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GET WITH THE PROGRAM
Managers involved in both commercial and residential properties now have numerous resources for sustainability and building certification information. These include:
Energy Star (www.energystar.gov) A joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Star focuses on saving money and protecting the environment through energy-efficient products and practices. The program offers Portfolio Manager--a free, downloadable benchmarking tool for residential properties.
For the past five years, Stolatis has used Energy Star benchmarking to determine where his company's buildings stand in terms of energy efficiency. His company, TIAA-CREF, set a specific target for its property management teams to achieve a reduction of 10 percent in energy intensity for each property. So far it has seen an almost 4 percent improvement in energy efficiency across 43 million square feet in roughly 180 buildings.
"We have the rest of the year to [reach 10 percent] and we are confident we'll be able to achieve that because our initiatives are starting to bear fruit," Stolatis said.
U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org)
The USGBC offers a comprehensive family of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEE[R]) green building certification systems and many educational opportunities. In January 2008, LEED launched its LEED for Existing Buildings Rating System (LEED-EB) to help building owners and operators measure operations, improvements and maintenance on a consistent scale.
LEED for Existing Buildings addresses whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues, recycling programs, exterior maintenance programs and systems upgrades, and can be applied to existing buildings seeking LEED certification for the first time, as well as to projects previously certified under LEED for New Construction, Schools or Core & Shell. The goal: to maximize operational efficiency while minimizing environmental impact.
"Sustainability is common-sense management. There has been a good degree of interest over the last year," Gatlin said. "More than 2,500 existing buildings have registered to use the rating system and the property management community is one of its largest audiences."
Managers register buildings online, pay a small fee and are allowed access to a property management tool that lists credit areas and requirements. Making the upgrades that lead to certification can take as long as two years. By reducing water and energy consumption, switching to greener cleaning chemicals and changing some purchasing procedures, a number of certified buildings have been able to reduce their operating expenses by $1- to $1.50-per square foot, Gatlin said.
For the past 18 months, one of the goals at Transwestern, AMO, a third-party management company headquartered in Houston, has been to wrap its operations around the latest LEED for Existing Buildings practices, said Al Skodowski, senior vice president, director LEED and sustainability for Transwestern Sustainability Services. Transwestern plans to apply LEED practices wherever possible, including in buildings that have received LEED certification and in properties that may never be eligible. If all goes as planned, barring changes of ownership, Transwestern hopes to have nearly 100 buildings certified by the end of 2009.
"This is probably the single largest amount of work and the most complex project I've ever had in my career [in order] to put all the pieces together and get everyone to march in the same direction," Skodowski said. "But the environmental benefits add up quickly and don't cost much."
Green Globes (www.greenglobes.com)
Green Globes is a building, environmental design and management tool that provides an online assessment protocol and rating system, along with guidance for green building design, operation and management. It is interactive, flexible and affordable, and provides market recognition of a building's environmental attributes through third-party verification.
National Green Building Standard (www.nahbgreen.org)
Approved in January 2009 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the National Green Building Standard offers support for managers of multihousing properties. Co-sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the International Code Council (ICC), the standard covers all residential buildings including the multihousing and residential portions of mixed-use projects. Unlike other green building programs, it has no certification element. Written in code language, it is meant to be administered and enforced by state and local code officials through existing building codes.
Although the standard is only designed for new construction, the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) has told its members that the standard could be used as a tool to provide guidance on how to improve their existing properties. NMHC has not made a decision about whether it will use the new standard as a basis for creating a specific certification standard for existing buildings.
"We are interested in what we can provide for members with existing buildings," said Paula Cino, NMHC director of energy and environmental policy. "We don't know if a standard is the right vehicle for this, but it is something we are definitely looking into."
IN THE PIPELINE
In the near future, adopting sustainability measures will become more imperative for property managers. New rules on green house gas emissions are on the horizon, which means buildings will need to copmly with stricter national regulations, said Andy mangan, executive director of the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development in Austin, Texas.
Surging populations also will create a need for sustainability measures. According to the United Nations, the world population will exceed 9 billion in 2075, up from 6.7 billion in 2009.
"People around the world are using more energy than ever before," Mangan said, "So there will be greater competition for the resources that are out there, and that will continue to grow."
More demand for resources means higher energy prices down the road, and subsequently, higher operating costs for buildings. However, by managing energy use efficiently, property managers can cut increasing costs and meet the growing tenant demands for green spaces.
"[Sustainability] isn't just good for the environment," Sheehy said. "It's a better way of doing business."
The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) is dedicated to supporting real estate management strategies that advance an environmentally sustainable and economically prosperous future. Visit www.iremfirst.org/if/knowledgebase/sust-general to read the full IREM sustainability mission statement.
Register for the IREM Sustainable Real Estate Management Cource at www.irem.org.
Janice Rosenberg is a contributing writer for JPM. Send questions regarding this article to Markisan Naso at mnaso@irem.org.
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