The Cost of Sustainability: Real World Data
Some facts revealed:
• Energy consumption in commercial office buildings exceeds transportation.
• Since energy costs are such a significant part of operating costs, reductions in usage has a recognizable impact on NOI.
• Energy consumption measurements are becoming a bigger factor in determining building values in California.
• The School District of Palm Beach County built the first LEED Gold-certified K-12 school in Florida. Pine Jog Elementary now serves as an efficiency model in the county's facility management decisions because of its measurable success.
• Incorporating green management practices is becoming more the norm since sustainability applies to environment and economics.
• Educating tenants and end users is key to a successful sustainability plan.
LOUISE BENDIX,LEED-AP | Office Leasing Speicalist
ComReal Miami, Inc.|Commercial Real Estate Services
366 Altara Ave., Suite 102 | Coral Gables, FL 33146
T 786-433-2376 | F 888-316-6818 |Join my Network
lbendix@comreal.com
Showing posts with label LEED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LEED. Show all posts
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Networking with Social Media Presentation at CREW Miami lunch
CREW Miami hosted a very informative luncheon event yesterday on Social Media Networking. Adam Japko, of Digital Sherpa, explained the goals of a Social Networking Marketing compaign, the benefits, and the power of a successful Social Networking Campaign. The Goals are to:
- Increase Google Rank meaning, when someone Googles a generic phrase like "Commercial Real Estate lenders in Miami" and you want your web-site to come up on the first page, you would definately be interested in increasing your Google rank.
- Grow WEB traffic meaning you want more people clicking on your web-site, reading your content, and ultimately paying for your products or services.
- Build community and engagement. Ultimately you want to be known as the expert in your field and the community in which would utilize your services.
- Drive leads & refferals. When you are known as the expert in your field leads and referrals will follow.
Peter Zalewski, a principal with the consulting firm Condo Vultures® LLC, contributed with his personal success story of building his brand Condo Vultures solely through his WEB presence.
Both re-iterated that everything that is posted will be there forever on the Web. Think twice before posting anything you might regret. Do you need proof? Go to http://WaybackMachine.org
80 hours a month to keep up with this? Happy tweeting and blogging!
LOUISE BENDIX,LEED-AP | Office Leasing Specialist
ComReal Miami, Inc.|Commercial Real Estate Services
366 Altara Ave., Suite 102 | Coral Gables, FL 33146
T 786-433-2376 | F 888-316-6818 |Join my Network
lbendix@comreal.com |
"ComReal is Commercial Real Estate"
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Commercial Real Estate Revolution
Last night Bill Black, co-author of The Commercial Real Estate Revolution, offered up a humorous and convincing case for shifting the way we design and build buildings.
The book was the outcome of Mindshift, a consortium of progressively-minded corporate real estate interests that are studying how corporate facilities are currently being designed and built. By proactively addressing the full life cycle of a project, Mindshift seeks business cases for sustainability that result in lower costs, better ROI and higher quality working environments for clients.
He suggests a new paradigm in building and design where quality and performance are the guiding principles.
The book is a must read for all of us in this industry. Much to think about.
Monday, November 16, 2009
CIASF program: Saving Green by Retrofitting Green on
Thursday night, November 12, Becker & Poliakoff, hosted a very informative program on “Greening” existing buildings to the members and guests of CIASF. (Commercial and Industrial Association of South Florida.) It is no accident that the offices of Becker & Poliakoff are in the elegant Alhambra Towers which is an energy star rated building for 2009. The message conveyed by Alan Krinzman, LEED-AP and host of the event, that the business of creating more energy efficient and healthy building environments needs to begin now and that energy efficiency and LEED principles are not a fad, but a necessity that we all need to embrace.
Paul Cohen of CBRE was the moderator of a panel the included Scott Alexander of ProLogis that shared the success ProLogis has in California and Oregon in leasing roof space to the utilities for solar panels. He did share that this arrangement would not work well here for several reasons one minor one being the frequency of hurricanes. Two knowledgeable representatives from FPL attended and shared some very good information on taking advantage of their rebates and other initiatives some of which can be viewed at: http://www.fpl.com/business/savings/rebates_and_incentives.shtml
Hamad Rodriquez, the principal of Hamed Rodriguez Architects Inc. and Co-Owner of Energy Cost Solutions Group, LLC holds the esteemed honor of designing the first LEED Gold building in Dade County. His message was clear. Since LEED is a rating system, there are several points already built into our code and it is not difficult to make some conscientious and simple changes to achieve LEED certification and make a significant difference in the energy and water use of a building while creating a healthy environment for occupants. He also brought up that EA (Energy and Atmosphere) Credit One is just a portion of LEED, yet can still reduce energy costs and help the environment. You can download your own checklist from his web-site to see how close your building might be to earning LEED certification. http://www.energycostsolutionsgroup.com/
For more information of Miami’s office space market, please feel free to contact me at anytime at 786-433-2376.
Louise Bendix
ComReal Miami, Inc.
Paul Cohen of CBRE was the moderator of a panel the included Scott Alexander of ProLogis that shared the success ProLogis has in California and Oregon in leasing roof space to the utilities for solar panels. He did share that this arrangement would not work well here for several reasons one minor one being the frequency of hurricanes. Two knowledgeable representatives from FPL attended and shared some very good information on taking advantage of their rebates and other initiatives some of which can be viewed at: http://www.fpl.com/business/savings/rebates_and_incentives.shtml
Hamad Rodriquez, the principal of Hamed Rodriguez Architects Inc. and Co-Owner of Energy Cost Solutions Group, LLC holds the esteemed honor of designing the first LEED Gold building in Dade County. His message was clear. Since LEED is a rating system, there are several points already built into our code and it is not difficult to make some conscientious and simple changes to achieve LEED certification and make a significant difference in the energy and water use of a building while creating a healthy environment for occupants. He also brought up that EA (Energy and Atmosphere) Credit One is just a portion of LEED, yet can still reduce energy costs and help the environment. You can download your own checklist from his web-site to see how close your building might be to earning LEED certification. http://www.energycostsolutionsgroup.com/
For more information of Miami’s office space market, please feel free to contact me at anytime at 786-433-2376.
Louise Bendix
ComReal Miami, Inc.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Green Building Impact Report 2009
This second annual report, researched and written by Rob Watson, the "Founding Father of LEED," explores the impacts that LEED-certified buildings have already had on energy, water, waste and employee productivity -- and projects those impacts for the next 20 years.
According to report author Rob Watson, floor area registered and certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED green building rating system in 2009 is estimated to grow by over 40% compared to last year's totals, for a cumulative total of over 7 billion square feet worldwide since the standard was launched in 2000.
Louise Bendix,LEED-APOffice Specialist
ComReal Miami, Inc. Commercial Real Estate Services
T 786-433-2376 F 305-591-9704 O 305-591-3044 X115
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
CBS Interactive leases 34,622 sqft in LEED certified building!
As a strong proponent of LEED certification in Commercial Buildings, I am happy to share that CBS Interactive has signed a long-term office lease for 34,622 sqft of office space in the 1401 Crown Center building in Fort Lauderdale as reported to-day in the Daily Business Review. http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/news.html?news_id=58127
The broker quotes 3 major components to CBS's decision to relocate to Crown Center: minimal employee disruption during the move, more efficiency with the space, and a LEED certified building.
In the Cypress Creek market area vacancy is quoted in CoStar at 15.1% in Class-B buildings with an overall net absorption of -120,869.00 just in the Cypress Creek sub-market.
Lynn-Ann Ierna, the director of Property Management for Midgard Properties, can attest to the cost savings the Crown Center property has experienced as a direct result of pursuing LEED-EBOM (Existing Building Operations and Maintenance) on other Crown Center buildings. Now Midgard has bragging rights for having a fully leased LEED-NC (New Construction, Major Renovation) project on their campus in a very challenging market.
Louise Bendix, LEED-APOffice Specialist
ComReal Miami, Inc. Commercial Real Estate Services
T 786-433-2376 F 305-591-9704
lbendix@comreal.com www.comrealmiami.com
The broker quotes 3 major components to CBS's decision to relocate to Crown Center: minimal employee disruption during the move, more efficiency with the space, and a LEED certified building.
In the Cypress Creek market area vacancy is quoted in CoStar at 15.1% in Class-B buildings with an overall net absorption of -120,869.00 just in the Cypress Creek sub-market.
Lynn-Ann Ierna, the director of Property Management for Midgard Properties, can attest to the cost savings the Crown Center property has experienced as a direct result of pursuing LEED-EBOM (Existing Building Operations and Maintenance) on other Crown Center buildings. Now Midgard has bragging rights for having a fully leased LEED-NC (New Construction, Major Renovation) project on their campus in a very challenging market.
Louise Bendix, LEED-APOffice Specialist
ComReal Miami, Inc. Commercial Real Estate Services
T 786-433-2376 F 305-591-9704
lbendix@comreal.com www.comrealmiami.com
Thursday, October 15, 2009
LEED and Commercial Buildings- Measuring up
The statistics to support change in the way develop building projects are compelling but the “do-good” rationality is not strong enough to bring forth a meaningful change in behavior.
What developers and building owners need are solid facts on ROI. How much will it cost to build green and what is the pay-off?
click here for more
It is looking like the meaningful pay-off is not only going to be in direct energy savings or in operating expenses but the real motivation is going to be in retaining higher lease rates and higher occupancy rates.
In a market with shrinking absorption rates and falling rents not just building green but retrofitting green looks like a win-win strategy to retain value and retain tenants.
A study by CoStar Group and University of San Diego found that green buildings outperform non-green peers across several categories, including occupancy, sale price and rental rates, sometimes by wide margins.
If you would like a copy of the power-point please contact me directly at:
Louise Bendix, LEED-APOffice Specialist ComReal Miami, Inc.
Commercial Real Estate Services
T 786-433-2376 F 305-591-9704 O 305-591-3044 X115 l
bendix@comreal.com www.comrealmiami.com
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Is LEED the way for Miami office?
Today it was announced that the law firm Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod will be vacating 80,000 sq. ft. of office space at the once iconic Wachovia office tower for the yet to be completed 1450 Brickell office tower at the end of 2010. To put that in perspective, this transaction will increase the vacancy at the 1,225,000 sq ft Wachovia Financial Center to 24% from a more respectable 17% advertised on CoStar today.
What does this mean for all of the existing office space in downtown Miami? Are tenants shopping for newer more efficient buildings? Are tenants shopping for “deals” where they are pitting the current landlord against developers who just hope to get most of their operating expenses covered by these new lease deals? In the case of the new deal at 1450 Brickell, has the developer made huge concessions just to get a coveted tenant to give the building some credibility? In any case there is certainly going to be a lot of activity in the office market in downtown and surrounding markets during the next few years while tenants are shuffled around. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Real Estate professionals, landlords, and tenants are all going to have to work very hard in this environment to preserve value, keep occupancy rates high, and be aware of market conditions especially LEED certification for buildings and LEED accreditation for individuals.
There is approximately 3 million square feet of new office space coming on line when Met II, 1450 Brickell, and Brickell Financial Center come on line. There is not any evidence that economic growth alone will bring nearly enough new tenants to South Florida to absorb all that space. The 3 buildings are boasting a LEED certification for Core and Shell meaning all 3 buildings are registered with the USGBC and are being audited to receive some level of certification. LEED certified buildings are buildings that are constructed for the long term health of the community and the occupants.
Developers at one time thought tenants would be willing to pay more for all of these benefits. There is no clear evidence in the Miami market that tenants are willing to pay more for LEED but I can see the occupancy of LEED certified buildings increasing while existing non LEED buildings will lag in occupancy rates. The answer is for existing building owners to take initiative and get their buildings at the very least energy star rated with possible upgrades to HVAC, lighting, and reflective roof material. A step further would be to get their buildings LEED-EBOM certified for existing buildings, operation and maintenance. This will give them the edge to keep current tenants, operate more efficiently, and ultimately help turn the tide on doing the “right” thing for their bottom line and their communities.
What does this mean for all of the existing office space in downtown Miami? Are tenants shopping for newer more efficient buildings? Are tenants shopping for “deals” where they are pitting the current landlord against developers who just hope to get most of their operating expenses covered by these new lease deals? In the case of the new deal at 1450 Brickell, has the developer made huge concessions just to get a coveted tenant to give the building some credibility? In any case there is certainly going to be a lot of activity in the office market in downtown and surrounding markets during the next few years while tenants are shuffled around. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Real Estate professionals, landlords, and tenants are all going to have to work very hard in this environment to preserve value, keep occupancy rates high, and be aware of market conditions especially LEED certification for buildings and LEED accreditation for individuals.
There is approximately 3 million square feet of new office space coming on line when Met II, 1450 Brickell, and Brickell Financial Center come on line. There is not any evidence that economic growth alone will bring nearly enough new tenants to South Florida to absorb all that space. The 3 buildings are boasting a LEED certification for Core and Shell meaning all 3 buildings are registered with the USGBC and are being audited to receive some level of certification. LEED certified buildings are buildings that are constructed for the long term health of the community and the occupants.
Developers at one time thought tenants would be willing to pay more for all of these benefits. There is no clear evidence in the Miami market that tenants are willing to pay more for LEED but I can see the occupancy of LEED certified buildings increasing while existing non LEED buildings will lag in occupancy rates. The answer is for existing building owners to take initiative and get their buildings at the very least energy star rated with possible upgrades to HVAC, lighting, and reflective roof material. A step further would be to get their buildings LEED-EBOM certified for existing buildings, operation and maintenance. This will give them the edge to keep current tenants, operate more efficiently, and ultimately help turn the tide on doing the “right” thing for their bottom line and their communities.
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