GreenBuild Blog
Corporate Sustainability / Green Business Practices
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Yudelson 411
Read the interview at www.DJC.comJerry Yudelson is the author of 12 books on green buildings, water conservation and green development. “Greening Existing Buildings,” a guide to implementing the LEED-EBOM rating system, was published in 2009, and has become the must-have reference for converting existing buildings from standard to LEED-certified status.
In 2011, Yudelson was named to the inaugural group of LEED Fellows by the U.S. Green Building Council, one of 34 people nationally to receive this honor.
From 2001 through 2009, Yudelson trained nearly 4,000 people in the LEED Green Building Rating System. He is one of the original LEED trainers for the U.S. Green Building Council and a former board member.
Yudelson is a professional engineer, obtaining his engineering degrees from Caltech and Harvard University, and obtained his MBA from the University of Oregon.
Q: Wired Magazine recently dubbed you “The Godfather of Green.” How do you feel about the moniker and does Al Gore know about this?
A: Feel great. Didn’t notify Al about it. Obviously, Wired is free to give anyone a headache!
Q: You’ve been in the sustainability world for 15 years. No doubt you’ve faced your fair share of skeptics, but you’re obviously in it for the long haul. What keeps you motivated?
A: Motivation is from the work itself and its importance, but even more vital is the incredible group of people working to create a more sustainable built environment; no quitters among them and a group of fun-loving, insightful people.
Read the interview at www.DJC.comQ: Speaking of skeptics, what’s the most cynical reaction you’ve had about going green?
A: I guess I wouldn’t recognize it if I heard it, but the best comments are always questions like “how does this play in the marketplace?” This was especially true working in green retail, starting in 2007, where there’s such a clear incentive to keep costs down and no real data about how consumers make buying decisions based on how “green” a shopping center or retail store is. In the office environment, the leaders in the field have been all in since 2006, so it hasn’t been a hard sell.
Q: One of the emerging trends you cited for 2011 was performance disclosure. Seattle now enforces regulation that requires building owners to fully disclose building performance to new tenants and buyers (come Jan. 1, all commercial buildings over 10,000 square feet). This sounds like a can of green worms. How do we keep the benchmarking process honest?
A: This is a great question and one that will take a few years to work out. The best bet is to work with groups like New Buildings Institute, UW and Cascadia Green Building Council to come up with methods that take into account things like data centers, percent of occupancy, amount of retail versus office, etc. The commercial real estate industry will have to get used to full disclosure, bottom line.
Q: This chaotic economy has stalled sustainability initiatives, yet most people acknowledge we need to take heed and get on with the “new normal.” When do you see that kicking in?
A: The “next normal” is my phrase, and it’s already here. If you don’t get on board with sustainability, you’re going to see value erosion in an entire portfolio, as investors, tenants, buyers, operators and lenders start ratcheting up the pressure to “go green” in each and every building and property.
Q: What one thing can a landlord do to encourage tenants to think green?
A: Feedback is number one, so there needs to be more submetering and direct feedback on energy use, on a real-time basis, to change tenant behavior. Lots of reliable studies show this can be done easily technically. And relatively inexpensively at that.
Q: What can a tenant do?
A: Put pressure on the landlord; make energy costs an issue in the next lease negotiation. Move to a greener building.
Q: How about a commercial real estate broker?
A: Brokers need to stay informed about greening of existing buildings, use the data and education that is out there and take the lead in the conversation, especially when representing tenants.
Q: The bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Environmental consciousness aside, how does going green add value to a property?
A: Higher rents (proven), higher occupancy (proven), greater resale value (generally proven in various large urban markets), faster lease-up of new or renovated buildings (generally proven).
Q: What are you seeing as the latest and greatest green innovation and/or technology in the built environment?
A: Software for building management, especially that uses cloud computing; great tools for portfolio management. Products like BuildingIQ for managing large buildings, EcoInsight for portfolio management, many others. Wireless sensors for quickly transmitting information, such as occupancy, to lots of devices.
Q: What one thing that has happened in your business life has made the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: I’ve always had great mentors, including politicians, but the biggest impact always comes from within, from being clear about what you want to do with your life. In that respect, meditation and yoga have had by far the biggest impact, giving me energy to keep going and total respect for everyone I meet.
—Interview conducted by Barbara Travers
Read the interview at the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce website: www.DJC.com
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sustainability Management, Confessions of a Sustainability Consultant
You can download our corporate sustainability white paper from the home page of this web site. In our view, there are five key steps for establishing a corporate sustainability program:
1. Setting the Vision
2. Staffing the Effort
3. Establishing Metrics to Measure Progress
4. Implementing Strategic Initiatives
5. Communicating the Results to All Stakeholders
Establishing metrics is one of the more difficult of the five steps. What to measure, how to benchmark and how to get the data are not at all obvious or easy. Nevertheless, there are well-established sustainability accounting tools for measuring reductions in greenhouse gases, energy use, solid waste & recycling, and water use. These tools help organizations establish environmental impact baselines. Reductions are determined by the extent to which impacts are reduced compared to the baseline measurement.
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Thursday, June 11, 2009
Global Green Building Rating System Promoted by Large Property Owners
The recent article in Europe’s Property Week magazine says that the companies involved include AXA Real Estate Investment Management, GE Real Estate and ING Real Estate. The scheme is simply called “Green Rating” and will look at energy use, carbon emissions, water use, waste generation, health and location close to public transport. The scheme was launched in Spain last month and is expected to roll out this year in Germany, France, The Netherlands and Italy. A 2010 launch is planned in the US and Japan. Prediction: it’s going to be hard to get traction in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Japan and Germany because of well established domestic rating systems. For example, in the US, more than 20,000 properties are pursuing LEED right now, including 2,500 existing buildings, and there are more than 100,000 LEED Accredited Professionals. It’s hard to dislodge this large base of support. The Green Rating system also appears to lack the truly independent third-party certification that is the primary appeal of the established rating systems, as is the broad base of stakeholders involved in developing each country’s rating system. While the companies promoting the plan are important players, they are by no means the largest property managers and owners, even in their respective countries or spheres of operation. Nevertheless, a better way to look at this new system is that it indicates what I’ve been saying all along: the business case for green buildings is so solid that property owners and managers who don’t green existing properties are going to be at a competitive disadvantage in the next few years.
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Saturday, June 06, 2009
Sustainability Focus Makes You Money, Says New Report
In its latest sustainability report, How We Do Business, Marks & Spencer (M&S) says that in January 2007 it was prepared to invest £200m (over $300 million) during the next five years to implement its 2005 sustainability plan, Plan A, but cost savings made on climate change and waste reduction initiatives have already made it cash-flow positive. M&S says that 39 of the 100 commitments under Plan A have been completed and 24 of the 100 targets have been raised.
The decision to charge 5p for single-use grocery bags has cut the use of the bags by 83% (almost 400 million bags) - the £1.2m (about $2 million) profit generated from the charge has gone to the environmental charity Groundwork. Overall waste diversion rates to landfill are up to 41 percent, while carbon emissions have been cut 18 percent since the 2006-2007 baseline year. Energy use is down 10 percent, even while total store area is up 10 percent, for a roughly 20 percent reduction in energy use per square foot.
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