SHOWING WE CARE, EVERYWHERE WE BUILD
Arguably, no other activity demonstrates a home builder's true commitment to sustainable business practices than its willingness to be a good steward of our nation’s land. Does the builder consider land a scarce resource to be thoughtfully managed, or simply a commodity, an input to the construction process no different than a 2x4 or a concrete block? Consistent with our commitment to executing sound environmental practices, our homebuilding operations are tasked with complying with local, state and federal regulations and work to ensure that our trade partners are held to the same standard. We carefully maintain all required environmental permits, approvals, and registrations and follow applicable operational and reporting requirements. Having operated in our markets for years if not decades, we work in partnership with local municipalities, residents and other key stakeholders to ensure environmental considerations are factored into our planning process. There is a practical reality when it comes to building homes: you need land on which to construct a house. PulteGroup routinely invests billions of dollars each year to acquire and thoughtfully develop land resources as we work to deliver homes to the country’s ever-growing population.
PHASE 1: LAND ACQUISITION
Redevelopment: PulteGroup seeks opportunities to reuse land that has been previously developed for residential or commercial purposes. In 2022, 2,700, or almost 10%, of the homes PulteGroup delivered were built on redeveloped, brownfield or greyfield lots. Further, 3,450 of the 29,000 homes we closed in 2022 were built on infill, meaning vacant or underutilized land served by existing physical installations such as roads, power lines, sewer, water and other infrastructure. Environmental review: As part of the Company’s project underwriting process, every potential land transaction is subject to a comprehensive feasibility analysis that evaluates a myriad of factors and includes an environmental assessment. Land assessments include testing by a qualified environmental engineering firm plus a
Phase I environmental report, which must comply with American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM) standards, and a Phase II environmental report where required. Given the potential to lessen environmental impacts associated with homebuilding by redeveloping land, such testing helps to determine the suitability of the land for residential use and to evaluate any needed remediation. Approval: All land acquisition proposals are reviewed and approved at both a division and area level, and then submitted to the Company’s Asset Management Committee (AMC) for final approval and funding. AMC reviews include the company’s senior operating and financial officers as well as market analysts who lead a detailed review of every potential purchase. Included in the project review is a thorough environmental
analysis of the site, including plans for remediation of existing issues and safe development in the future. OF THE HOMES WE DELIVERED IN 2022 WERE BUILT ON REDEVELOPED, BROWNFIELD OR GREYFIELD LOTS 10% OVER
9 | 2022 ESG REPORT
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