Virtual Session
12:00 - 1:00 PM
About the Presentation:
ULI recognized real estate’s responsibility and opportunity to address the climate crisis and work toward net zero. And thanks to a generous gift from 5 ULI members, the Net Zero Imperative offers technical assistance and ongoing support to a selection of cities around the world to help them reach net zero. This webinar will discuss the recommendations from the City of Austin’s technical assistance panel and the next steps the city should take to move forward on Austin’s Climate Equity Plan.
About the Speakers:
Ashley Besic, Urban Land Institute
Ashley Besic is a Senior Manager for the Greenprint Center for Building Performance at the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a nonprofit education and research institute that focuses on issues of land use, real estate, and urban development. Greenprint, part of ULI’s research centers & initiatives, is focused on climate mitigation and net zero, making the business case for green buildings by tying reducing carbon to increases in asset value.
At Greenprint, Ashley manages implementation of the ULI Net Zero Imperative, a multi-year initiative to accelerate decarbonization in the built environment with public sector and private real estate leaders at the local level.
Prior to her time at ULI, Ashley was a Sustainability Project Manager at LivCor, a Blackstone Portfolio Company where she was instrumental in laying the foundation for the multifamily firm’s Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) department and driving their sustainability programming forward.
Phoebe Romero, Office of Sustainability at City of Austin
Phoebe Romero is passionate about the intersection of climate policy and racial equity. She works at the City of Austin Office of Sustainability focusing on air quality and climate action that reduces environmental impact and improves quality of life outcomes for historically impacted communities. Formerly she was a Program Manager at CLEAResult implementing utility energy efficiency programs for large commercial and institutional organizations across Texas.
Prior to CLEAResult, she was an Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps Fellow tasked with evaluating energy and water conservation initiatives at Huston-Tillotson University.
