Greenbuild is the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. The ideals and passion of the green building community come alive at Greenbuild. The buzz is contagious. Greenbuild brings together industry leaders, experts and frontline professionals dedicated to sustainable building in their everyday work, and a unique energy is sparked. Participants are invigorated. Inspired. They find themselves equipped to return to their jobs with a renewed passion and purpose.
Join with GRESB for the following events:
Education Session: GRESB – The Investor Perspective
[two-thirds-first]
Event Description
This session provides an introduction to GRESB Real Estate in order to gain a broader understanding of the GRESB Assessment and Portal.
The session will look at ESG data for real estate portfolios and explore why investors are calling for this information and how they, property managers, and other professionals in the real estate sector can use it in relation to their real estate portfolios and to inform their sustainability strategies. The session will also look specifically at how GRESB Investors are currently using the GRESB results, and share case studies from them.
In addition to the GRESB Benchmark report that participants and investors can see for submissions, members can make use of the GRESB Portfolio Analysis Tool to create customized reports. The analytical tools in the GRESB Portal will be explained in depth so that users can learn how to more fully leverage the insights available from their GRESB data.
Learning Objectives
- Learn basics of GRESB
- Learn what kind of data is available in the GRESB Portal and how to use the analytical tools
- Learn why investors are calling for ESG data and why it is important to their decisions
- Practical application: How to use the GRESB Portfolio Analysis Tool
Presenters
[accordion tag=h6]
[accordion-item title=”Roxana Isaiu Director, ESG & Real Estate, GRESB” state=closed]
Roxana Isaiu is responsible for the management and implementation of GRESB Real Estate, including business, market and product development of the annual Real Estate Assessment and all adjacent products and services. Since she joined GRESB more than five years ago, Roxana has been supporting real estate property companies and funds in translating their sustainability efforts into GRESB reporting and has been focused on implementing benchmark related services focused on data quality. Roxana holds a Masters in Corporate Finance and Banking from Duisenberg School of Finance and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. GRESB is an investor-driven organization that is transforming the way we assess the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real assets globally, including real estate portfolios and infrastructure assets. More than 250 members, of which about 60 are pension funds and their fiduciaries, use the GRESB data in their investment management and engagement process, with a clear goal to optimize the risk/return profile of their investments.
[/accordion-item]
[accordion-item title=”Ulrich Scharf, Director of IT & Analytics, GRESB” state=closed]
As Director of IT & Analytics for GRESB, Ulrich Scharf has been heavily focused on integrating different building level data collection systems to create an automatic stream of data to investors. With the vision to create an ecosystem in which building performance data is automatically aggregated and benchmarked for investment decision making, GRESB sees a heterogeneous landscape of existing data collection systems form connections to reporting/benchmarking platforms and thereby utilize the building performance data in new ways. GRESB’s role is to translate this newly available environmental building data into relevant investment decision metrics as well as incentivize the development of data integrations. In this capacity, Ulrich Scharf oversees the development of these metrics as well as have a good overview of the building data collection field through our API connections to varies systems.
[/accordion-item]
[/accordion]
[/two-thirds-first]
[one-third]
Logistics
| Date | Monday, November 6 |
| Time | 8:30 am to 12:30 pm |
| Location | |
| Registration | Greenbuild website |
[/one-third]
[two-thirds-first]
Breakfast Session: PACE Financing: Strategic Opportunity, Tactical Benefits and Practical Implementation
Presentation on SlideShare
Event Description
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) is an innovative financing program growing across the country. To date, 34 states and DC have enacted PACE enabling legislation and 19 states have active commercial PACE program(s). PACE permits commercial properties to obtain long-term, fixed interest rate financing for the installation of energy efficient, renewable energy and water conservation measures. PACE financing is repaid through a special assessment as part of the property tax collection process.
PACE is particularly attractive for commercial property owners for a number of reasons, including (i) extended term – up to 20 years; (ii) transfers with the sale of the property to new owner, who continues to benefit from the energy savings; (iii) off-balance sheet financing; and (iv) in certain leases structures, tenant pays the increased property taxes which are offset by tenant’s reduced utility and operation costs.
This session will outline the potential opportunities REITs can realize by utilizing PACE in eligible markets. Such benefits include:
- 100% financing for capital-intensive improvements with no personal guarantees
- Lower energy costs resulting in cash flow positive projects
- Owner retains all tax and utility incentives
- Improve asset value and accelerate sustainability goals
Learning Objectives
- Understand opportunities to use PACE financing for capital improvement projects
- Identify the range of opportunities to realize operating expense savings to finance PACE borrowing obligations
- Acquire expert insight into specific lease clauses and other decision drivers
- Recognize how PACE is a valuable tool to increasing short-term income and overall asset value
Moderator
Dan Winters, Head of Americas, GRESB
Speakers
[accordion tag=h6]
[accordion-item title=”Brian McCarter, CEO, Sustainable Real Estate Solutions, Inc” state=closed]
Brian McCarter is CEO of Sustainable Real Estate Solutions, Inc. (SRS). SRS is an industry leader in administering Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) programs nationwide. SRS clients include C-PACE programs in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and Virginia.
To serve these markets SRS has developed a scalable energy efficiency and renewable energy project scenario development, optimization and underwriting process which is built into its cloud-based PACEworx™ Platform.
This best practice for underwriting clean energy investments has facilitated over $125 million in C-PACE projects and has earned the confidence of key stakeholders nationwide.
Brian is a frequent speaker at building energy efficiency conferences across the country.
[/accordion-item]
[accordion-item title=”Keirstin Beck, Principal, Integro, LLC” state=closed]
Keirstin Beck began her commercial real estate career almost two decades as a licensed attorney in Colorado, representing clients in all aspects of development and redevelopment projects. During this time, Ms. Beck has worked with over 30 local governments to establish countless public/private partnerships that advance local economic development policies and result in tangible economic community benefits. Her primary expertise is identifying, leveraging and capitalizing on alternative financing options in commercial real estate transactions through the use of often unknown/underutilized tax credits/deductions, tax increment financing (TIF), public improvement fees (PIF), Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) and other forms of public assistance, tax credits and economic incentives.
She is an AV-rated (Preeminent) by Martindale Hubble and was recently named one of the Top Women in Energy by the Denver Business Journal.
[/accordion-item]
[accordion-item title=”Kevin McSweeney, Regional Sales Manager, EnerNOC” state=closed]
Kevin McSweeney, Regional Sales Manager at EnerNOC, an Enel Group company, will provide insight into how the business case for energy management is evolving in the face of several critical trends in the industry, including legislation on carbon emissions, the emergence of technologies like energy storage and energy intelligence software, and increasing demand for transparency into sustainability practices from the investment community.
[/accordion-item]
[/accordion]
Sponsor
[/two-thirds-first]
[one-third]
Logistics
| Date | Tuesday, November 7 |
| Time | 7:30 am to 8:45 am |
| Location | Convention & Exhibition Center, Rm 256 |
| Registration | GRESB registration |
[/one-third]
Breakfast Session: Sustainable Investment Strategies – ESG as Value Driver
[two-thirds-first]
Event Description
Smart, sustainable developments support the attraction and retention of talent required to maintain and grow a city’s economy. Sustainable urban neighborhoods continue to shift away from car-centric design emphasizing multimodal transportation access, an amenitized lifestyle, and reduced environmental impacts. This session explores
Learning Objectives
- Understand the importance GRESB plays to the engagement dynamic between investors and portfolio managers
- Identify areas where environmental and social aspects add to a real estate project’s overall viability, investor alignment, and long-term asset value.
- Acquire significant insights into downtown Boston’s largest transit-oriented development project, the 2.9 million of Bullfinch Crossing in the heart of Government Center
- Learn how private equity fund managers factor ESG measures into risk assessments and business decisions
Moderator
Dan Winters, Head of Americas, GRESB
Speakers
[accordion tag=h6]
[accordion-item title=”Tom O’Brien, Managing Director, HYM Investment Group ” state=closed]
Thomas N. O’Brien is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of The HYM Investment Group, LLC. HYM is currently leading the development of over nine million square feet of mixed-use development in Greater Boston, including the following notable and complex projects: Bulfinch Crossing (Government Center Garage Redevelopment), Boston Landing, and NorthPoint. Prior to HYM, O’Brien served as a Managing Partner for JPI, a national developer and owner of multifamily communities, and as a Managing Director in Boston and New York for Tishman Speyer, one of the world’s leading real estate firms. O’Brien also led the Boston Redevelopment Authority as its Director and Chief of Staff, overseeing the development of over 12 million Square Feet of projects in Boston, from 1994 to 2000. He served as the General Counsel and Director of Finance at the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency from 1989 to 1994. He began his career as an investment analyst with the American International Group (“AIG”) in New York. O’Brien has served as Chairman of The Greater Boston Real Estate Board and currently serves on the Board of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard University and as Vice Chair of the Board of Overseers of The Anti-Defamation League of New England. In 2011, the Governor of Massachusetts appointed O’Brien to the Board of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. In 2016, Mayor Martin J. Walsh appointed O’Brien to the Board of Trustees of the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. O’Brien is a graduate of Brown University and Suffolk University Law School, and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.
[/accordion-item]
[accordion-item title=”Josh Nothwang, Practice Leader, Sustainability and Energy, US Water and Environment, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff” state=closed]
[/accordion-item]
[accordion-item title=”Deborah Ng, CFA, Director Strategy & Risk, Head of Responsible Investing, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan” state=closed]
Deborah Ng is a Director, Strategy & Risk and Head Responsible Investing at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Deborah leads the Plan’s responsible investing initiatives, working internally with all investment teams to integrate environmental, social and governance considerations in their investment processes and externally with global peers and organizations to engage with corporations and promote sustainability in investments. Areas of focus for the plan include: corporate governance, climate change, supply chain, cyber security and ESG disclosures. Prior to this Deborah was part of the Strategy & Asset Mix team where she focused on the research, evaluation, and introduction of innovative asset allocation strategies that are designed to help meet the Plan’s long-term liability objectives. She also provided input and support for the annual strategic investment plan and medium-term risk management. Deborah is Chair of the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark’s Infrastructure Advisory Board, and a member of the Bloomberg ESG Advisory Committee. Prior to joining Teachers’, Deborah founded Acuity Communications, assisting investment firms such as UBS Securities, CIBC WM, and Desjardins Securities with their investment research requirements. Deborah was awarded with Directors Award from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto where she obtained her Master of Finance. She is also a CFA charter holder.
[/accordion-item]
[accordion-item title=”Tony Pringle, Partner, Quinn & Partners” state=closed]
[/accordion-item]
[/accordion]
[/two-thirds-first]
[one-third]
Logistics
| Date | Tuesday, November 7 |
| Time | morning Breakout Panel |
| Location | Convention & Exhibition Center |
| Registration | Greenbuild website |
[/one-third]
GRESB Member Happy Hour
[two-thirds-first]
Sponsors
[/two-thirds-first]
[one-third]
Logistics
| Date | Tuesday, November 7 |
| Time | 6:00 pm |
| Location | Row 34 | 383 Congress St. Boston, MA 02210 |
[/one-third]