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ULI Houston Development of Distinction Awards Finalists Announced
HOUSTON – 11/19/2020 – The Houston District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI-Houston) announced 9 finalists for the 2021 Development
Volunteers Needed for Technical Assistance Panel – Help Houston Beat the Heat
February 3, 2021
ULI Houston is seeking members to help advise on and execute a technical assistance panel (TAP). This TAP will be focused on encouraging local property owners and developers to mitigate extreme heat at their project.
ULI Houston is partnering with Marissa Aho, the Chief Resilience Officer at the City of Houston (the City), and her team to pursue and execute this TAP.
The TAP’s purpose will be to assist the City to develop two case studies, one redevelopment/retrofit project and one proposed project, to evaluate the impacts and costs of implementing various heat resilience strategies such as cool and green roofs, cool pavement, tree planting, prairie restoration, green stormwater infrastructure, and shade structures. The findings and recommendations could help inform city policy related to extreme heat and encourage local property owners and developers to mitigate extreme heat at their projects and open spaces, ultimately contributing to a cooler and more comfortable Houston.
For each case study, the TAP will have three goals:
- Recommend physical improvements to mitigate extreme heat and to improve adaptation strategies;
- demonstrate short-term feasibility by referencing relevant regulations and potential financing mechanisms; and
- inform the City about potential incentives and landowners and developers about the benefits of implementing cooling strategies.
What do we need?
TAP Panelists
ULI Houston needs members who have expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- Landscape architect
- Contractor (focused on building materials and cost)
- MEP Engineer, that specializes in green building
- Developer
- Architect, specializing in sustainable design
- Real Estate Finance
- Academic/Research, focused on extreme heat mitigation
- Others with expertise in extreme heat mitigation
Please note that as we start working on the TAP, we may discover the need for additional experts and may reach out again for assistance from our members.
What can you expect as a TAP panelist? You will be asked to participate in a virtual panel spread out over a three-day period that will include stakeholder interviews. Panelists will need to review preliminary information a few weeks before the TAP and participate in a site visit (most likely virtual).
If you are interested in volunteering for this TAP, please send an email to ULI Houston by February 18th. Please include “Heat TAP” in your subject line.
To learn more about The Urban Land Institute’s recent work on extreme heat, read our recent report, Scorched.
ABOUT RLUC
The Houston virtual Technical Services Panel is part of a larger series of resilience technical assistance and learning opportunities, called the Resilient Land Use Cohort. The Resilient Land Use Cohort (RLUC) is a network of ULI District Councils, member experts and community partners in eight cities working together to identify strategies to be more resilient in the face of climate change and other vulnerabilities, including floods, extreme storms, drought, wildfire, and extreme heat, as well as the related social, environmental, and economic impacts. RLUC provides on-the-ground technical assistance through ULI’s flagship technical assistance models: Advisory Services Panels (ASPs) and Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs). These panels leverage ULI member expertise to advise on complex real estate and land use challenges related to climate resilience, addressing planning, zoning, land use, development strategy, housing and infrastructure. ULI’s Urban Resilience program convenes the cohort regularly to learn from national best practices and discuss peer cities’ next steps advancing resilience through land use policies and development strategies. Funding for this engagement and the cohort is provided by the ULI Foundation through support from JPMorgan Chase.
Let us know you’re interested!
If you have interest, questions or comments, please let us know! Please include “Heat TAP” in your subject line.
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