Green Real Estate - Risk or Reward?

In a previous post, I mentioned that "The 2009 Ernst & Young real estate business risk report itemizes the ten top business risks faced by the industry as ranked by leading analysts."

Not surprisingly, The Green Revolution as they call it, makes the list at #8.

"8. Green revolution, sustainability and climate change - real estate is at the forefront of the green movement with pressures intensifying to build and operate in sustainable ways and minimize the carbon footprint throughout all types of real estate."

As we know, building Green pushes any price tag upwards of 20%. And with its heavy reliance on capital, Real Estate especially has felt the tightening conditions of the global economic crunch which is expected to last over the next couple years. Being forced to scale down, the question of whether to go Green or not for many builders becomes less of a choice.

On the other hand, those with a broader scope see that going Green in any capacity makes for a better long term investment because of the long term benefits gained from buying Green. That coupled with significant tax incentives (solar panels for instance) and the budget friendly aspect of Green homes make up for the bite one may feel in the initial purchase.

Now I suppose only time will tell, but lets hope that developers, builders, estate agents and buyers continue to see the importance of moving in the Green direction.

Commercial Green MLB

Green Pro Sports MLB

When I think of pro baseball games, my first thoughts usually revolve around juicy dogs, tall brewskies and looking out onto that overly watered open field. Low flow toilets, recycling initiatives and vegetative roofs don't usually pop into my head; but that's all changing. Apparently several big leaguers have adopted major changes if not total overhauls to their new and existing home fields. It's never too late to own up to corporate social responsibility!

Top of the eco watch list is Washington D.C., Nationals Park. The Nationals were the first pro sports baseball team to achieve LEED Silver. No easy task. Opening in the 08' season, this impressive new stadium features all sorts of Sustainy touches with everything from Green Gen Lighting to Eco Friendly cleaning products.

And the word is out. Since then, savvy team owners are trying to catch up. With the NY Mets new green stadium opening just this year and several parks like Fenway in Boston reaching for Solar power, you can be sure the future is now. Many professional franchises are looking to take the LEED.

Overall; 3 NFL stadiums including the SF 49er's and NY Giants, 1 NBA faciltity, 2 NHL rinks in the works, namely the Pittsburgh Penguins, and 4 MLB stadiums which include the Florida Marlins' complex and the Minnesota Twins, who are going for LEED gold in 2010! Now if we could just get the Yankees to quit clear-cutting....

via www.emagazine.com

via CPN.com

Back to Basics

Filed Under: Articles

Tags: construction • economic downturn • economy • real estate

"The 2009 Ernst & Young real estate business risk report itemizes the ten top business risks faced by the industry as ranked by leading analysts."

As we all know, the Real Estate Industry has felt the tightening conditions of economic uncertainty perhaps more than any other sector due to its heavy reliance on capital, which is expected to last for the next couple years due to a looming global credit crunch.

"Given the risks outlined by analysts in the report, it is time for owners, investors and users of real estate to use the time afforded by this lull in real estate activity to prepare their businesses for the next period of economic growth so they can hit the ground running when markets begin to stabilize. This ‘back to basics’ movement will lead to the greater transparency necessary to restore confidence between buyers and sellers"

All the usual suspects such as market fluctuations, economic, and pricing uncertainty are present along with newer entries such as the Green revolution, increased energy costs and misc global factors, all adding up to quite a list to wrap our heads around.

Click here for the complete list and article

The Green Sheen

Like all forms of industry, the Green economy and marketplace will be subject to great scrutiny, major success stories, flops and falsehoods. Greenwashing, a term decades old, has just sprouted into this glorious new marketplace.

Perhaps no industry has embraced the green mantra more than housing. And with that has come a lot more hype.

Green building consultant Carl Seville says that although many builders claim to be green, most “aren’t there yet.” As a result, the Decatur, Ga., resident says, buyers who want a green home but don’t really know what they want “are caught in the cross-hairs.”

A nationally recognized consultant who helps builders and developers create healthy, efficient and sustainable projects, Jennifer Languell says greenwashing not only “spans all spectrums” of the housing market but is “extremely prevalent.”

Many builders “do as little as possible” to be green, she says. “The common attitude is, ‘Do the minimum.’ It is rare that a builder really wants to raise the bar.”

Languell, president of Trifecta Construction Solutions in Fort Myers, Fla., says she sees exaggerations of the green aspects of the building products that go into a single-family home as well as entire projects. And a December 2007 study by TerraChoice, a Canadian environmental marketing firm, backs her up.

In a survey of six big-box retailers, TerraChoice found that only one of the 1,018 consumer products tested did not make false claims with regard to greenness. Why? Because there is no such thing as pure green, Languell says, only greener.

With everything coming up Green, it pays to educate yourself.
For the complete article via LA Times: Green claims get big buildup

Eco-Friendly Earthquakes!

Portola Valley, California has taken an innovative approach to earthquake proofing their town. Built atop the San Andreas Fault they stepped up to the unique challenge of adding a Green element to the mix. In the time it takes to say -oh-so-sustainable, Portola Valley achieved LEED Platinum certification and is now a role model for other organizations. On 11 acres of native landscapes rest 3 community structures with every eco-trick in the book. Made 33% more efficient than local regulations and experiencing only a 2% increase in overal project costs is expected to save the town a 20% savings over total production costs over 20 years. Whoa.

Get more story at: Archi.Tech
More insight via Portola Valley: Sustainable Building in Portola Valley