Sustainable Renovations (REITs & ZIP)

In collaboration with BuildZoom, we freely provide data on sustainable renovations covering (1) every property owned by U.S. listed real estate firms (REITs) and (2) 32 million U.S. commercial and residential properties aggregated by ZIP code, county, and state — quarterly since 1990. We retrieve permits from public registries and standardize them across municipalities, then classify them as environmentally or socially sustainable (e.g., HVAC, solar, insulation, outdoor spaces) or conventional (e.g., electrical, mechanical, plumbing, remodeling) using EnergyStar, LEED, WELL, and Fitwel documentation. Because we report permit request dates rather than completion dates, the data can serve as a leading indicator of sustainability preferences before retrofits are implemented. 

When using the data, please cite: van der Kroft, B., Palacios, J., Rigobon, R., & Zheng, S. The Challenge of Pivotal Timing: Sustainable Shareholder Proposals in Real Asset Investments. NBER Working Paper No. 32646. Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4883596