Strong Fundamentals, Stronger Demand

The U.S. multifamily green building sector is currently valued at approximately $43.8 billion. Globally, the green building market exceeded $530 billion in 2024, projected to grow at a 10.2% CAGR through 2034.¹ Multifamily investment firms are increasingly using ESG criteria to evaluate and guide acquisitions, a trend that has accelerated significantly heading into 2026.²

The financial case is just as strong at the asset level. LEED-certified multifamily buildings earn a 3.7% rent premium over non-certified peers after controlling for age, size, and location, according to CBRE research.³ A Cushman & Wakefield study put that figure even higher, finding LEED-certified assets averaging 11.1% higher rents, or $4.13 per square foot, versus non-certified buildings.⁴ Research from the Real Estate Research Institute further found that cost-saving ESG investments, particularly energy efficiency, are among the most effective tools for retaining tenants in multifamily properties.⁵

Resident demand is reinforcing all of it. According to the 2024 NMHC/Grace Hill Renter Preferences Surveym drawing on input from over 172,000 renters across 4,220 communities, nearly 60% of respondents said building sustainability certification would positively influence their rental decision.⁶ A separate NMHC/Kingsley survey found that more than 60% of renters consider environmentally friendly factors essential when choosing where to live.⁷

Yet despite this demand, only 12% of landlords report actively prioritizing sustainability in their properties.⁸ That gap between what residents want and what operators deliver is both a problem and an opportunity.

The Next Frontier: Sustainability Isn’t Just the Building, It’s What Happens Inside It

Green certifications are table stakes. The operators who will pull ahead are the ones recognizing that resident demand doesn’t stop at the building envelope — it extends to how people move through their daily lives.

This shift is being driven by a generational wave that can’t be ignored. Gen Z will be the largest renter cohort by 2030, and they’re redefining what it means to live well. They’re less interested in ownership, more likely to share, borrow, and swap, and they actively seek communities that reflect those values. They’re not just looking for a building that happens to have a LEED plaque, they’re looking for a place that makes sustainable living feel natural and frictionless.

Guillaume Deri at Greystar France described how his team approaches it:

“We try our best to embed people. We do events like clothing exchanges, for instance — and the vintage vibe is working well on the residents.”

Clothing swaps, vintage markets, community exchange events, these transform sustainability from a compliance exercise into a social identity. Research backs this up: studies on shared-use programs like Library of Things found that roughly 1 in 4 users avoided a purchase entirely after accessing a shared alternative, a behavior shift that compounds meaningfully over time.

But culture alone doesn’t move the needle. Yael Shemer, Co-Founder of TULU, identifies the deeper enabler:

“You can’t ask people to change behavior without offering infrastructure. Building an infrastructure is the first accelerating thing to do.”

This is what separates aspiration from action. Residents may want to live more sustainably, but if borrowing a vacuum takes more effort than buying one on Amazon, the intention stalls. The operator’s role is to build systems that make the sustainable choice the obvious one. Culture and infrastructure aren’t competing strategies, they’re the same strategy, working at different layers.

What Impact Looks Like at Scale

The data from TULU’s own operations illustrates what happens when infrastructure is built with behavior change in mind.

Based on analysis from Regeneration.VC and a Columbia University sustainable investing research project, TULU has already saved 1,000+ metric tons of CO₂, conserved 25 million+ liters of water, and avoided over 200,000 kg of materials.⁹ By 2028, the cumulative projected impact grows significantly: an estimated 56,675 tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions reduced, 3,667 tons of materials avoided, and 1,429 tons of landfill waste diverted.¹⁰ Those figures are grounded in peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment data on vacuum cleaners, extrapolated to other top-rented products across TULU’s network, and cross-referenced against industry benchmarks. TULU’s model delivers approximately 8.75 kg of CO₂e saved per rental, consistent with the 7–12 kg per rental range reported in comparable impact assessments.¹¹

The model also directly addresses the regulatory pressures bearing down on building owners. In New York City alone, more than 50,000 buildings are now subject to Local Law 97, with emissions caps and fines in effect since 2024. Boston, Seattle, and Washington D.C. are enacting similar building decarbonization legislation, with residential buildings of 150+ units squarely in scope.¹² For operators navigating LEED, WELL, and ESG reporting requirements, shared-use infrastructure contributes measurable Scope 3 emissions reductions and tenant engagement data that supports compliance, while simultaneously driving the rent premiums and retention outcomes the research consistently ties to certified, sustainable buildings.

The Gap is the Opportunity

Sources