CBRE Joins Climate Group as First CRE Member

LOS ANGELES-CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. has become the first commercial real estate services firm to join the Climate Group, the independent nonprofit group that is working toward a low-carbon economy. Sally Wilson, CBRE’s global director of environmental strategy, tells GlobeSt.com that CBRE’s membership in the Climate Group represents the latest step by the Los Angeles-based company in a continuing series of initiatives designed to promote sustainability and low-carbon practices both within CBRE and throughout the economy.

While CBRE is already deeply involved in practical actions that tenants and building owners can take in the real day-to-day environment of building occupancy and operations, “What the Climate Group brings is the influence of their members who are world leaders and Fortune 500 companies that are working with government and business leaders to establish policies to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy,” Wilson says. Those Fortune 500 companies include many tenants and building owners who are clients of CBRE, which approaches the sustainability challenge from “a number of perspectives,” according to Wilson.

“Given the variety of services that we offer, we look at this from many perspectives: from the tenant’s perspective, from the building owner’s perspective, from the perspective of creating awareness on both the owner side and the occupier side,” she says. Wilson adds that the Climate Group has an international reach, which aligns with CBRE’s plans for emphasizing the importance of reducing carbon emissions in its international operations.