SASB – Opportunity Zones – Insights From the Land of OZ

January 23, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

Top 10 LEED States in the US – Colorado on Top – Brad A. Molotsky, Esq.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced its list of Top 10 States for LEED green building. Congrats to Colorado who took the top spot on the list, which ranks states based on the number of LEED certified square feet per person. Yes slightly odd way to measure things but they are the ones counting so onward we roll.

LEED, as you likely know, stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and is the most widely used green building rating system in the world with more than 100,000 projects engaged.

This year’s top states are home to more than 105 million people, including more than 80,000 LEED green building professionals with the credentials and skills needed to support the sustainable transformation of buildings.
LEED-certified projects support personal health and well-being, as well as use less energy and water, reduce carbon emissions and have been proven to save money for families, businesses and taxpayers.

Per USGBC, the Top 10 list is based on 2010 U.S. Census data and includes commercial and institutional green building projects certified throughout 2019.

Colorado certified 102 green building projects representing 4.76 square feet of LEED-certified space per resident. The state has made the Top 10 list each year but jumped to the top spot after ranking sixth in 2018.

Minnesota and Oregon reemerged as Top 10 states after missing the list last year, coming in at number eight and nine respectively. The full rankings are as follows:

2019 Top 10 States for LEED
Rank State, Certified Gross Square Footage (GSF), GSF Per Capita, Number of Projects Certified, and LEED Professionals

1 CO     23,962,344      4.76      102         6,339
2 IL       49,363,822       3.85     121          8,662
3 NY     72,778,916       3.76     193     12,576
4 MA    24,505,512       3.74     101          6,827
5 HI        4,083,713       3.00      121        1,145
6 MD    15,234,554       2.64       96         4,998
7 VA     19,981,112        2.50      98         6,526
8 MN    12,708,706       2.40        25         3,346
9 OR       8,825,432       2.30        33         2,908
10 CA   80,669,066      2.17      400      26,794
** DC   31,810,018   52.86      143        2,597

**Washington, D.C. is not ranked as it is a federal district, not a state

USGBC calculates the list using per capita figures to allow for a fair comparison of the level of green building taking place among states with significant differences in population and number of overall buildings.

Despite Washington, D.C. not appearing in the official Top 10 list because of its status as a federal territory, it consistently leads the nation and in 2019 certified 52.86 square feet of space per resident across 143 green building projects. The nation’s capital has a strong legacy of sustainability leadership and has expanded its use of LEED from buildings to cities and communities to support its goals.

In 2017, it became the first LEED-certified city and in 2019 certified the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District LEED Platinum, the first business improvement district in the world to certify.

Across the U.S. there are more than 165,000 LEED green building professionals.

As USGBC continues to advance green buildings, cities and communities through the adoption of LEED and the latest version of the rating system, LEED v4.1, the organization is also considering a future that is focused on a more regenerative approach.

In November 2019 at the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, USGBC introduced “LEED Positive” – a roadmap that will lay the foundation for a future of LEED that transitions away from strategies that only reduce harm and instead focus on those that help repair and restore. With a continued focus on performance, USGBC is attempting to lay the groundwork to ensure sustainable design, construction and operations of buildings, cities and communities remains focused on better buildings that contribute to better lives.

For more on LEED and sustainability, do not hesitate to email or call and we would be happy to discuss this and other ESG, CSR and sustainability topics. Best regards. -Brad

January 11, 2019January 3, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

ESG – Is anybody listening, does anybody care – YES indeed!

Who Cares About ESG?

Before we answer the question “Who cares about ESG?” I think we should first define it. The acronym itself stands for environmental, social and governance factors that apply to a business or enterprise. According to Investopedia, E-S and G are the three main factors investors consider with regard to a firm’s ethical impact and sustainable practices. The site gives some examples that fall under each of the broad headings, including “the company’s impact on climate change or carbon emissions, water use or conservation efforts, anti-corruption policies, board member diversity, human rights efforts and community development.”

ESG and sustainability are often used interchangeably (even though they are not) because the investor community tends to refer to ESG whereas companies tend to refer to these criteria under the umbrella of sustainability. Regardless, Nasdaq reports that both terms refer to the ESG factors that “can impact a company’s ability to execute its business strategy and create value.”

So, who cares about ESG? Certainly member states of the U.N. who signed on to the organization’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are monitoring, measuring and verifying these criteria. And, moving from the perspective of the nation state to an enterprise, more than 12,000 have pledged to support the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Drilling down to the individual level, Thomson Reuters notes that we’re in the midst of the “the largest inter-generational transfer of wealth ever seen, with some US $24 Trillion expected to be under the control of the millennial population by 2020.” Yes, by next year. And, just as millenials value purpose in their work, they also choose investments that reflect their values.

At Duane Morris, we strive to serve our clients as trusted business partners so we can deliver them exceptional value. Throughout the year, starting later this month, we will be convening business leaders to take a deeper dive into various ESG topics that are affecting their companies and creating opportunities for investors and venture partners. In addition to this blog, we will also be hosting a webinar series and will seek to create additional content as ESG-related issues arise through new legislation and regulatory mandates.

With so much of the world’s attention on the impact we’re having on our collective environment and in our communities, and with so much of the world’s wealth at stake, perhaps the real question is not who cares about ESG, but, rather who isn’t concerned about ESG?

#ESG #sustainability #GRESB #SDG #SASB #GRI

January 10, 2019January 3, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

ESG – Relevant in this day and age or just a fad?

I had the pleasure of attending the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) – Philadelphia Chapter meeting yesterday morning at the Union League in Philadelphia. Very good attendance to hear Dave Stangis (Campbell’s Soup), Jamie Rantanen (US Trust) and Jennifer Wong (Glenmede) discuss the topic of ESG (“Environmental, Social and Governance”) as it relates to public company and private company investment.

ESG provides companies and investors with a systematic means to identify risk within the lens of environmental issues, social issues and governance issues. Different, but related to, Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) which is the means of improving social outcomes within an organization and how and organization measures its ESG outcomes.

Super conversation and some interesting questions from the audience during the presentation that touched on aligning values with investment outcomes (i.e., impact investing), risk mitigation through focus on ESG, the Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs), the increase of shareholder activism in the investment space, including an increased focus on ESG issues, the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (or SASB) and their focus on measurable sustainability metrics, and the difference between philanthropy, impact investing, ESG investing and standard market investing.

To the question about ESG and is it relevant from the audience member focused on mutual fund investing – the panel and this author firmly believe yes, ESG is relevant, becoming more relevant and an increasing amount of investors are seeking to invest in companies that align their ROI with ESG. No, not everyone, of course, but more and more as time goes on. I for one believe ESG will continue to become more relevant as a lens within which to view investing, efficiency, and alignment of investor interests with companies that more closely match their values.

I look forward to engaging in the conversation as the year progresses and to including some of my friends and colleagues in a monthly chat on ESG. Come join us if of interest.

Check out RBS’s chart at http://go.pardot.com/l/441592/2018-09-18/jjjrt8 for some interesting data

See also, Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock’s statement on ESG – https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/blk-esg-investment-statement-web.pdf

#Sustainability #ESG #SRI #impactinvesting #governance #SASB #environmental, social, governanceBrad