Thursday, September 30, 2010

Green Buildings - Green Benefits for the Commercial Real Estate Industry

The construction market has taken a blood bath, however, it seems the growing trend of green building promises a face-lift for the stagnant industry. The belief is that green building creates healthier, more valuable, cleaner, more energy efficient, water efficient buildings.  Some industry leaders are still skeptical, but many others are jumping on the Green bandwagon, and making their existing real estate assets greener.  The 2010 ULI Fall Meeting and Urban Expo is going to be an excellent venue to test the theory: Is 2010  looking to be a pivotal year for transitioning the built environment into one that consumes significantly less energy, water and other resources?

Our analysis tells us 2010 is indeed the year where Green Building is no longer in the back room of a dusty facilities manager, but sustainable green building is on the best of every credible Real Estate developer.  We've identified  smart Energy Management as the most important trend in the radar of real estate developers when they think of Green Building.


In the commercial real estate market "green" retrofits are keeping everyone busy. Research and publishing firm McGraw-Hill Construction published a widely circulated report earlier this year that said nonresidential “green building retrofits” represent in the near-term a better opportunity for designers and builders than new construction. The market for these retrofits -– defined in this report as over $1 million in total cost and employing at least three aspects of green building such as energy, water and resource efficiency –- could grow to as much as $15 billion by 2014 from less than $4 billion this year.



Retro-commissioning, the practice of optimizing a building’s operation and maintenance activities such as around its heating and cooling systems, has become a sort of mantra for the industry. While the practice should be seen as just one piece of a comprehensive energy retrofit, retro-commissioning’s rise in popularity is for good reason since it can often lead to energy savings as high as 30 percent, says David Leathers, senior vice president of energy services for mechanical contractor Limbach. Leathers says that any 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.

Energy Codes Will Demand Greater Energy Efficiency: Ever since the energy crisis of the 1970s faded out of memory, energy codes adopted by states and other jurisdictions across the country have been making small, incremental steps toward demanding more efficiency out of buildings. But a consensus is forming that there needs to be more strict standards for building energy efficiency, says Jim Edelson, who runs the codes program for the New Building Institute, a nonprofit that promotes improved building energy performance.


The new versions of the “model codes” currently under development — ASHRAE 90.1 and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which are typically but not always adopted by jurisdictions — will likely require a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency, what Edelson calls the “most significant” increase in a generation. ASHRAE 90.1 is planned to be available in 2010, and the IECC is targeting a 2012 release.


But just because ASHRAE or IECC develop new codes doesn’t mean jurisdictions have to adopt them, and that’s led to a patchwork of energy standards across the country. http://www.energycodes.gov/states



One issue to look out for in 2010 is if Congress decides to 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, which would presumably point to ASHRAE or IECC. Consistent codes across the country would be good for anyone selling products or marketing services related to building energy efficiency, but it’s unclear if this provision will be part of the Senate’s version of the bill or if it will make it through any compromise legislation.

No matter what policies are enacted,  the commercial real estate sector, creating high-performance, environmentally responsible, healthy, yet cost-effective buildings where we work, play, and learn makes good business sense. In a volatile economic and environmental climate—domestically and globally—in which large-scale issues such as energy independence, global climate change, aging infrastructure and healthcare costs are affecting businesses, green building strategies offer tangible ways to counteract these issues as well as strengthen the bottom line.




Pilar - a BrightGreen EnviroLeader

Thursday, August 19, 2010


Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), a subsidiary of Constellation Energy  got the go ahead from the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to proceed with a vast smart grid deployment in Central Maryland.  The saga between BGE and the PSC was evident when the  PSC denied BGE on the first round the ability to run with its smart meter deployment as planned. BGE had to move fast because it got $200 million from the Federal government through a stimulus grant which was about to expire if the PSC had not accepted the terms.

So now the plan has been accepted, and  BGE is going to touch the lives of 1.2 million customers in Maryland. Clearly a pretty ambitious smart grid program.

According to BGE president and CEO, Kenneth W. DeFontes Jr., "Those benefits include at least $2.5 billion worth of savings for BGE customers over the life of the project, as well as major new enhancements in customer service and reliability."

BGE's ability to invest the hundreds of millions of dollars in smart grid on behalf of its customers depends on predictability, certainty and fairness in being able to recover those costs. And for this project to be a success BGE must be very vigilant, and on-top of customer expectations, satisfaction, and congruency.

The PSC was probably concerned the public would not understand that the moment a Smart Grid is installed, they would receive immediate savings on their electricity bill. Is this true? Most likely not, and the PSC's concerns are legitimate. 

There seems to be a discrepancy between what the public understands to be as  Smart Grid and Smart Meter deployment.  As a condition for approval, BGE presented to the PSC a long-term, customer-focused education and communication plan surrounding smart grid.

BGE states that,  "It will devote the necessary time and resources to ensure that all of its customers, including limited-income customers and senior citizens, have the information they need prior to each phase of smart grid implementation."  What is the plan? what is the outreach execution, How will they measure this successfully?  Historically customers have to "grin-and-bear" attitude toward utilities. The lack of competitive alternatives has made the focus on customer satisfaction, and expectations not a priority for utilities..

How will this Smart Grid roll out be any different?  If customer's complain that their energy bill has not decreased after a Smart Meter was installed in their home or business what are the consequences for BGE? Probably nothing.. so how true is it that the utility actually cares? And will  BGE do whatever necessary to gain customer's trust and confidence?

I am excited about the prospects... let's see what happens








Pilar - a BrightGreen EnviroLeader

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero! | Video on TED.com

Very interesting presentation on the Innovation Potential in Power Generation



Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero! | Video on TED.com

Pilar - a BrightGreen EnviroLeader