Built Environment :: GBIG Insight

Worth Reading: Global Sustainable Buildings Index 2015

By Rebekah Nowak on 20 Jul 2015 • 3 minute read

In 2013 Baker & McKenzie’s Global Real Estate Practice Group (BMGREPG) formed a Global Sustainability Subcommittee to identify key drivers and obstacles in sustainability decision-making within the built environment. This past December, the Subcommittee released t …

The Australian Green Star Impact Model

By Afroz Algiers on 12 Dec 2013 • 2 minute read

Over the years, the green building movement has grown rapidly on the strength of its good intent. While receiving a conceptual buy in from a large customer base, it has been a challenge to quantify the actual impact. This is partly owing to the calculation being subject …

Turn Streets Green to Cut Air Pollution

By Maija Krizmane on 17 Sep 2013 • 1 minute read

Vegetation on our streets, including trees, plants and green walls, could reduce nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter in the air, dramatically improving air quality, according to a study from researchers at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. Effectiveness of …

Demographics and Urbanism: Where are we choosing to live?

By JP Jaudel on 22 Aug 2013 • 2 minute read

We're moving to the city! The Urban Land Institute's (ULI) recent America in 2013 report found that home location preferences were shifting among the fastest growing demographic groups in the US. Gen Y'ers, African Americans, and Latinos all increasingly favor compact u …

Walk, Don’t Ride, to Green Schools

By Sean McMahon on 25 Jun 2013 • 2 minute read

Kids spend a huge amount of their time in school: five days a week for seven or more hours a day. They also travel to and from those schools every day, and most of the time they aren't walking. According to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, less than 15% o …

As World Heats Up, Heat Map Tells Us Who is Most Vulnerable

By Sean McMahon on 18 Jun 2013 • 2 minute read

It has been widely reported that 2012 was the hottest year on record in the continental United States. This year has not been much different with NOAA recently reporting that not only was June 2013 one of the hottest month's of June ever, it represented the 340th straig …