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History
The Responsible Property Investing Center (RPIC) began to take shape in March 2006 when 35 institutional investors, real estate developers and trade associations gathered in Tucson, Arizona, for a two day conference to discuss the various aspects of responsible property investment. As a result of this convening we conducted two major studies to determine the characteristics of RPI and the interest in RPI among institutional investors.
A second RPI convening was held in New Orleans, in February 2007, at which time it was decided to create a dedicated organization devoted to catalyzing research in the field. A third conference held in Boston in March of 2009 brought together over 120 investors and other stakeholders to discuss core issues and the future of the RPI field. Following this third meeting, the RPIC convened a steering committee of industry stakeholders to help support academic and applied research and network building around RPI.
In 2009, the RPIC received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to strategically plan and broaden our work as a research and advocacy center over the course of 2010. As part of this work, we intend to interview dozens of core RPI stakeholders on the potential for research and advocacy to catalyze the field, and to hold our 4th National Conference on Responsible Property Investing this summer in Cambridge Massachusetts.
Over the last several years we have focused on conducting academic and applied research on investment returns and stakeholder considerations related to topics such as energy efficiency, walkable communities, transit-oriented development, fair labor practices, urban regeneration, and affordable and workforce housing. The RPIC has presented to and engaged with a wide range of real estate and investment networks, including the International Council on Shopping Centers, Urban Land Institute, BOMA International, the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries, the Social Investment Forum, UNEP FI, the UN Principles on Responsible Investment, the US Green Building Council, Living Cities, Ceres, the Real Estate Research Institute, and the University of Indiana Benecki Center for Real Estate Studies, as well as a wide variety of individual real estate and investment institutions.