The Yudelson Associates Blog: What's New

Saturday, July 19, 2008

California Adopts “Green Building Code,” but Requirements are Modest and Voluntary

On July 17th, the Commission adopted standards to go into effect on July 1, 2009, but they have no teeth. What is significant is that all buildings, including homes, in all jurisdictions, will eventually be affected, perhaps by 2011 or 2012. But looked at objectively, this is a really modest beginning. For example, a home with 15% less energy use is basically an Energy Star home, one that thousands of builders nationwide are already building. There is no requirement for a comprehensive “green” rating such as the LEED system and no attempt to deal at all with the land use, materials use and indoor environmental quality issues that are found in green buildings. The rules are the first step, however, in what will be a long battle in California to implement 2006’s AB 32, requiring the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020. The real key now is how the state is going to deal with existing buildings, where most of the energy and water use is taking place and which will not be affected by last week’s action.

Posted by Jerry on 07/19/2008 at 06:24 PM

This entry has been viewed 87 times.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Are green homes obstacles to homebuilders or a path out of the current wilderness?

With home prices far outpacing growth in family income, it’s obvious that the business model of “bigger, faster, more expensive” doesn’t work for single-family housing any more. We’ve had a doubling of home size in the past 30 years and a 10 percent decrease in household members. Do we really need 2,400 sq.ft. for two people (my current home, albeit with a home-based business)? Would we be less happy if we actually were forced to share space with other family members? Would we be any worse off if we weren’t spending 40 to 50 percent of our disposable income on housing? Shouldn’t we be asking for builders to build healthier, more energy-efficient homes? Other countries, especially those in the EU, get by with much smaller homes, serviced by better public transportation, in more compact, walkable neighborhoods. My new book, Choosing Green: The Home Buyer’s Guide to Good Green Homes (Island Press, 2008), shows both builders and home buyers the way out: build better homes that people can afford and you won’t have any trouble selling them. Why not focus instead on the long-term value of a home that’s quiet, comfortable, cheaper to operate and healthier to live in, rather than the quick profits of buying and flipping? The game of musical chairs is over, and a lot of people are left standing, without a home they can afford. A new acquaintance told me of his sister, in southern California, who has successfully traded up to a home ten times the value of her first home, in a little over ten years. Now she has a $5 million home. But I wonder, how will she now afford the $25,000 monthly mortgage, especially if there are no buyers to allow her to trade down to a more affordable home? In my Choosing Green book, I document more than 50 great new home developments all over the US and Canada that show what builders can accomplish, when they marry their business acumen with a new approach to designing and building sustainable homes. So, I ask once again, does green building represent a pathway out of the dark woods in which builders now find themselves?

Posted by Jerry on 07/17/2008 at 08:20 PM

This entry has been viewed 83 times.

Can Green Building Help Lifestyle Centers Succeed?

With so many major retailers building green (Kohl’s, Office Depot, Home Depot, Best Buy, Coldwater Creek, to name a few), wouldn’t it make sense for shopping center developers of these large lifestyle centers to build to LEED standards and offer prospective tenants the prospect of an easier certification, by supplying 8 to 10 “LEED points” for retailers? Just yesterday, I was in on a project meeting for a national retail chain that is specifically aiming at a green building certification for a new store located in such a “green” shopping center. The interest is clearly in marrying the two concepts: green retail and green development. Wouldn’t it make sense for developers to use this market slowdown as an opportunity to explore green building concepts and the value of using those as marketing tools for major tenants?

Posted by Jerry on 07/17/2008 at 12:54 PM

This entry has been viewed 82 times.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Jones Lang LaSalle acquires Green Globes developer; strategic move or desperation?

According to the story in the CoStar Green Report, Green Globes for Existing Buildings was adopted in 2004 by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada (BOMA Canada) and renamed “Go Green Plus.” JLL plays the acquisition of Green Globes as a way to quickly assess its real estate portfolio in sustainability terms and then to determine whether to pursue LEED certification for individual properties. JLL also talks about linking Green Globes to the ENERGY STAR rating system. However, if one really wants to benchmark sustainable operations, and particularly to consider other issues than just energy use, there is no better tool than LEED. I don’t think that the marketplace is going to see this as a credible move, particularly large corporate real estate departments who are seeking green office space. What I do think the acquisition demonstrates is that green building operations are the next frontier in the green building movement. This is seen also in the rapid growth of LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) registrations in 2007 and 2008. From a 2006 year-end total of 244 project registrations, by the end of May 2008, LEED-EB projects underway numbered 1,277, a fivefold increase in less than 18 months! As part of this growth, CBRE has itself submitted more than 200 LEED-EB project registrations, according to company sources.

Posted by Jerry on 07/13/2008 at 07:46 AM

This entry has been viewed 111 times.