2009 August | MHN Blog

‘The Green Picture’ with Erika Schnitzer: It’s Not Easy Being Green…If Your Renters Don’t Know that You Are

Aug 052009

According to McKinsey & Co.’s recent report, “Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy,” investing in energy-efficient buildings now will lead to $1.2 trillion in savings, as well as reduce the nation’s energy consumption by 23 percent, by 2020.

“Green building can stimulate the economy at a level one and a half times larger than the federal stimulus bill,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of the USGBC, one of the 12 sponsors of the report. “By leveraging existing green building approaches, like LEED, which is rooted in holistic and integrated design, we have the ability and capacity now to address multiple barriers, and thus generate additional resource efficiencies and cost savings.”

The report points out the importance of “whole-building design,” which considers optimizing the building’s design for the local environment, minimizing energy consumption, pursuing holistic design and improving design and installation practices.

Many multifamily developers and architects who I have talked to recently have acknowledged these opportunities, at least to some extent. Even if their buildings aren’t certified by any particular standard, these methods are certainly considered at some point in the building process, even if it’s stemming from a financial, rather than a sustainable, motivation.

The problem with multi-housing developments, it seems, is that not all residents understand and employ green methods in their lives. While you can’t force your residents to embrace a sustainable lifestyle, you can certainly give them the tools they need to understand what this means. Because even if you build to the highest of green standards, it won’t be nearly as effective as you had hoped if the end user does not utilize these tools.

As operators, you need to educate your residents about what it means to live in a green building. (As a side note, I recently visited a LEED Silver multifamily community as a prospective renter. Not once did the leasing agent describe a single green benefit—he didn’t even mention the solar roof panels!—to me. Is this because he didn’t think I’d care or I wouldn’t deem it important to my decision?)

Why not promote your green features? (You never know who will be visiting your site and their knowledge of green building!) And when your prospect decides to choose you—maybe because of those green features you forgot to highlight—make sure you educate him about living in a green building and the role he can play in furthering your building’s, and your company’s, green initiatives. Because you’re just one piece of the green puzzle—everyone needs to be involved.

What do you think? Should green features be highlighted on a tour of your building? How much education do you provide your renters about living a green lifestyle, whether your building is certified or not? What steps are you taking to invest in energy efficiency in your buildings today?

Share your thoughts. Email me at Erika.Schnitzer@nielsen.com.

‘The Essential Kitchen’ with Kevin Henry: Just How Green is an All-Glass Kitchen

Guest Blog No Responses »

Aug 052009

At a recent design show in Los Angeles this past June, I had the opportunity to see firsthand, the highly touted sustainable all-glass kitchen from a very high profile Italian manufacturer. At first glance, it appeared to be the “holy grail” of environmental kitchen design. The doors, drawers, box, counter top and toe kick were all made of glass and it was this overuse of glass that got me thinking, “Just how green is glass?” When we think of glass, the first thought that comes to mind is its ability to be recycled and reused over and over again, but more often than not, the creation process is often overlooked.

When seeing this all-glass kitchen for the first time, the thought of fingerprints and chipped edges come to mind long before the impact that the creation process of glass has on the environment. It is understood and appreciated by the populous at large, that glass, in most cases, is 100 percent recyclable and can be used in the process to create new glass, but in recent years, several environmental organizations as well as government agencies, are beginning to take a closer look at how glass is created.

The formula and process to create glass has changed very little over the centuries. Sand, soda ash, limestone, dolomite and feldspar are mixed together and then baked in a blast furnace. This process of bonding and melting can play out over several hours or even days before the glass even begins to cool.

The intense heat required to manufacturer glass, 2,750° F takes a tremendous amount of energy consumption, resulting in enormous greenhouse gas emissions. It has been calculated that producing one ton of glass will create two tons of CO2.

The manufacturing of glass releases high doses of health threatening pollution into the atmosphere, like nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, as well as toxic particulates made of metals, chemicals, acids and dust, small enough to easily enter the nose and throat and reach the lungs.

On further investigation, mining for sand, the primary ingredient of glass, is a practice that is becoming an ecological nightmare as the demand for glass increases on a global scale. And if that wasn’t enough to put you off an all glass kitchen, the shear weight of glass, especially when used in this application, would leave an immense carbon-foot print when transporting from Europe to the United States.

So we must ask ourselves, just how “green” is an all glass kitchen? As discussed in the beginning the beauty of glass is its ability to be recycled over and over again. Its fatal flaw is the cost to the environment in its primary production.

(Kevin Henry is the executive VP of Bazzeo LLC as well as a writer, speaker and environmental activist. Henry can be reached at kevin@bazzeo.com or you can read his blog at www.theessentialkitchen.blogspot.com)

‘Editor’s Notebook’ with Diana Mosher

"Editor's Notebook" with Diana Mosher No Responses »

Aug 032009

Coney Island: Balancing Profit with Personality

The Long Island beaches and the Jersey shore are both just a day trip away from my home, but my family sometimes enjoys staying within city limits for our beach outings. We like being able to get on the subway in our neighborhood and be at Rockaway Beach or Coney Island an hour later. Coney Island in particular (my new favorite) possesses a gritty urban vibe that I really like.

As Sebastian Smith explains in his travel report at TheAge.com, “The decline of Coney Island began more than half a century ago as urban crisis, social change and property disputes stymied development along the sprawling city beach.”

Yes, it’s seen better days, but the sense of history lingers on—and the people watching is fantastic. No New York City spot brings together as diverse a group. If you’re looking for local color, this is the place.

Developers like Coney Island too. Especially now that the subway terminal at Stillwell Avenue has undergone a major reconstruction with a terra cotta façade recalling the splendor of the former terminal as well as a roof with arches like those found in classic European train sheds (don’t forget the camera, like I did).

Also noteworthy is the fact that the new subway terminal is the largest renewable-energy enabled mass transit station in the United States. The roof is glazed with 76,000 square feet of photovoltaic panels that generate an annual output of 250,000 kW hours.

The potential for multifamily and hospitality development is staggering given the prices that ocean views would likely fetch. And the retailers will want to be there as well. While redevelopment efforts have been thwarted in the past, last week the City Council did indeed vote to approve zoning changes that will allow the city to reinvent this prime real estate. The rezoning plan includes hotels, restaurants, and four high rises as well as a 12-acre amusement district. The Coney Island Development Corporation has big plans. Click here for more about proposed projects and initiatives.

Now all eyes are on Brooklyn developer Joseph Sitt, who controls a large piece of land that the city needs in order to realize its plan. According to a report by Crain’s New York Business.com, Sitt appears to be close to cutting a deal with the Bloomberg administration.

Opponents say redevelopment will ruin Coney Island’s character. What do you think?