Want real estate to address climate change? Make it easy, says 2150 founder

The trick to getting an industry like real estate to address climate change is to make it easy. So said NREP and sustainable urbanism VC 2150 founder Mikkel Bülow-Lehnsby at CREtech Climate in Copenhagen this week. Speaking to a room of key players from across the world on how the real estate sector can come together to decarbonise the built environment and tackle the climate crisis, Bülow-Lehnsby (pictured) said that making the case as simple as possible was the way to a widespread mindset shift. “People are very busy and they hate change,” he said. “There is a lot of amazing technology out there but a lot of it is either very hard to deploy or it doesn’t really solve a problem. What we need to do is use technology to effectively solve a problem and then repeat the system.” He said that being able to go to the real estate sector with deployable, scalable solutions that made integration and adoption easy is crucial, which is why his VC 2150 rarely invests in an idea. “We put a premium on something being ready to deploy and ready to go now,” he added, highlighting that this is the quickest way to get the industry on board. Presenting an undeniable business case is crucial too, he added. “It is so important to get across that tackling climate change is the biggest business opportunity of our lifetime,” he said. “If you want to make a shitload of money for your shareholders, this is the way to do it.” The EG Interview: 2150 on its fast and curious investment strategy To send feedback, e-mail emily.wright@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmilyW_9 or @EGPropertyNews Photo © Kontraframe/Thorbjørn Hansen