JLL Launches Non-Profit Focused on Sustainability

Commercial real estate companies continue to line up in their efforts to make a long-term impact on environmental sustainability.

The latest is JLL, which this week established JLL Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to that cause.

JLL Foundation said it will take a “non-traditional approach” to helping organizations that work to mitigate climate change with a focus on the built environment. 

“As an impact investor, the foundation offers zero-interest recoverable loans and reinvests the returned funds,” JLL said in a release. “Additionally, recognizing the need for speed in mitigating climate change impacts, it is building a network of like-minded co-investors to promote innovative solutions.”

Lenders, REITS Join the Cause

Sustainability is becoming a growing focus for companies and even more recently lenders.

GlobeSt reported this week that some lenders are offering specific green lending products to borrowers whose assets meet ESG principles in what some call a “green premium.”

And last month, GlobeSt reported that multifamily REITs Essex Property Trust and UDR announced the first closing of a new fund focused on ESG.

Sustainability Examples Already in Action

Among the examples of organizations that have already received funding from JLL Foundation are those that create retrofitted green roofs and walls from locally recycled plastic; seaweed-based products that can restore soils and oceans, eliminate micro-plastic waste and achieve carbon neutrality; and one that sanitizes and returns reusable food service containers to replace single-use products and drive carbon and water efficiency. Another provides a mobile 3D printer that produces building masonry onsite using sources of soil and sand.