscious buyers to "green" homes and helping sellers make their homes more eco-sensitive.
  Source: Wall Street Journal

• Google makes Environmental Push
  (February 18, 2008) Through a string of ambitious initiatives, Google and its philanthropic arm, Google.org, are trying to change the way the world gets and uses energy.
  Source: Cox News Service

• Silicon Valley starts to turn its face to the Sun
  (February 17, 2008) Can Silicon Valley become a world leader in cheap and ubiquitous solar panels for the masses?
  Source: New York Times

• Investors chip in to make Buildings Green
  (February 14, 2008) In Washington, a group of private investors are putting up a half of a billion dollars to help pay for green overhauls to dozens of buildings.
  Source: Morning Edition, NPR

• Green Development sought for GRCA land
  (February 14, 2008) From now on, any developer invited to buy surplus land from the Grand River Conservation Authority must agree, as a condition of sale, to build an intensely green subdivision.
  Source: Waterloo Record, Ontario

• Towns get Cash to Fight Pollution
  (February 14, 2008) Cohasset, Duxbury, and Weymouth were awarded grants Monday by a state program designed to reduce coastal pollution, improve water quality in coastal wetlands, and restore spawning fish and shellfish populations.
  Source: Boston Globe, Massachusetts

• Changing Teams
  (February 11, 2008) A growing number of professionals, after working for years in an industry long demonized for environmental destruction, are reinventing themselves as protectors of the earth.
  Source: Wall Street Journal

• Builders see Demand for homes based on Sustainability
  (February 10, 2008) The majority of homes and buildings in Wisconsin get energy today from the same sources — mostly nonrenewable natural gas and electricity from coal, considered a major polluter.
  Source: La Crosse Tribune, Wisconsin

• Rural Wind Power shifts Direction
  (February 22, 2008) Cooperatives are nothing to new to farmers, who often pool their crops to gain pricing power, but today, they are increasingly applying the co-op model toward wind power.
  Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota