News
Sustainability Scholars
June 17, 2010
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| The local understanding of sustainability has increased exponentially in recent years, says Constantine Kontokosta, the newly appointed director of the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate's Center for the Sustainable Built Environment (SBE), which launched last fall. We sat down with him to learn about SBE's vision, which he says is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative platform that will focus on innovation and advancing sustainability in real estate and construction. This includes figuring out what the game changers will be 10 to 15 years down the road. He notes that these are necessary for bridging the gap between the theory of sustainable development and its practice. The center also will create a new sustainable development concentration in the school's Masters Degree program. |
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| Constantine, pictured with SBE's students, tells us that current research projects include efforts to remove economic and policy barriers to energy efficiency in both existing and new buildings; determine the effects of land use and other regulations on innovation in green buildings; and the analysis of real estate returns in green cities. The SBE has already initiated a sustainability speakers series, featuring gurus like The Jonathan Rose Cos., Tony Malkin and Jeff Brodsky, and has a full-day conference planned for November 11. The center is also launching the Sustainable Real Estate Development Competition, which will be the first for students focused on using sustainability as an evaluation metric. |
