Land and the Built Environment

Land and the Built Environment includes investments in land management, conservation, restoration, and development – and related technologies – which contribute to the pursuit of sustainable resource management and ecosystem integrity.  As human population grows, human use of land and critical ecosystem services are increasingly in conflict.  Increasing resource demand approaches the limits of the land’s productive capacity, unplanned development takes place at the expense of natural habitat, and the legacy of careless industrial development is land that is impaired from both a human and an ecological perspective.  There are opportunities for tremendous economic and ecological benefit from investments in sustainable forest management, impaired land remediation, tradable environmental commodities, green real estate development, and technologies that enable more efficient resource use within the built environment.

Drivers

• Increasing demand for high-value wood products, coupled with depleted stocking of natural forests and their conversion to development – creating long-term opportunity for owners of well-managed forests
• Emergence of markets for environmental credits and development of market-based conservation tools – enabling more effective use of limited public and philanthropic funding, while also creating new land-based investment opportunities
• Scarcity of developable land in key locations in urban real estate markets, and increasing restrictions on urban and suburban “sprawl” – creating a strong economic incentive for remediation and redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites and other contaminated land
• The coming of age of brownfield remediation – due to maturation of expertise and technology, supportive regulatory/policy frameworks, and abundant economic incentives
• High energy and other commodity prices – resulting in increased demand for energy efficient buildings and “smart growth” development
• Renewed interest in urban living among multiple demographics with “green” preferences – spurring revitalization of urban cores and increased value for both green retrofits of existing buildings and new green buildings

Areas of Investment Interest

• Land Management – timberland investment and other sustainable land management
• Land-Based Environmental Credits – wetland/species mitigation banking, natural resource damage credits, water credits, carbon credits
• Land Remediation – brownfield restoration and re-development
• Green Building Retrofits and Urban Infill Development
• Vertical Green Building Development
• Green Building Technology – investments in materials that increase energy efficiency, decrease cost, and improve health and safety of the built environment

Institutional Quality Investment Vehicles

• Sustainable Timber Funds
• Environmental Credit Funds
• Brownfield Restoration Funds
• Urban Green Building Funds