On February 21, 2024, the Yale Center for International Finance (ICF) and the Yale Center for Business Environment (CBEY) co-hosted a panel discussion featuring Bruce Redman Becker (MBA/M.Arch 1985, Principal, Becker + Becker Architects), Jessica Bailey (GSAS 2004, President and CEO, Nuveen Green Capital), and Brian Murray (MBA 2009, Partner and CEO, Shift Capital). Cameron LaPointe, Assistant Professor of Finance at the Yale School of Management, provided introductory remarks and data, and the conversation was moderated by Stuart Deschue, Executive Director of the Yale Center for Business Environment (CBEY).
Event description
Real estate accounts for 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions, of which 29% comes from energy use in existing buildings. The pandemic has led to a surge in investments in home improvements, including solar panels, energy-saving technologies, and disaster prevention measures such as wildfire and earthquake reinforcement. This trend is likely to continue as more homeowners stay in their homes longer to avoid taking out mortgages at higher interest rates; this phenomenon is known as the “lock-in” effect. To make it easier to access financing for renovations, new state-level programs such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) offer loans for green property renovations with fewer restrictions than traditional lines of credit.
At the same time, the work-from-home revolution has caused commercial office and retail real estate values to fall by more than 40% in some metropolitan areas, creating strong financial incentives for owners and local governments to redevelop space and reduce building vacancies. In October 2023, the White House released new resources towards the mission of incentivizing the transition to zero emissions and increasing housing supply, aiming to make housing more affordable while tackling the climate crisis.
Could improving the energy efficiency of buildings help us avoid the real estate lock-in effect of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Check out the video of this panel discussion: To answer this question, the panelists explored the latest financial innovations, sustainable technologies, and policy initiatives that will shape the future of green real estate redevelopment.
Panelists
Bruce Redman Becker
Bruce Redman Becker is president of Becker + Becker, a full-service sustainable construction and development firm based in Westport, Connecticut.
Bruce's firm plans, designs, and delivers development projects with social and environmental value, helping rebuild and strengthen communities and revitalizing cities. The firm has completed the adaptive reuse of the former Bank of America Building in Hartford, constructing 285 LEED Platinum units at 777 Main, and the 360 State Street project in New Haven, a 32-story, LEED Platinum 500-unit … The hotel is LEED Platinum certified and was the first hotel in the United States to be Passive House certified.
Bruce was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2019, is a LEED Accredited Professional, and a member of the U.S. Green Building Council. Bruce authored a chapter in the AIA Professional Practice Handbook on the practice of the dual role of architect and developer.
Bruce is a founding director of the Connecticut Renewable Energy & Efficiency Business Association, currently serves as President of the Connecticut Electric Vehicle Club, and is a founding director of Land Use Atlas, Inc. Bruce graduated from Amherst College, attended the Architecture and Urban Institute, and earned his MBA and Masters of Architecture from Yale University. Bruce lives in a net-zero energy historic home in Westport with his wife and partner, Kramer Sims Becker.
Jessica Bailey
Jessica Bailey is President and CEO of Nuveen Green Capital, a leading provider of sustainable commercial real estate financing. Prior to her role at Nuveen, she co-founded Greenworks Lending, the largest commercial PACE (C-PACE) financing provider in the United States. Greenworks Lending was acquired by Nuveen, a TIAA company, in April 2021. Nuveen Green Capital's mission is to make clean energy a smart business decision for commercial building owners. Leveraging public-private partnerships and state-led policies that Bailey helped develop in 2010, C-PACE financing has become a mainstream financing tool for clean energy upgrades in commercial real estate and sustainable new construction.
Greenworks (now rebranded as Nuveen Green Capital) was founded in 2015 and has introduced C-PACE financing to approximately 30 states across the United States. As co-founder and CEO of Greenworks Lending, Mr. Bailey has grown the company into a national lending platform operating in over 30 states, raised and deployed over $1 billion in debt and equity, and built a team of over 100 professionals. Greenworks was the first to securitize cash flows related to clean energy loans in 2017 and completed the industry's largest public securitization in 2021. Through its nationwide distribution and origination platform, the company has experienced double-digit annual growth since its inception. In 2021, Mr. Bailey successfully completed the acquisition of Greenworks by Nuveen, retaining his role as CEO and President of Nuveen Green Capital.
Bailey has 20 years of leadership experience in high growth non-profit, public and private companies. She combines vision with pragmatism to transform concepts into thriving businesses and is recognized for her work translating climate change reversal policy into practice. Her career has ranged from policy development in the philanthropic and think tank sectors, to policy implementation in government organizations, to using policy frameworks as market signals to scale social problem solutions in the private sector.
Prior to co-founding Greenworks Lending, Bailey served as director of Commercial and Industrial Property Assessment Clean Energy (C-PACE) for the Connecticut Green Bank, which she joined in 2012. There, she designed an award-winning statewide PACE program that enabled building owners to obtain loans to make clean energy improvements on their properties, which became the model for many other state C-PACE programs.
From 2004 to 2012, Bailey worked at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), a New York-based $800 million foundation. As head of the Fund's Sustainable Development Program, he co-managed a grants portfolio focused on climate action and promoting clean energy. Prior to joining RBF, he worked for the United Nations, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and a research project in Ecuador.
Ms. Bailey is a recognized thought leader in the field of sustainability and has been praised as a mission-driven leader of a fast-growth startup that has successfully exited. In 2022, she was ranked #30 on Commercial Observer's 2022 Power Finance List and was also named to Crain's Chicago Business' 2022 List of Leaders to Watch in Sustainability. In 2019, she was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Award Winner Women, a prestigious award that accompanies the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Connecticut Magazine named her one of its “40 Under 40” in 2019. In 2014, she was named a “Champion of Change” by the White House for her solar power deployment. The Hartford Business Journal dubbed her a “Green Warrior” for her work in designing the successful Connecticut C-PACE program. She serves on the boards of directors for PACENow, the trade association representing PACE and advocacy groups for PACE, the CT League of Conservation Voters, and Connecticut Innovations, and is a member of the Young President's Organization (YPO).
Brian Murray
Brian Murray is CEO of SHIFT Capital, a Certified B Corporation impact real estate group headquartered in Philadelphia. Brian founded SHIFT to align capital and philanthropy to drive more equitable development in underserved neighborhoods and cities. To date, he has led SHIFT's deployment of over $330 million in local investments in the urban communities of Philadelphia, PA, Washington, DC, and Newark, NJ.
Brian is a seasoned entrepreneur who strives to be a catalyst for positive change. Through his work at SHIFT, Brian is focused on finding better solutions at the intersection of society's toughest urban challenges, including generational poverty, urban revitalization, access to opportunity, and community displacement.
SHIFT is a national leader in creating more inclusive neighborhoods and building a stronger, more equitable real estate ecosystem. SHIFT's first fund, the SHIFT Neighborhood Fund, takes a community-based approach to North Philadelphia neighborhoods that have suffered from decades of neglect and underinvestment. SHIFT's second fund, the NextGen Impact Platform, is focused on investing in and working with the next generation of impact developers across the country.
Through inclusive economic strategies, mission-aligned capital, and a community-focused approach, SHIFT has sought to change the way communities think about how they can benefit from positive change. SHIFT has also launched other equity initiatives, including the Kensington Corridor Trust, the first neighborhood trust in the United States, the Resident Developer Program with Voyage Investments, a Latino-owned affordable housing group, and the Good Neighbor Program, which builds bridges between communities through civic engagement.
Brian is a Peace Corps alumnus and an MBA graduate from the Yale School of Management. Outside of SHIFT, Brian is the co-founder and current president of the Areté Youth Foundation, serves on the board of directors for North Broad Renaissance, and is a board member for Philadelphia Street Soccer USA.