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Who cares about indoor environmental quality, or as the experts dub it, “invironmental” concerns? Apparently everyone – including those who actually live in apartments. In fact, most residents are very acutely aware of indoor air quality even if some property managers are not.
Local municipalities are forming advisory sustainability commissions and the commissioners are taking their duties seriously. The City of Columbia, Missouri is getting ready to force landlords to take their sustainability credentials more seriously by requiring disclosure of utility expense data to prospective tenants and buyers. Not everyone is happy.
Professor Michael Grätzel of the Lausanne Federal Technology Institute won the 2010 Millenium Technology prize of 800,000 Euros, with a mind-boggling PV cell that is so small it does not scatter light. Certainly a molecular-sized invention has many applications for solar collection, but can green builders and communities wait?
The challenges the recession presents for facilities managers are multiple and continuing to grow. Building engineers and real estate agents have also seemingly become interchangeable in owners’ minds, as economics dominate hiring and retention decisions. For the superintendent accustomed to keeping the building humming, the leasing, sales and paperwork expectations can be overwhelming. For the [...]
Americans are consuming less energy since the recession imploded upon us, but are we really changed consumers?
In the second part of our interview, veteran asset manager Will Clark again focuses on multifamily operations and sustainability and shares his expertise and experience with a refreshing candor. His ideas and solutions are practical, profitable and based on a valuable, real world view.
Architects, engineers and builders would agree that buildings function best when the design team incorporates occupant comfort as its priority.
If you go to this link on the ENERGY STAR website you will find that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) list the following building types as qualifying for the ENERGY STAR New Homes certification programs:
All residential units in multifamily buildings three stories and under.
Units in four- and five-story [...]
The Department of Energy (DOE) upgraded its Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) with new rules for public housing, assisted multi-family and Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) buildings. If included on the list published by the DOE, the property is identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as already having met the [...]
