The natural environment becomes crucial

My Womble Carlyle colleagues who write the Construction Law blog noted the following today, which is worth noting here as well. Many of the developers who will be affected by Wachovia's new strategy are building mixed-use developments. Here is the posting from the Construction Law blog.

In a recent announcement, Wachovia announced a new "significant environmental strategy" with comprehensive commitments concerning forest protection and climate change. Wachovia's climate change initiative includes "plans to research opportunities and develop products and services that increase its lending and investments in project and activities that have a positive impact on climate change."

Private owners and developers are beginning to embrace green building and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, in part because new financial incentives are making it easier to pay for some of the higher up front costs. This allows the building owner, and the community, to save money and resources in the long term. Wachovia's initiative is a step in the right direction.

Wachovia also announced that it is building a new 1.2 million square foot office tower in Charlotte utilizing LEED certification standards, and that it just opened its first LEED certified financial center in Austin, Texas. With these two LEED projects, Wachovia is leading by example - pun intended.

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