ULI Net Zero Imperative: Three Years of Accelerating Building Decarbonization

Resumen del informe: The ULI Net Zero Imperative (NZI) program, which entered its fourth year and cohort in 2024, has engaged over 20 ULI district and national councils globally, bringing together public- and private-sector stakeholders to advance efforts to decarbonize buildings. Each year, several ULI district and national councils are accepted into the program and are connected together as a program cohort. The ULI NZI is a growing, collaborative network of ULI district and national councils, including ULI staff, local governments, real estate leaders, and community stakeholder groups focused on decarbonizing cities and real estate.

The conversations, ideas, challenges, and solutions shared by ULI member experts through the program have addressed each facet of real estate's journey to net zero, depicted in the diagram to the right, with lessons learned and best practices shared among the global cohort network of NZI participants and throughout the ULI membership.

This mid-program synthesis and impact report spotlights both lofty ideas and practical solutions to decarbonize buildings, communities, and cities that have been shared throughout the past three years of NZI efforts. To set the stage, the report begins with an overview of the NZI cohort program and its goals, followed by stories of impact, key recommendations distilled from the cohorts, and relevant and scalable resources. The report wraps up with a forecast for the future of the program and opportunities for further exploration.

The NZI program has shown that change is possible - small changes immediately and big changes over time. Successes and challenges are integrated throughout the report and spotlight both impact stories and useful or unique recommendations that surfaced throughout these three years of NZI efforts to date.