< Previous86 JULY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N SUST AINABILITY RANKINGS Germany, Canada and the United States are the top three nations in order. Colorado, California and Massachusetts top all U.S. states. And Grand Rapids, Cincinnati and Lansing lead all U.S. metros. ose are the fi ndings of Site Selection’s Sustainability Rankings. Wait a minute. ree metros in the former Rust Belt are among the most sustainable in the nation? Yes, that’s what the data says. In fact, the next cities in the rankings are Toledo, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul, Kansas City and Denver. Site Selection’s rankings comprise indices (see tables) that blend standard green metrics such as LEED-certifi ed buildings, renewable energy use and green building incentives with unique inputs such as areas’ corporate social responsibility profi les (based on data from CSRHub), brownfi eld redevelopment, corporate facility investments in sectors with green connections, commercial real estate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data from Measurabl, and happiness and well-being scores. Indeed, Finland’s No. ranking in the World Happiness Report helped it rise to No. in this year’s tally — one of four Nordic nations to make our Top . Using indicators of employee, environment, community, and governance performance, CSRHub provides access to corporate social responsibility and sustainability ratings and information on , companies from industries in countries, using more than information sources. “Managers, researchers, investors and app developers use CSRHub to benchmark company performance, learn how stakeholders evaluate company CSR practices, understand the consensus view on a company’s ESG performance, and seek ways to change the world,” says the company. How much does CSR matter? Intel, in its most recent report, observed that while it once was a topic reserved for specialists, today % of S&P companies regularly publish CSR reports. Among its own steps on the energy front, Intel since has invested more than $ million in energy conservation projects in its global Green is as green does in these leading territories. by ADAM BRUNS adam.br uns @ site s ele c tion.c om Apple’s new headquarters in Cupertino is powered by 100% renewable energy, in part from a 17-megawatt onsite rooftop solar installation. Photo by Apple Development Top Locations for Sustainable S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2019 87 operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved through the end of . Governments are taking steps too. e City of Los Angeles Sustainability Plan includes ambitious standards for new buildings to be zero-emission by and all existing buildings to reach that goal by . Site Selection fi rst partnered with CSRHub for this part of the rankings index two years ago, combining our Conway Analytics data on corporate projects with CSRHub data on the corporations themselves to come up with scores for countries and for U.S. states based on the CSR performance of both companies siting projects in those territories and companies headquartered in those territories. How valuable is the Measurabl data? Valuable enough to attract Series B funding in January from S&P Global, which developed its fi rst ESG product over years ago with the launch of the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. According to Measurabl, over , commercial buildings representing nearly billion square feet across countries measure, manage, and report ESG performance using its service. “We view ESG as critical to long-term value creation for companies, investors, and other stakeholders in the market,” said Martina Cheung, President of S&P Global Market Intelligence. Taking Action Companies with sustainability as a top priority include those in No. Germany, such as Lufthansa Group, which just published its th sustainability report. “Being an aviation group, we are aware of the fact that the past years’ growth in passenger numbers also implies growing responsibility for us to ensure that future mobility will be shaped in environmentally compatible ways,” wrote Carsten Spohr, chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. e airlines of the Lufthansa Group have increased their fuel effi ciency by % since . ey also set a new effi ciency record in : On average, the passenger airlines only used . liters of kerosene to fl y a passenger kilometers. Moreover, all offi cial air travel for Lufthansa Group staff is now CO-neutral, retroactively to January . And the Group will now convert its ground ops services in its home markets Germany, Austria and Switzerland to a CO-neutral operation by . “ is includes converting the vehicles to an electric or other emission-free drive and purchasing % green electricity at the earliest possible moment,” said the company. “Also, for all buildings of the Lufthansa Group, only green electricity will be used wherever East North Central 1 Illinois 2 Michigan 3 Indiana 4 Ohio 5 Wisconsin Mountain 1 Colorado 2 Arizona 3 Nevada 4 New Mexico 5 Montana Northeast 1 Massachusetts 2 New York 3 Pennsylvania 4 Vermont 5 Connecticut Paci c 1 California 2 Washington 3 Oregon 4 Alaska 5 Hawaii South Atlantic 1 North Carolina 2 Georgia 3 Florida 4 Virginia 5 District of Columbia South Central 1 Texas 2 Kentucky 3 Oklahoma 4 Tennessee 5 Louisiana REGIONAL operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt-operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved through the end of .through the end of . Governments are taking steps too. e City of Los Angeles Sustainability Plan includes ambitious Los Angeles Sustainability Plan includes ambitious standards for new buildings to be zero-emission by and all existing buildings to reach that goal by . Governments are taking steps too. e City of Los Angeles Sustainability Plan includes ambitious standards for new buildings to be zero-emission by and all existing buildings to reach that goal by . Site Selection fi rst partnered with CSRHub for this part of the rankings index two years ago, combining and all existing buildings to reach that goal by . Site Selection fi rst partnered with CSRHub for this part of the rankings index two years ago, combining operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved Governments are taking steps too. e City of operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved Governments are taking steps too. e City of Site Selection fi rst partnered with CSRHub for this part of the rankings index two years ago, combining Los Angeles Sustainability Plan includes ambitious standards for new buildings to be zero-emission by and all existing buildings to reach that goal by . part of the rankings index two years ago, combining Site Selection fi rst partnered with CSRHub for this Site Selection fi rst partnered with CSRHub for this Los Angeles Sustainability Plan includes ambitious standards for new buildings to be zero-emission by and all existing buildings to reach that goal by . operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved through the end of . Governments are taking steps too. e City of Los Angeles Sustainability Plan includes ambitious standards for new buildings to be zero-emission by operations, resulting in more than billion kilowatt- hours conserved and approximately $ million saved through the end of . Governments are taking steps too. e City of Los Angeles Sustainability Plan includes ambitious standards for new buildings to be zero-emission by and all existing buildings to reach that goal by . TOP 10 STATES Rank State 1 Colorado 2 California 3 Massachusetts 4 Illinois 5 Michigan 6 North Carolina 7 Minnesota 8 Texas 9 Iowa 10 Washington CRITERIA: LEED buildings (number & per capita, USGBC, May 2019) Energy Star buildings (number & per capita, EPA) Renewable energy generation (EIA) Green industry projects (investments in “green industry” NAICS codes as de ned by US BLS; tally & per capita) CSRHub rankings Measurabl scores, at thousands of commercial sites representing nearly 5 billion sq. ft. of U.S. commercial oorspace (www.measurabl.com) Brown eld grants (historical to date, EPA, tally & per capita) Brown eld cleanups (historical to date, EPA, tally & per capita) Green laws/incentives (DSIRE database, tally & per capita, May 2019) Gallup/Healthways Well-Being rankings West North Central 1 Minnesota 2 Iowa 3 Missouri 4 Kansas 5 South Dakota88 JULY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N TOP 10 METROS Rank Metropolitan Area 1 Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI 2 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 3 Lansing-East Lansing, MI 4 Toledo, OH 5 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN 6 Pittsburgh, PA 7 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 8 Kansas City, MO-KS 9 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO T10 Austin-Round Rock, TX T10 Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA LEED buildings (number & per capita) Energy Star buildings (number & per capita) Green industry projects (tally & per capita) CSRHub rankings: Ranking areas by degree of facility investment tracked in 2016-2018 by Conway Projects Database made by companies with high corporate social responsibility ratings as measured by CSRHub (May 2019 ratings, (www.csrhub.com) Measurabl metro scores Brown eld grants (tally & per capita) Brown eld cleanups (tally & per capita) Gallup/Healthways Well-Being rankings CRITERIA: East North Central 1 Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI 2 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 3 Lansing-East Lansing, MI 4 Toledo, OH 5 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN 6 Columbus, OH 7 Cleveland-Elyria, OH 8 St. Louis, MO-IL 9 Ann Arbor, MI 10 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Mountain 1 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO 2 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 3 Boulder, CO 4 Tucson, AZ T5 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV T5 Boise City, ID 7 Reno, NV 8 Salt Lake City, UT 9 Albuquerque, NM 10 Fort Collins, CO Northeast 1 Pittsburgh, PA 2 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ 3 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA 4 Worcester, MA-CT 5 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 6 Hartford-West Hartford-E Hartford, CT 7 New Haven-Milford, CT 8 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 9 Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY 10 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Paci c 1 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA 2 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 3 Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA 4 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 5 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 6 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 7 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 8 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 9 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 10 Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA South Atlantic 1 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 2 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 3 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC 4 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 5 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 6 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 7 North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 8 Raleigh, NC 9 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 10 Columbia, SC South Central 1 Austin-Round Rock, TX 2 New Orleans-Metairie, LA 3 Oklahoma City, OK 4 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 5 Lexington-Fayette, KY 6 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 7 Tulsa, OK 8 Baton Rouge, LA 9 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 10 Knoxville, TN REGIONAL possible.” Porsche gets the message and lives it too. e company in Leipzig scored top marks and received the Platinum award from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). DGNB has certifi ed the plant — which is currently undergoing expansion within the context of electromobility — as a particularly sustainable industrial site. e sports car manufacturer also received a Platinum award in for its main plant in Zuff enhausen. Among the highlights in Leipzig: Production is fully powered by regenerative energy sources, such as PV solar systems supplying power to body shops. A biomass plant in the direct vicinity of the factory meets the heat requirement of the paint shop as part of a process that is percent CO-neutral. Since , energy effi ciency measures have saved a total of . gigawatt- hours of power. In line with the “Green Logistics” theme, Porsche operates its railway transportation with ecologically produced power, increasingly using electric logistics vehicles, and has set up energy-effi cient shuttle technology at the new, automated small parts warehouse. But it’s not stopping there. “Our vision is the ‘Zero Impact Factory,’ i.e. production facilities that do not leave an ecological footprint,” said Albrecht Reimold, Member of the Executive Board for Production and Logistics, adds. Since Porsche has already cut vehicle-specifi c CO emissions caused by production by more than %. e company says it reduced the energy consumption per produced vehicle in its plants by more than % and slashed water consumption by almost %. During the same period, the use of solvents has been cut by a third. “We stand by the climate protection targets agreed in Paris in December and have a clear responsibility to cut environmentally harmful emissions. Our aim in terms of sustainability signifi cantly exceeds mere decarbonization,” Reimold said. Renewables on the Way According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), lower prices for renewables will help. e organization’s latest report, released in May in the lead-up to Abu West North Central 1 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 2 Kansas City, MO-KS 3 Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA 4 Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA 5 Spring eld, MO 6 Wichita, KS 7 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL 8 Cedar Rapids, IA 9 Sioux City, IA-NE-SD 10 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA90 JULY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N Dhabi’s global preparatory meeting for the United Nations Climate Action Summit in September, nds that renewable power already is the least expensive source of energy in many parts of the world. IRENA found that the global weighted- average cost of electricity from concentrating solar power (CSP) declined by %, bioenergy by %, solar photovoltaics (PV) and onshore wind by %, hydropower by % and geothermal and o shore wind by %. According to IRENA’s global database, over three-quartersof the onshore wind and four- fths of the solar PV capacity that is due to be commissioned next year will produce power at lower prices than the cheapest new coal, oil or natural gas options.“Crucially,” said IRENA, “they are set to do so without nancial assistance.” Onshore wind and solar PV costs between three and four US cents per kilowatt hour are already possible in areas with good resources and enabling regulatory and institutional frameworks, IRENA said. “For example, record-low auction prices for solar PV in Chile, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have seen a levelized cost of electricity as low as US$ . per kilowatt hour.” In the U.S., policy and projects are proceeding apace. In Maryland, the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan has allowed the Clean Energy Jobs Act to take e ect while also pursuing the goal of achieving % clean electricity by . at’s music to the ears of champions of US Wind’s planned o shore wind farm. e company in May signed an agreement with EPIC Applied Technologies for the installation of its meteorological tower beginning this summer, marking a key milestone in the advancement of its Maryland o shore wind project which is expected to be operational within . US Wind will install up to wind turbines at a distance of approximately miles o the coast of Ocean City that will eventually produce megawatts of o shore wind energy, an amount su cient to provide , Maryland homes with clean, renewable energy. “It is anticipated that the US Wind project will result in the creation of approximately , direct and indirect jobs and represent an in-state investment of nearly $ . billion,” said the company. Building Consensus But what about regular old green buildings? One report says more people need to be aware of their bene ts. Another o ers guideposts on how to embed sustainability from the outset. And a third says better buildings are making progress. In April, As part of itsLivinv Standardinitiative, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released a report that found through surveys that, when considering the connection between green buildings and personal health, almost a third of respondents ( %) indicated they have direct, personal experience with bad health associated with poor environments or living TOP 10 COUNTRIES LEED-certi ed buildings (number & per capita, USGBC, May 2019) Renewable energy capacity (IRENA, in megawatts & MW per capita, 2019) Renewable energy deployment (RECAI index, EY, April 2019) Green industry projects (investments in “green industry” NAICS codes as de ned by US BLS; tally & per capita), 2016-2018, Conway Analytics CSRHub rankings of areas by degree of facility investment tracked in 2016- 2018 by Conway Projects Database made by companies with high corporate social responsibility ratings as measured by CSRHub (May 2019 ratings, www.csrhub.com) Ocean Health Index (2018 update) World Happiness Report rankings (2019) CRITERIA: Rank Country 1 Germany 2 Canada 3 United States 4 Finland 5 United Kingdom 6 Sweden 7 Netherlands 8 Ireland 9 Denmark 10 Australia Western Europe 1 Germany 2 Finland 3 United Kingdom 4 Sweden 5 Netherlands South Asia 1 India 2 Sri Lanka 3 Pakistan 4 Bangladesh 5 Bhutan South America 1 Brazil 2 Chile 3 Argentina 4 Colombia 5 Ecuador Middle East 1 United Arab Emirates 2 Israel 3 Qatar 4 Saudi Arabia 5 Kuwait Eastern Europe 1 Poland 2 Turkey 3 Romania 4 Latvia 5 Czech Republic East/SE Asia 1 Australia 2 South Korea 3 Taiwan 4 Japan 5 Malaysia Central Asia 1 Russia 2 Georgia 3 Kazakhstan 4 Kyrgyzstan 5 Tajikistan REGIONAL S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2019 91 situations. In addition, when ranking how healthy their local environment is on a scale of -, % gave it less than an eight. Yet when asked which terms most strongly relate to the environment and being green, only % identifi ed green buildings. “We know that green buildings are only part of the solution to lengthening and bettering the lives of every person on the planet,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO, USGBC. “But we need to do more. at’s why the heart of the green building community’s eff orts must go beyond construction or effi ciency. Instead, our focus must be on what matters most within our buildings: people. is research questions our conventional wisdom and experience and helps inform our strategy for the future.” Urban Land Institute’s “Embedding Sustainability in Real Estate Transactions” report, issued in June, states, “Understanding the potential value of a high-performing, sustainable building allows buyers and sellers to better assess and price the deal going in, to underwrite sustainability investments to drive higher returns, to market the value created by these investments to tenants, and to communicate this value to buyers when buying or selling an asset. e potential value at stake for embedding sustainability is signifi cant, and in some cases can represent a %- plus increase in asset value over the lifetime of an investment.” 11 action steps: ) Acquisition due diligence • Look at actual energy expenses, not estimates. • Expand the due diligence/property condition assessment to include key sustainability factors. ) Financing the Deal • Include big-ticket items in project fi nancing. • Leverage sustainability-specifi c fi nancing tools. ) Hold Period • Upgrade the building systems in the right order, and as soon as possible. • Attract tenants at a premium by featuring sustainability and health in leasing activities. • Leverage leases to align costs and benefi ts for landlord and tenant. • Guide the tenant fi t-out process to maximize building performance. ) Preparing for Disposition • Market your building to buyers who will pay a premium for sustainability. • Find a qualifi ed appraiser, and use valuation guidance for sustainable buildings. • Make any remaining big investments a year before disposition in order to capture value in the sales price. e U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the progress made by the more than public- and private-sector organizations involved in the Offi ce of Energy Effi ciency and Renewable Energy’s Better Buildings Initiative. Partners in the Better Buildings Initiative represent of the country’s Fortune companies, % of the U.S. manufacturing energy footprint, and % of total commercial building space, as well as Federal agencies, eight National Laboratories, states and local governments. Highlights of their achievements include: More than Better Buildings Challenge partners have saved nearly $ billion since the program began. Financial allies have extended more than $ billion for effi ciency projects. Partners have also saved more than six billion gallons of water. More than manufacturing partners located in all states are working with DOE through the Better Plants program and report an estimated $. billion in cost savings over the last seven years. More than Accelerator partners are creating new tools and strategies targeting specifi c effi ciency barriers like access to packaged combined heat and power, sustainable wastewater infrastructure, and building energy data analysis. 92 JULY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N INVESTMENT PROFILE: PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS Want to know why business is booming in Pflugerville, Texas? Just ask Todd Winnerman, president of MW Builders. He and his colleagues at the rapidly growing construction company have a front-row seat to this Austin suburb’s dramatic transformation. “When we were looking for a metro area to relocate to in order to help us grow and attract talent, Austin was an obvious choice for us,” says Winnerman, whose company relocated its corporate headquarters from up the road in Temple to the northern Austin suburb of Pflugerville last year. “As we began looking for a home, we began looking at a few suburbs of Austin. We already had a great relationship with the City of Pflugerville and the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. and being right along the Highway 130 corridor, it made the commute a lot easier on our current employees.” The move made sense for many reasons, says Jason Oldham, vice president of operations for MW Builders. “We have found over the last five to six years that the City of Pflugerville is very knowledgeable when it comes to our business,” he says. “They are accommodating and accessible. It is a trusted relationship, and they are business-friendly, and very helpful. We can go meet with their decision-makers at any time. The City works to make the process as efficient as possible when we are working on a project.” That relationship has paid dividends for both parties. MW Builders has worked with the city not only on the firm’s own 20,000-sq.- ft., 40-person headquarters, but also to build projects for FedEx Ground (200,000 sq. ft.), Cortec Precision Sheetmetal (121,000 sq. ft.), Springbrook Buildings 8 and 9 (258,00 sq. ft. total), a confidential client and — soon to get underway — a dual-brand hotel. These projects are part of a construction wave of more than 2 million sq. ft. of industrial and commercial space developed in the city since 2017. How did a city of 65,000 people become such a development boomtown? The executive team at MW Builders credits the Pflugerville CDC and its Executive Director Amy Madison with creating a climate for business success. “Amy has been our biggest supporter since we made the decision to move here,” says Oldham. “She truly cares about us. She consistently promotes the company and the community. A national construction firm brings its HQ and a whole lot more to Pflugerville. by RON S TARNER r on. s t ar ner @ site s ele c tion.c om Building Pfuture for the Building S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2019 93 This Investment Profile was prepared under the auspices of the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. For more information, contact Amy Madison at 512- 990-3725 or amym@ pfdevelopment.com. On the web, go to www. pfdevelopment.com. And she always recommends that people who are doing a project at least visit with us on the construction end. We consider the PCDC to be a true business partner.” Madison feels the same. “We did not have a nationally recognized contractor in the community before MW Builders came to town,” she says. “It was a real plus to have someone with their expertise in the city. e fact that they are nationally known and have a broad ability to do all kinds of projects — retail, industrial, public buildings, offi ces, apartments, etc. — is a plus.” e PCDC was so impressed with MW Builders’ work, in fact, that the organization chose to relocate its own offi ces to a facility built by MW Builders in the Commerce Park. “We were so pleased with what they were able to do with our space,” says Madison. “We could not be any more confi dent in a company.” Progress like that, and on other fronts, enabled the PCDC recently to be named an Accredited Economic Development Organization by the International Economic Development Council — recognition that will open even more doors for the city, notes Madison. Bret Necessary, business development lead at MW Builders, adds that Pfl ugerville has all the assets it needs to grow even more in the years to come. “ e area has a strong workforce, and it is part of a busy economy,” he says. “ ere is a lot of technical expertise here. e workforce is well-rounded, and they share similar values as ours. It is pretty easy for us to fi nd the talented people we need in this community.” Ease of transportation access is a strong selling point too, Winnerman notes. Located less than minutes from Austin-Bergstrom International and Austin Executive Airports, with two additional municipal airports in the region — Pfl ugerville maximizes business connectivity; it doesn’t hurt that I-, U.S. , and State Highways and serve the city. “I defi nitely think the region is poised for growth,” says Winnerman. “When you look at the big companies that are growing in this market — Samsung, Google, Apple, Facebook, etc. — Pfl ugerville is positioned extremely well, from both a regional standpoint and with their strong community leadership, to capitalize and share in the region’s success.” The workforce is well-rounded, and they share similar values as ours. It is pretty easy for us to nd the talented people we need in this community.” — Bret Necessary, Business Development Lead, MW Builders The workforce is well-rounded, and The workforce is well-rounded, and they share similar values as ours. It is pretty easy for us to nd the talented MW Builders’ headquarters in P ugerville, Texas All photos courtesy of MW Builders | mwbuilders.com94 JULY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N Perspectives on what it takes to be smart range from super-fast to slowing down completely. Among the topics at the th annual Congress for the New Urbanism in mid-June in Louisville, Kentucky was a panel discussion on “How Smart Do Cities Really Need to Be, and Does Being Smart Really Make Cents?” e timing couldn’t have been better, as Microsoft on June announced that Louisville will become a Microsoft regional hub for artifi cial intelligence, Internet of ings (IoT), and data science. e news illustrated one of many approaches to the nebulous concept of the smart city, which means a thousand diff erent things to a thousand diff erent communities. In Texas, it means a new Mobility Innovation Zone from AllianceTexas developer Hillwood, Deloitte’s Future of Mobility Global Practice and partners. In downtown Montgomery, Alabama, it means creating a Smart City Living Lab. In Florida, developer Kitson & Partners is installing environmental sustainability and autonomous driving infrastructure at Babcock Ranch, a new city near Punta Gorda that sits on , acres that one day could be home to , people. “ ere is a global demand for talent, and we believe with the quality of infrastructure we have created here, including gigabit fi ber to every single residence and WiFi in all of our public spaces, plus solar energy, we will attract that talent to Babcock Ranch,” Lucienne Pears, vice president of economic and business development for Babcock Ranch, told Site Selection’s Ron Starner. In Louisville, it makes sense and cents, and means immediate investment from a global giant. e AI Innovation Digital Alliance means Microsoft will create and fund an AI, IoT and data science fellowship program. e fellows will work with nonprofi t, education, start-up, and workforce development organizations, and with area businesses to provide training and support. Microsoft will establish a physical location downtown. Additional activities include: • Microsoft will partner with pre-school through higher education providers on digital literacy training and, with Louisville Metro, support the Digital Inclusion initiative to close the digital skills gap present in under- invested and disenfranchised communities. TECHNOLOGY & INNOVA TION Smart Cities PIPELINE BUILDERS by ADAM BRUNS adam.br uns @ site s ele c tion.c om Louisville is the latest city to partner with Microsoft on a new approach to smart city technology and what it means for neighborhoods. Photo: Getty Images IQ? 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