Sustainable Real Estate

“Green Leasing” Improves Building Efficiency

“Green Leasing” Improves Building Efficiency

Green leasing plays an important role in the sustainability of the building stock; building operations themselves must be “greened” as well. Green leasing introduces sustainable goals and commitments into building operations and into the lease itself.

Corporate Real Estate and Environment Responsibility – Image, Reality and Transparency

Corporate Real Estate and Environment Responsibility – Image, Reality and Transparency

Real state executives of different corporations have gradually accepted and incorporated environmental responsibility into different parts of their companies. This is in compliance to international standards of sustainability which they need to meet.

Retrofitting Our Way Back to Economic Recovery

This country’s 130 million homes together generate more than 20% of the nation’s carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. This is one of the most significant contributing sources in the country to global warming. Existing techniques and technologies in energy efficiency retrofitting can reduce home energy use by up to 40 percent per home on average which would also lower our national greenhouse gas emissions by 160 million metric tons annually by the year 2020. In addition doing so would reduce home energy bills by $21 billion a year and over time these savings would more than pay for the high up-front costs for energy efficiency retrofitting.

The Greening of the Office Lease

In order for a commercial office building to achieve the most in terms of sustainability, the landlord and its tenants must partner in working toward that goal. In the case of the landlord and tenant relationship, the governing document is the lease. If the landlord and the tenant agree that the property subject to the lease should be constructed, operated and occupied in a sustainable fashion, that should be reflected in the lease.

The Green Economy’s Living Skin

Green roofs, green walls, green parking lots, shade trees, the greening of urban spaces in general, the restoration of urban waterways, wetlands and the re-greening of brownfield areas; can all be thought of as different techniques to nurture a green living skin over regions of urban development. While there are many important differences between each of these separate techniques as well as their underlying technologies they all share a common overarching goal of bringing an analog of the natural living green skin that characterizes the natural landscape back into our urban areas. They all promote the restoration and re-integration of these heavily populated areas back into the surrounding natural environment.

Green Jobs Spotlight: Director, Sustainable Development Initiative – University of Colorado Real Estate Center, Boulder, CO

The University of Colorado at Boulder’s Initiative for Sustainable Development (ISD) educates, activates and unites stakeholders from across the University, the West, and the nation in pursuit of the best ideas, practices and policies in the growing field of sustainable land use and real estate development. The Director of the Sustainable Development Initiative will develop an interdiscplinary initiative within the Real Estate Center that creates a center for Sustainable Development and Growth Management, including an academic program to teach growth management and sustainable development principles and practices.

Property and Environment Research Center Graduate Fellowship Program – Bozeman, MT

PERC’S fellowships for graduate students and law students offer the ideal opportunity for those who are interested in researching issues related to natural resources and the environment. Graduate fellows spend three months at PERC in Bozeman, Montana, researching and writing a paper under the supervision of a PERC senior fellow. While there, fellows are required to present two to three seminars to outline, report on, and summarize their research findings. A paper of publishable quality is the expected result.

New Journal of Sustainable Real Estate – Call for Papers

The American Real Estate Society, in cooperation with and funding by the CoStar Group, announces a call for papers for a special issue of the real estate monograph series on “green buildings and sustainable real estate” called “Journal of Sustainable Real Estate”. The best research paper published will receive a $15,000 honorarium. All papers accepted for publication will receive $1,000. Authors are encouraged to submit original research that can help investors, developers, appraisers, lenders, asset managers, elected government officials and land use regulators improve their strategies, decision-making and understanding of the impact of sustainable real estate practices.