Greenbacker hires new Head of Real Estate Investments
Former Blackstone Managing Director Zackowitz to oversee firm’s sustainable real estate investments
New York, NY, August 17, 2023 — Greenbacker Capital Management (“GCM”), a leading renewable energy asset manager, is pleased to announce that David Zackowitz has been hired as the firm’s new Head of Real Estate Investments. Zackowitz will lead GCM’s fourth sustainability driven investment strategy, focused on acquiring commercial and residential property where the company can reduce greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and energy use intensity, as well as add additional sources of renewable power.
As Head of Real Estate Investments, Zackowitz will manage GCM’s investments in real estate—a sector that contributes approximately 40% of global GHG emissions.1 He will oversee deal origination and deploy capital to improve energy efficiency and support the expansion of electric vehicle fleet charging and rooftop community solar across the real estate assets acquired. Zackowitz brings 22 years of experience in principal investments, asset management, and portfolio company oversight across the real estate asset class, including acquiring and implementing value-add strategies for $25 billion of commercial properties throughout his career. Prior to GCM, he was a Managing Director at Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative assets manager.
Zackowitz joins the company’s leadership team during a period of expansion for both GCM and its affiliates (collectively, “Greenbacker”). During the last year, Greenbacker’s AUM2 increased from $2.8 billion on September 30, 2022 to approximately $3.3 billion as of June 30, 2023. Over the same period, the clean power generation and storage capacity of Greenbacker’s project fleet increased from 3.0 gigawatts (GW) to 3.8 GW across 500 projects in 33 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC.3
“David perfectly complements Greenbacker’s existing investment expertise and expands our ability to invest across the clean energy and sustainability focused asset class,” said Charles Wheeler, CEO of Greenbacker. “His experience and track record with some of the country’s leading real estate investment platforms will bolster Greenbacker’s capabilities within sustainable real estate—a sector with significant opportunity for investment to drive a clean energy future.”
“I am thrilled to join the talented team at Greenbacker and look forward to growing the firm’s sustainable real estate business. Following one of the hottest summers on record, climate legislation will continue to expand in an effort to reduce emissions in the space,” Zackowitz said. “Greenbacker is strategically positioned to leverage its 360-degree view of the sustainability investment landscape and facilitate the decarbonization of the built environment.”
In the US, more than 600 local governments nationwide have introduced Building Performance Standards requiring buildings to meet certain decarbonization or clean energy targets.4 In addition to the many state and local incentives encouraging sustainable real estate,5 the Inflation Reduction Act has provided $369 billion6 of federal support to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase domestic investment in the clean energy sector.
1 IEA 2022, Architecture 2030.
2 Total AUM includes Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC and GCM’s managed funds. AUM represents the underlying fair value of investments, determined generally in accordance with ASC 820, cash and cash equivalents and project level debt. These figures are unaudited and subject to change.
3 As of June 30, 2023. Total assets and megawatts statistics include those projects where the Company has contracted for the acquisition of the project pursuant to a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement (“MIPA”). Portfolio metrics are unaudited estimates and subject to change.
4 What is a Building Performance Standard (BPS)?, Institute for Market Transformation, 2023.
5 Energy Efficiency Policies and Programs | Department of Energy.
6 Clean Electricity Tax Credits in the Inflation Reduction Act Will Reduce Emissions, Grow Jobs, and Lower Bills, NRDC, Amanda Levin & Jacqueline Ennis, October 12, 2022.
