Socal Multiunit Real Estate

THE GOVERNMENT HAS $72 BILLION FOR GREEN REAL ESTATE

By Jodi Summers

Experts have calculated that the Obama administration has put together more than 30 programs worth $72 billion that can be used to increase energy efficiency in commercial buildings and multifamily housing.

“The Obama Administration has tremendous, untapped opportunities to use legal tools already at its disposal to enhance the energy efficiency and sustainability of the nation’s multifamily and commercial buildings — all without seeking new funds or authority from Congress,” observes a report prepared by Van Ness Feldman. “All told, the programs identified in this report have the potential to directly provide or facilitate over $72 billion in funding or loan guarantees, and can leverage hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment through instruments such as mortgage insurance and regulation of the real estate lending market.”

Titled “Using Executive Authority to Achieve Greener Buildings: A Guide for Policymakers to Enhance Sustainability and Efficiency in Multifamily Housing and Commercial Buildings,” the legal analysis, suggests several ways the Obama administration can use existing programs to enhance building efficiency:

* Reforming appraisal and underwriting practices at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Greening federal banking regulations

* Promoting flexible FHA insurance products

* Integrating energy efficiency and sustainability criteria into competitive grants and funding formulas

* Strengthening minimum property standards for federal housing and economic development programs to reflect energy efficiency and sustainability standards

* Improving performance standards applicable to federal buildings and leases

* Refining guidance applicable to the energy efficient commercial buildings tax deduction and the national historic preservation tax credit

* Using SBA funding mechanisms to support small business energy efficiency investments

* Streamlining Title 17 loan guarantees to make them suitable for buildings

“As an early adopter of green buildings and the LEED green building certification system, the federal government has been a leader in bringing green buildings to cities and towns across America,” said Roger Platt, the USGBC’s senior vice president of Global Policy & Law declared. “This new report unveils an even larger opportunity for the Obama Administration to increase our nation’s energy efficiency, while creating thousands of jobs and saving taxpayers money.”

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http://www.usgbc.org/government

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/04/30/obama-already-has-72b-tap-green-buildings-study-says

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LOS ANGELES IS AWARDED $30 MILLION FOR RETROFITTING REAL ESTATE

By Jodi Summers

All the banter that Los Angeles mayor, Antonio Villiarigosa has been causing in Washington with his green / energy saving ideas for Los Angeles are paying off. Recently, Vice President Biden announced that Los Angeles County was awarded $30 million to “ramp-up” energy efficiency building retrofits.

Los Angeles was one of 25 communities selected to receive a slice of $452 million in Recovery Act funding under the Department of Energy’s Retrofit Ramp-Up Initiative. The initiative promotes the concept that communities, governments, private sector companies and non-profit organizations will work together on pioneering and innovative programs for concentrated and broad-based retrofit projects.

A simple example of how the Retrofit Ramp-Up Initiative would work would be to have the same construction crew upgrade all the homes on the same block at the same time. The White House notes that this way of doing business, “…Saves contractors time and money. They can pass the savings on to their customers. And it’s just a much more efficient way to operate.”

Biden said the program, part of $80 billion in the Recovery Act for a clean energy economy, will help consumers save money on their energy bills, lower greenhouse gas emissions and create green jobs.

The models created through this program are expected to save households and businesses about a $100 million annually in utility bills, while leveraging private sector resources, to create what funding recipients estimate at about 30,000 jobs across the country during the next three years.

“Investing in retrofits is a triple win,” Vice President Biden observed, adding the program will result in retrofits for hundreds of thousands of U.S. homes and businesses over the next three years.

“This initiative will help overcome the barriers to making energy efficiency easy and accessible to all – inconvenience, lack of information, and lack of financing,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, we will make our communities more energy efficient and help families save money. At the same time, we’ll create thousands of jobs and strengthen our economy.”

In addition to the $452 million Recovery Act investment, the 25 projects will leverage an estimated $2.8 billion from other sources over the next 3 years to retrofit hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country. The government noted gleefully, that the program funding was eight times oversubscribed, with more than $3.5 billion in applications received for the just over $450 million in Recovery Act funds available, (kind of like applying for UCLA). That puts it in course for additional investment in energy-saving and job-creating projects like these nationwide.

Retrofit Ramp-Up Awards

The following governments and non-profit organizations have been selected for Retrofit Ramp-Up awards. These projects are planned to begin in fall 2010. Final award amounts are subject to negotiation:

Austin, Texas - $10 million

Boulder County, Colorado - $25 million

Camden, New Jersey - $5 million

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning - $25 million

Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, Ohio - $17 million

Greensboro, North Carolina - $5 million

Indianapolis, Indiana - $10 million

Kansas City, Missouri - $20 million

Los Angeles County, California - $30 million

Lowell, Massachusetts - $5 million

State of Maine - $30 million

State of Maryland - $20 million

State of Michigan - $30 million

State of Missouri - $5 million

Omaha, Nebraska - $10 million

State of New Hampshire - $10 million

New York State Research and Development Authority - $40 million

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - $25 million

Phoenix, Arizona - $25 million

Portland, Oregon - $20 million

San Antonio, Texas - $10 million

Seattle, Washington - $20 million

Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance - $20 million

Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, Ohio - $15 million

Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation - $20 million

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http://www.energy.gov/news/8870.htm

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/vice-president-biden-kicks-five-days-earth-day-activities-with-announcement-major-n

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/04/white-house-awards-452-million-to-retrofit-homes-businesses/1

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REAL ESTATE RETROFITTING STATISTICS

Edited by Jodi Summers

* Residential and commercial buildings consume 40 percent of the energy and represent 40 percent of the carbon emissions in the United States. Building efficiency represents one of the easiest, most immediate and most cost effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and save money on energy bills while creating new jobs.

* Existing techniques and technologies in energy efficiency retrofitting can reduce energy use by up to 40 percent per home and lower total associated greenhouse gas emissions by up to 160 million metric tons annually.

* Residential and commercial retrofits also have the potential to cut energy bills by $40 billion annually.

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http://www.energy.gov/news/8870.htm

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http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/04/white-house-awards-452-million-to-retrofit-homes-businesses/1

GREEN WALLS KEEP MULTIUNIT PROPERTIES COOLER

GREEN WALLS KEEP PROPERTIES COOLER

By Jodi Summers

We discussed green roofs, now let’s cover green walls. Covered in vegetation, green walls can be 25% cooler than regular building walls in summer, remove air pollutants, and they look great.

Historically speaking, green walls aren’t exactly a new idea: The Romans planted grape vines along building walls, resulting in faster growing and sweeter grapes for wine. The structures are also prevalent in Europe, where modern-day green roofs first took off.

What the ancient Romans devised is now be adapted for 21^st century applications. Steven Peck, president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a Toronto industry association, observes that interest in green walls is growing, estimating that green roof installations have increased at about 30 percent a year over five years.

Locally, the Rainbow Apartments off San Julian Street in the heart of skid row has a 34-foot-long vegetable wall filled with strawberries, tomatoes, basil and other herbs and vegetables. Residents of this step up housing facility are surprised at how the garden has united them.

“It brings us together as a group, kind of like therapy, to see something growing and flourishing,” Jannie Burrows said.

The wall was installed with the assistance Urban Farming, as part of the nonprofit’s Food Chain project. Urban Farming also erected “edible” walls at the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, the Miguel Contreras Learning Center and the Weingart Centidenter.

The Food Chain project, said Urban Farming founder Taja Sevelle, enables residents in some of the city’s poorest areas to grow food in underused spaces at a time when food prices are soaring. The walls, she said, “get people to think outside the box. You can plant food in so many different places.”

In the corporate world, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. recently installed a 2,400 square feet green wall on one side of its headquarters in Pittsburgh. It’s the size of two tennis courts and features more than 15,000 ferns, sedums, brass buttons and other plants that create a swirling pattern of varying hues of green above the company’s logo. They are divided among hundreds of 2-by-2-foot aluminum panels that were anchored onto the building’s frame after part of the granite facade was removed.

“We think it’s the right thing to do for our community, for our customers and our shareholders,” said Gary Saulson, head of corporate real estate for PNC. “We wanted to add greenery to an area that didn’t have any. … We really view the green wall as public art.”

Green Living Technologies LLC, of Rochester, N.Y., designed the wall at PNC. The company has also installed walls in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.

PNC bills its green wall as the largest in North America. On average green walls cost about $100 to $125 a square foot.

The Pittsburgh wall requires only 15 minutes a week of watering during peak growing season — less in winter — provided through the building’s plumbing system.

For non-edible green walls, according to Joanne Westphal, a landscape architecture professor at Michigan State University and part of the school’s Green Roof Research Program, the biggest benefit to green walls is their ability to help cool buildings through shading. They also help capture rainwater and release it more slowly into the atmosphere and stormwater systems. Additionally, green walls can offset the carbon output of one person a day.

http://www.agreenroof.com

http://www.greenroofs.org

http://www.socalgreenrealestateblog.com/?p=514

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5hKS7UwnC8nR6j4kYQLu6m1X7nBbQD9B9DRK00?index=0

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hKS7UwnC8nR6j4kYQLu6m1X7nBbQD9B9DRK00

http://www.insideurbangreen.org/green-wall/

http://www.edgelosangeles.com/index.php?ch=style&sc=home&sc2=&sc3=&id=97540

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/14/local/me-garden14

http://arkitipintel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/amelia_b_lima-green_wall.jpg

LOS ANGELES WINS THE ENERGY STAR GRAND PRIZE…AGAIN

By Jodi Summers

Bravo to all of you greening your properties. According to our friends at the environmental protection agency, approximately 3,900 commercial buildings earned the Energy Star rating in 2009, representing annual savings of more than $900 million in utility bills and more than 4.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Impressively, nearly 9,000 buildings across the nation have earned the Energy Star for superior energy efficiency during the past 11 years.

A standing ovation for our beloved Los Angeles. The EPA ranked us as first on its annual list of metro areas with the most energy-efficient buildings. We led the field with 293 buildings labeled Energy Star in 2009, up from the 262 that qualified the city as No. 1 in 2008.

Kudos also go to our nation’s capitol. Washington, DC, ranked fourth place in 2008, is now in second, with 204 Energy Star buildings, up from 136 the previous year.

Energy Star is a voluntary labeling program run by the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy. In order to qualify, a building or manufacturing plant must score in the top 25 percent based , on the agency’s National Energy Performance Rating System and use less energy, reduce operating expenses and cause fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Roll the credits - the top 25 cities with the most energy star labeled buildings in 2009 are:

1. Los Angeles, CA

2. Washington, DC

3. San Francisco, CA

4. Denver, CO

5. Chicago, IL

6. Houston, TX

7. Lakeland, FL

8. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

9. Atlanta, GA

10. New York, NY

11. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

12. Portland, OR

13. Boston, MA

14. Seattle, WA

15. Detroit, MI

16. Sacramento, CA

17. San Diego, CA

18. Austin, TX

19. Miami, FL

20. Phoenix, AZ

21. Ogden, UT

22. Charlotte, NC

23. Indianapolis, IN

24. Des Moines, IA/Fort Collins, CO/Philadelphia, PA

25. Louisville, KY

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http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/03/23/la-takes-top-spot-epa-green-building-rankings

http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=624F645516667EF93A09A56906607F8E&ref=100&iid=174&cid=383F14EEE265B182474DA2442BACBBBF

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THE GREENEST GOLF COURSE GETS AUDUBON CERTIFICATION

By Jodi Summers

Who has a great voice, umpteen million dollars, their own golf course and is socially conscious? Justin Timberlake, mega successful solo artist and all around good guy has opened up the nation’s first eco-friendly golf course in Memphis, Tennessee.

Originally called Woodstock Hills, the golf course is said to be the first place golf-enthusiast and former member of ‘NSYNC learned to hit a golf ball. He saved the golf course from becoming a multiunit development project.

“…Last year we found out they were going to auction it off and turn it into a development,” Justin revealed. “So we thought it was such a landmark for the community, we’d scoop it and save it. And we did. We were able to before it was auctioned off.”

A couple of decades and $16 million later, the newly renamed Mirimichi Golf Course is the “greenest” golfing destination in the U.S….

“I’m excited about every aspect of the course,” Justin confessed. “We basically created a whole new course. It’s a completely different track and doesn’t look anything like what it did. It’s exciting. There’s literally a creek around the whole course. We’ve dug 7 new lakes—the construction we’ve done lengthened the course by almost 1000 yards. We’ll have a great first tee program for kids and families. We’ll have a 9-hole executive course, but it’s really to use for the first tee program out there. We’ll have junior tournaments to get more young people into the game. I like the values the game teaches like honesty, patience, focus, and tenacity. Also, it’s close to my house. And my parents had their wedding reception there.”

The Mirimichi Golf Course is the first project in the U.S. to receive the Audubon International’s Classic Sanctuary certification.The course features irrigation systems that maximize the use of rainwater, native landscaping and solar-powered electric golf carts.

“I love my new course Mirimichi,” Justin confessed. “I love it for so many reasons. I feel like we did something great for the community. And we ended up doing something great for the world—a lot of people will pay attention to how eco-friendly this establishment is and I hope it will make some waves.”

When asked about who his idea golf foursome would be, Justin confided,” Bobby Jones because he never took a dollar for the game and always loved the purity of the game. Tiger Woods because he’s without a doubt the best golfer of all time. And has taken every dollar for the game! And my dad because he taught me how to play. He’s my favorite person to play golf with.”

http://www.justintimberlake.com/news/a_quick_9_with_jt_a_golf_qa

http://earth911.com/blog/2009/07/23/justin-timberlake-opens-first-eco-friendly-golf-course/

http://allfunmusik.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/justin_timberlake_01.jpg

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GREEN REAL ESTATE – GOOD FOR CALIFORNIA, GOOD FOR THE COUNTRY?

By Jodi Summers

Once again, when it comes to green, what’s good for California tends to become good for the country. The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have formed an action group to help states achieve the maximum cost-effective energy efficiency improvements possible in offices, buildings, industries and homes by 2020. Dubbed the State Energy Efficiency (SEE) Action Network, they are seeking to create a national version our statewide CALGREEN building code.

The CALGREEN Code was devised California Building Standards Commission is setting minimum green-building criterion that may, at the discretion of any local government entity, be applied.

“You will have a whole bunch of cities that never would have included this in their building doing it, and doing it in a way that won’t kill the economy,” observes Matthew Hargrove, a vice president with the California Business Properties Association. “Outside the coastal areas it will be helpful - like in West Sacramento, where they looked into creating a green building code but balked because it’s cumbersome to develop and they didn’t have the resources.”

Take the whole bunch of cities concept and spread it across a bunch of states. The DOE and EPA noted that 32 state public utility commissions requested help from the agencies last year regarding energy efficiency programs. SEE will be working with states to provide technical assistance and policy and program issues to advance energy efficiency efforts. Those state efforts may include financing solutions, residential efficiency programs and improving availability of energy usage information.

No doubt SEE’s goals will be similar to what we set forth in California. The purpose of CALGREEN’s codes is to improve public health, safety and general welfare by enhancing the design and construction of buildings through the use of building concepts that have a positive environmental impact, and by encouraging sustainable construction practices in the following categories:

• Planning and design

• Energy efficiency

• Water efficiency and conservation

• Material conservation and resource efficiency

• Environmental air quality

As California did with CALGREEN, now SEE and other DOE programs will help states develop strategies and action plans to improve the energy efficiency of existing building and reduce costs and emissions.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

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http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2257243/agencies-action-buildings

http://www.socalmultiunitrealestateblog.com/?p=673

http://www.socalgreenrealestateblog.com/?p=764

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LIGHTING – AN EASY STEP TO GREEN YOUR BUILDINGS

By Jodi Summers

Today’s favorite factoid: in the typical commercial building, lighting costs about $1 per square foot. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, lighting consumes as much as 30 percent of all electric expenses in commercial buildings nationwide, costing businesses some $37 billion.

Experts note that with recent advancements in lighting technology, it’s possible to half your lighting expenses. Your typical 200,000 square foot building may offer $100,000

annual savings through re-lighting.

Many buildings are currently using HID lighting. With High Intensity Discharge bulbs, light is produced by creating and sustaining an electrical discharge between two electrodes which excites a mixture of xenon gas and mercury for a bright white light.

By converting to fluorescent systems that use motion sensors.

The initial cost of Fluorescent lighting systems has barrier to wider use, but if you do the spread sheets you’ll realize this is short-sighted thinking for a big-picture building. Fluorescent lamps are considerably cheaper to operate and the lamps last far longer, reducing the long term cost-of-operation.

Another upside, if you don’t want that cold classroom look, recent technological improvements has produced “warmer” lamp colors, smaller fluorescent lighting systems. These innovations, plus the cost-efficiency have produced a renewed interest in using fluorescent lighting in residential and commercial locations.

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http://greenerbuildings.com/blog/2010/01/28/lighting-path-greener-bottom-line

http://www.grote.com/tech/dictionary/#H

http://nemesis.lonestar.org/reference/electricity/fluorescent/index.html

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GREEN BUILDING INSIDER SURVEY CONCLUDES THAT COMMERCIAL BUILDERS, BUYERS AND SELLERS FEEL GREEN IS GOOD, LEED IS O.K.

GREEN BUILDING INSIDER SURVEY CONCLUDES THAT COMMERCIAL BUILDERS, BUYERS AND SELLERS FEEL GREEN IS GOOD, LEED IS O.K.

By Jodi Summers

The third annual Allen Matkins/CTG/Green Building Insider Green Building Survey reveals that 93.4% of those surveyed agreed that it is worth the time and effort to build green, but only 66.2% believe that obtaining LEED certification is worth the effort.

More than 900 green building professionals – from design professionals, contractors, subcontractors, construction planners to building owners - completed the survey.

Additional findings in the survey were that designers, owners and contractors each offered differing results when assessing the risks involved in green construction or whether green construction adds to the cost of projects.

Bryan Jackson, chair of the green building and sustainable construction group at the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis, confided to GlobeSt.com that, “…New LEED requirements being introduced this year include a carbon overlay that should bring many of the survey respondents back into the fold with respect to LEED certification. Another change in the new LEED requirements is that the certification process takes into account regional differences, which should also help the LEED process to regain some of its lost adherents.”

Tools are coming to make communicating green commercial design easier. Building Information Modeling employs computer-aided design to produce three-dimensional models of projects for incorporating green design elements from the very start of and throughout a project. Those surveyed estimate that green construction adds between 1% and 4% to the cost of a project, but those who use can BIM see a better rate of return.

“If you design for green and sustainable elements from the very beginning, you will be able to come out with a project in that could certify to Green, LEED, Gold or Silver without spending any more than conventional construction, which is pretty amazing,” Jackson says.

See the whole survey @ http://www.allenmatkins.com/emails/GreenSurvey/Third%20Annual%20Green%20Building%20Survey_v5.pdf

Info courtesy of:

http://www.globest.com/news/1354_1354/losangeles/177097-1.html

4 GREEN BUILDING TRENDS 4U

4 GREEN BUILDING TRENDS 4U

By Jodi Summers

Green building concepts are being embraced with as much wild abandon as kids grasping for the coolest new video game. It started pretty basic – green construction, then evolved into green renovation, and now it’s branching out in all directions. Here are 4 green building trends to watch and invest….

1 - Modular Green Homes – One of the most successful investors in history, Warren Buffett, recently expanded one of his business subsidiaries, Clayton Homes, to produces a line of green modular homes. These 750-square-foot eco homes, dubbed “i-houses,” can be purchased online for less than $75,000. It’s a good bet that if Buffet is invested in it, the area will grow. Our hero is second richest man in the United States with a net worth of $40 billion.

The i-houses are constructed as modules in a factory and then assembled in the field. I-houses are marketed as “affordable luxury in a green, energy-efficient package.”

Beyond Buffett, there are others, such as Zeta Communities and Blu Homes in the green prefabricated market. Modular home construction will be a wise choice for builders going forward because it may allow developers reduce risk, allowing the development of large sites to take place as sales come in rather than building a planned community in larger phases before the units are sold out.

2 – Energy Retrofits – California state measure AB 1103, which requires the tracking of the energy use of all nonresidential buildings for disclosure to prospective buyers and tenants, is a fine example of how critical energy retrofits will be in the future. Much of the country’s real estate is old and wastes energy…eventually these properties will need to be upgraded or replaced. Not to mention, this is a cornerstone of President Obama’s post recession job creation movement.

Energy Star, the government, and local utilities have been offering rebates for property owners on measures like energy audits, insulation and duct sealing. SBI Energy predicts that the U.S. home energy retrofit market will grow about 15 percent per year to $35 billion by 2013, up from $20.7 billion in 2007.

David Leathers, senior vice president of energy services for mechanical contractor Limbach, confides that U.S. commercial building in the U.S. five years or older can likely benefit from a retrofit with payback for most measures taken in less than five years.

3 - Smart Building Materials - Energy-efficient building materials are the frame of green building. Serious Materials recently raised a $60 million third round of venture for the manufacture of energy-saving windows and environmentally friendly substitutes for sheetrock. More good investments - high-efficiency insulation system companies, such as walls with micro-encapsulated phase change materials to stabilize the indoor temperatures in buildings. More…Electrochromic technologies can darken or lighten the tint of a window when in contact with an electrical current, thus managing the amount of sunlight that passes through…Ventilated double-skin facades (already being used in Europe), use inner and outer glass walls with a thin cavity to provide insulation in between for the exterior shell of a building.

4 - More Energy Efficient Energy Codes - The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE ) and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) are both developing the latest round of “model codes”— ASHRAE 90.1 and IECC — will likely require a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency.

Congress may soon mandate that all states raise their standards to the newest codes. The American Clean Energy and Security Act passed by the House this year includes a provision that would effectively create a baseline national building energy code by mandating the adoption of a standard set by the Department of Energy, who may very well call on the standards set forth by ASHRAE or IECC.

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http://earth2tech.com/2009/12/23/4-green-building-trends-to-watch-in-2010/

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Homes/Green-Modular-Homes.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffet

http://www.socalgreenrealestateblog.com/?p=841

http://www.ashrae.org/

http://www.icis.com/blogs/green-chemicals/2009/01/green-building-is-still-recess.html

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