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So my first-hand experience with trying to build a greener home and office space is this: We’re relying way too much on the end consumer to move the market forward.

’m not saying you should stop marketing to the end consumer -- we must normalize green building for them so they can comfortably adopt it. But we can’t rely on the consumer to push the architect, builder, appraiser and banker to get a green or more-efficient home or building built. It’s just too hard. And at the end of the day, our ongoing research has proven time and again that consumers will choose the more convenient, comfortable option. They simply don’t want to do battle with the construction industry to get a greener home.

So if you’re responsible for marketing an energy efficient or green building product, take a chunk of your marketing dollars and spend them on an out of the box campaign to show everyone in the value chain what’s in it for them. When we stop relying on consumers to tilt at windmills, we’ll quickly make green building the new normal.

It is composed of scientists and engineers, university professors, poets and architects, and also includes "people in design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and/or creative content”

Employers see creativity as a channel for self-expression and job satisfaction in their employees. About 38.3 million Americans and 30 percent of the American workforce identify themselves with the Creative Class.

cities which attract and retain creative residents prosper, while those that do not stagnate. This research has gained traction in the business community, as well as among politicians and urban planners. Florida and other Creative Class theorists have been invited to meetings of the National Conference of Mayors and numerous economic development committees, such the Denver mayor's Task Force on Creative Spaces and Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm's Cool Cities Initiative.[1]

Live in the future, then build what's missing.

They grew out of things their founders built because there seemed a gap in the world.

cities in Europe face the challenge of combining competitiveness and sustainable urban development simultaneously.

This project, however, does not deal with the leading European metropolises but with medium-sized cities and their perspectives for development. Even though the vast majority of the urban population lives in such cities, the main focus of urban research tends to be on the ‘global’ metropolises. As a result, the challenges of medium-sized cities, which can be rather different, remain unexplored to a certain degree

Medium-sized cities, which have to cope with competition of the larger metropolises on corresponding issues, appear to be less well equipped in terms of critical mass, resources and organizing capacity.

What role are public-private partnerships going to have in funding development in cities? Is that just happy talk or is there reality to it? Hsu-Chen: It’s very real talk. And we’re getting smarter and better at it. Right now a lot of the incentives the city offers are around getting the right density at transit nodes. Kate and I worked together on a project just a couple years ago—Kate in the private sector, I in the public—to deliver a new state-of-the-art skyscraper right across the street from Pennsylvania Station.

The world has become increasingly urban—more than 50 percent of the globe’s population now live in cities. How can we make them more sustainable, efficient, and prosperous?

We don’t have a strong central government. We have a federal system.

The rapid growth of SRI in recent years is the best evidence that sustainable and responsible investing yields competitive returns.

Over the past 20 years, the total dollars invested in SRI has grown exponentially, as has the number of institutional, professional, and individual investors involved in the field.

The bottom line is that more and more investors adopt and use SRI strategies not only because such investments allow a focus beyond the bottom line, but also because returns are comparable to those of more conventional investments.

The WBCSD's Urban Infrastructure Initiative (UII) brings together a diverse group of companies: ACCIONA, AECOM, AGC, CEMEX, EDF, GDF SUEZ, Honda, Nissan, Philips, Siemens, TNT, Toyota and UTC. The UII Co-chairs are CEMEX, GDF SUEZ, Schneider Electric and Siemens; WBCSD is also actively involved as Co-chair. These companies from sectors including energy, buildings, materials, transport, engineering, water, equipment, and support services are collaborating to help urban authorities develop realistic, practical and cost-effective sustainability action plans. The project draws on the expertise of individual companies who already work with urban planners and engineers to provide services and solutions to sustainability challenges in cities.

Each city faces different challenges. Tailor-made solutions are required, as challenges and opportunities vary from country to country and city to city. Some cities can capitalize on expanding populations. Others need to deal with aging and declining numbers. City governments must therefore find systemic solutions to address the interlinked social and environmental challenges and create the right framework conditions to make them competitive in order to attract investments.

For cities, the case for action is compelling: A sustainable city is more competitive and offers its citizens better lives. It uses resources more efficiently, thrives economically, and creates an inclusive community. For companies, the case for action is also compelling:  the urban market offers companies the opportunity to provide systems solutions, products and services in support of sustainable development in cities (buildings, energy, infrastructure, waste collection and recycling, etc.)

FTSE Group, NAREIT, and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently announced a jointly developed green property index for both institutional and retail investors. This first of a kind index was a collaborative effort bringing together global market leaders in US real estate indexing, REIT market expertise, and environmental building standards.

The indexes, currently in the final stages of implementation, will give investors a structured and disciplined way to measure and model the risk and reward profile of green property, using the first codified, transparent definition of listed green property. In addition, the indexes will also provide investors with new ways to incorporate principles of sustainability into their property selections and portfolios, and access this investment theme through index-linked financial products

owners include many of the largest green portfolios, measured as the estimated share of total portfolio value that has either LEED or EnergyStar certification. Just a few of the representative green indexed REITs include Douglas Emmett (DEI), Government Properties Income Trust (GOV), Piedmont Office Realty Trust (PDM), Boston Properties (BXP), Franklin Street Properties (FSP), Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN), Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), SL Green Realty (SLG), Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT), Kilroy Realty (KRC), Washington REIT (WRE), and Cousins Properties (CUZ).

This incredibly strong “it’s not my fault” mentality creates a huge challenge for energy conservation behavior change.  According to social scientist J.B. Rotter, perceived locus of control strongly influences whether behaviors are thought to be “instrumental for goal attainment.”

An applicable psychological concept for this situation is called learned helplessness, which develops when people take actions to address a problem that ultimately fail, thereby solidifying the conclusion that they have no control.

Learned helplessness often translates into a serious motivation problem. Those who have failed at previous tasks are more apt to conclude that they can’t succeed in the future. According to pioneering researchers Steven Maier and Martin Seligman, “Exposure to uncontrollable events interferes with our ability to perceive contingent relationships between our behavior and outcomes.” 

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Michigan Impact. The University of Michigan is having tremendous impact throughout our communities. From the downtowns of Detroit and Grand Rapids and the shorelines of Traverse City and Muskegon, to the community colleges of the Upper Peninsula and the medical clinics in mid-Michigan, U-M is committed to improving the quality of life in the Great Lakes State.

A new $9 million U-M Great Lakes research and education center will guide efforts to protect and restore the world's largest group of freshwater lakes by reducing toxic contamination, combating invasive species, protecting wildlife habitat and promoting coastal health.

Nearly $1.7 billion in support for the U-M comes from donors and gifts from every county across Michigan. Support also comes from alums, and that happened in a significant way this year in the arts at U-M.