Facebook’s New HQ Has A Massive 9-Acre Garden On The Roof

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When Facebook approached famed Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry to design their new headquarters in Menlo Park, California, they asked for a simple building without a heavy design.

And while the building might look pretty conventional from down below, 70-feet up on the roof is something light on the environment and the spirits: a gigantic 9-acre garden.

The building, called MPK 20, is topped by a parkland with verdant green fields of grass, over 400 trees, and a lot of trails. “It’s a half mile loop,” says Lori Goler, head of human resources and recruiting. “It gives space to think.”

Like any new garden, the plants here have yet to fill out. But in coming years we can expect to see a lush green environment sitting atop the 430,000 square foot open-plan building.

From top to bottom, this place is designed to encourage collaboration and the free exchange of ideas. It sounds like a perfect fit for Silicon Valley.

From below, the building is decidedly understated. (Matt Harnack/Facebook)

From below, the building is decidedly understated.
(Matt Harnack/Facebook)

But up above the entire 9-acre roof is criss-crossed with trails and unique areas to get some fresh air. (Gehry Partners)

But up above the entire 9-acre roof is criss-crossed with trails and unique areas to get some fresh air. (Gehry Partners)

On top you almost wouldn’t know you were 70-feet in the air. (WIRED)

On top you almost wouldn’t know you were 70-feet in the air.
(WIRED)

 

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HEAT, Broward County Schools ‘Seeing Green’

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For the second consecutive year, the Miami HEAT has challenged Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) to find innovative ways to reduce energy consumption at each campus.

Through the greening initiative titled “How Low Can You Go?” the team is enticing the schools to raise environmental awareness of CO2 emissions and educate the facilities about potential financial savings through responsible energy consumption. As an industry leader in greening efforts, the HEAT will reward the winning school with on-court recognition during Sunday’s Detroit Pistons versus HEAT game. Second and Third Place schools will also receive honorable mentions during the game.

Out of the 82 BCPS that registered for the “How Low Can You Go?” challenge, 63 schools reduced their kilowatt consumption by a total of 1,501,957 kilowatt hours resulting in a savings of $143,587. The “How Low Can You Go?” challenge was spearheaded by BCPS physical education teacher, Linda Gancitano. Gancitano was recently named a White House Climate Education on Literacy “Champion of Change” for enhancing climate education at Driftwood Middle School Academy of Health and Wellness and throughout the BCPS district.

This collaboration is part of NBA Green Week 2015, which takes place from March 22nd through March 29thand leverages the combined weight of the league, teams, players and partners to generate awareness and raise funds in support of environmental protect

The HEAT and AmericanAirlines Arena continue to blaze a trail for best greening practices and industry firsts. In November 2014, the Arena was awarded LEED Gold Recertification by the U.S. Green Building Council—the first sports and entertainment arena in the world to receive the prestigious honor. AmericanAirlines Arena’s green features include solar reflective roofing materials, reduced energy consumption, water efficient landscaping as well as paper and plastic bottle recycling among others.

In November 2015, AmericanAirlines Arena will unveil an elegant, energy efficient solar pavilion as part of a multi-year clean energy partnership with NRG. The solar pavilion will transform the Arena’s East Plaza, an uncovered and under-utilized outdoor space, bringing the in-arena experience outside where the views of Biscayne Bay and the Port of Miami are absolutely stunning.

Other green initiatives in which the HEAT has participated include HEAT Beach Sweep, an annual effort to help preserve South Florida’s environment and Re-HEAT, where unused food from all Miami HEAT home games is redistributed to local homeless assistance programs. HEAT Beach Sweep, now in its sixth year, is presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami and Re-HEAT, in its seventh season, has donated more than 33,000 pounds of food to the Miami Rescue Mission and the Chapman Partnership with the assistance of presenting partner, C1 Bank and supporting partner, Levy Cares.

 

Source: NBA.com

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Miami Beach Sea Level Rise Conference Targets Future Developments

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It’s up to developers and city officials to protect projects in Miami Beach from the threat of global sea level rise, architect Reinaldo Borges warned an audience gathered inside a conference room at the W South Beach on Thursday.

“Developers need to change their perspective,” Borges said. “They go in with a short-term investment mentality. That mindset has to change.”

Business leaders discuss sea level rise at the Miami Beach Community Resiliency Summit

Business leaders discuss sea level rise at the Miami Beach Community Resiliency Summit

Borges, a principal of Borges & Associates Architects, lamented that hotel projects his firm worked on like the Royal Palm Miami Beach and the Bentley Beach Hotel will be negatively impacted by sea level rise. Before new projects break ground, Borges suggested city officials find ways to provide developers with incentives if they build structures at a higher elevation.

The Miami-based architect was part of a panel of business community leaders at the Miami Beach Community Resiliency Summit Friday morning. Other speakers such as Wendy Kallergis, president and CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association, and Gabriole Van Bryce, a member of the association’s sustainable hospitality council, talked about successful efforts to convince builders and owners to make their properties greener.

“We have really helped hotels reduce the impact of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Van Bryce said. “We want to further reduce the effects of greenhouse emissions by promoting a cool roof initiative to place local gardens on rooftops.”

Al Roker, host and weatherman for NBC’s “Today Show,” kicked off the summit by providing attendees with a few cold hard facts about climate change. “In the next 50 years, Miami’s high tide will be five feet higher,” Roker said. “At the city’s 100th anniversary concert last night, I told the crowd, ‘I hope you’re enjoying this now because where you are standing now will be underwater one day.’”  The popular morning show personality also said the mainstream media made a mistake by coining the term “global warming,” instead of using “climate change.”

Following his presentation, Roker told The Real Deal that developers, city officials, and residents have to work together to address the real threat of climate change. “Everybody should be concerned,” Roker said. “Are buildings ready? Is the infrastructure ready? Those are all real concerns condo owners, private property owners, businesses and everybody should be concerned about.”

 

Source: The Real Deal

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Kicking Off A New Brand, Earthy South Beach Hotel Opens

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If the 11,000-plant “living green wall” or hangers fashioned from recycled paper don’t give it away, the ceilings, furniture and doorways made of reclaimed wood will: 1 Hotel South Beach is serious about its eco-friendly mission.

“Hotels can do better with their impact on the earth,” said Michael Laas, corporate director of impact for SH Group, the hotel brand management company for Starwood Capital Group.

The environmentally-focused 1 Hotel South Beach features a green wall at its main entrance. The 1 Hotel South Beach opens on Wednesday after a massive re-working of the former Gansevoort. NICK SWYTER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

The environmentally-focused 1 Hotel South Beach features a green wall at its main entrance. The 1 Hotel South Beach opens on Wednesday after a massive re-working of the former Gansevoort. NICK SWYTER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

In a nod to its nature-centric philosophy, the hotel will celebrate its opening Wednesday with a sage-burning ritual, the unveiling of a coral sculpture and a release of butterflies by Plant the Future, a Wynwood company whose terrariums are found throughout the property. The very first guests checked in Tuesday.

Starwood Capital, an investment firm that is not affiliated with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, partnered with LeFrak, a privately held group of real estate companies, for the massive overhaul of the former Gansevoort. The hotel was also operated as the Perry before closing for renovations in spring 2013. Including the $230 million purchase price in early 2012, the developers have invested about $500 million in the 426-room, 155-residence property.

“Everything was basically, for all intents and purposes, it was gutted and we started over,” said Richard LeFrak, president of LeFrak. He said windows, terraces, air-conditioning systems, elevators, pools, ballrooms, guest rooms, bathrooms and more were redone. “There’s really nothing that resembles what was there,” LeFrak said. “Except it’s still on Collins Avenue.”

The hotel’s website gives the address as 2341 Collins Ave., but the giant property fills the block between 23rd and 24th streets. It includes four pools, including one on the roof; a signature restaurant called Beachcraft, lobby bar and poolside restaurant from celebrity chef Tom Colicchio; another restaurant, STK Miami; a ballroom; and meeting space. Rates start at $699 a night for entry-level rooms with king-sized beds.

Ceilings in the lobby are made of wood reclaimed from water towers in Alaska, while some of the furniture was crafted with fallen trees from South American rainforests. On guest room floors, hallways are accented with wood from trees that were taken down by mountain pine beetles.

“It’s all about telling different stories,” Laas said. But those back stories will have to be found online, not in a glossy brochure or coffee table book. “We’re paper smart, so we don’t have printed material in the rooms,” Laas said. Instead, in rooms that average more than 700 square feet, guests will find a tap with filtered water rather than plastic bottles, low-flow water fixtures and a mini chalkboard on the bedside table to replace a pen and pad.

Laas said the hotel will earn silver certification from the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, or LEED, green building program.

Hotel managing director Philip Dailey said he expects the brand’s sensibilities to resonate with modern hotel guests. “Real things are back,” he said. “We’re a very real, very natural product.”

Miami Beach is the first outing for the 1 Hotel brand; a Central Park location is expected to open in early July, followed by a site in Brooklyn Bridge Park at the end of this year or early next, said SH Group president Scott Rohm.

Dailey said Miami Beach, with its international appeal and superheated status, is a perfect place to launch the brand. “We know that there’s certainly a lot of competition here,” he said. “I think we have something that’s really special.”

The reputation of Starwood Capital and SH Group chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht — who founded Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 1995 and created W Hotels — has also helped draw attention, Dailey said.

Gregory Rumpel, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels in Miami, said he believes the hotel will be especially attractive to meeting planners and families drawn by its large rooms, some of which boast two king beds. JLL took the property through foreclosure in its previous iteration, sold the hotel to the current owners and remains “actively involved,” though Rumpel would not say in what capacity.

Rumpel said the 1 Hotel South Beach joins a growing list of high-profile new offerings on the beach, including the Thompson Miami Beach and Miami Beach Edition. “We’ve got this new cast of characters,” he said. “The picture just got broader, the picture just got more interesting and exciting.”

 

Source: Miami Herald

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‘Green Bonds’ For A Parking Garage?

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A state agency in Massachusetts recently sold “green bonds,” a type of debt designed to fund environmentally-friendly projects.

But the money raised from the sale won’t go to a new park, more bike lanes or a renewable energy facility. Instead, the Massachusetts State College Building Authority plans to use some of the funds to build a 725-space parking garage at Salem State University near Boston.

A parking garage at Salem State University near Boston, financed by so-called green bonds issued by a Massachusetts state agency, would feature car-charging stations, such as this one in Atlanta. Photo: Chris Aluka Berry for The Wall Street Journal

A parking garage at Salem State University near Boston, financed by so-called green bonds issued by a Massachusetts state agency, would feature car-charging stations, such as this one in Atlanta. Photo: Chris Aluka Berry for The Wall Street Journal

The garage will have electric-car charging stations and spots for carpoolers, and officials said it would cut down on pollution from students who now circle the campus in their cars, looking for spots. But some analysts and environmental advocates said the garage still encourages people to drive, a major contributor to greenhouse-gas emissions.

The debate over the garage underscores the lack of clear rules for determining what projects help the environment. Investors said the green-bond market allows companies and governments to tap into large pools of money for environmental initiatives. But some said “greenwashing,” the financing of projects whose environmental impacts are at best unclear, could discredit the market and make buyers wary.

One concern is that there is no mandatory legal framework to decide what projects are environmentally friendly. That leaves issuers and banks to decide. Wall Street firms last year adopted voluntary green-bond guidelines, but critics said they aren’t sufficiently stringent.

“I really don’t trust developers and bond issuers to police themselves, to make sure what they say is green is really green,” said Karen Orenstein, a senior analyst at environmental group Friends of the Earth U.S. When asked about using green bonds to pay for a parking garage, Ms. Orenstein said: “That’s why you need standards.”

The Massachusetts agency generally follows the banks’ green-bond guidelines. Edward Adelman, the executive director, said the garage has environmental positives.

To be open by early 2016, it will free up land for other new school buildings, reducing sprawl and making the rest of the campus more pedestrian friendly, he said. It is also being designed to receive a certification from the Green Parking Council, according to the bond prospectus.

The issue is becoming more important as the market expands. Green-bond sales have more than tripled from a year ago in each of the past two years, with $53.2 billion outstanding at the end of 2014, according to the Climate Bonds Initiative, a nonprofit group in London.

Big asset managers such as BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group and TIAA-CREF have purchased green bonds. Calvert Investments, a $13 billion asset manager, has raised $33 million for a mutual fund that focuses on green bonds, drawing on what portfolio manager Matthew Duch calls investors’ increasing “social consciousness about the environment.”

The voluntary guidelines, called the “green-bond principles,” suggest green bonds can pay for renewable energy, clean transportation and energy efficiency projects. Nothing, however, is explicitly ruled out.

GreenBondsChartThe guidelines are expected to be updated this month, and many investors are generally supportive. Still, one group of buyers, including BlackRock and Pacific Investment Management Co., said recently that the guidelines “can benefit from further definition and structure.”

“Personally, I do think the principles could use an update and provide a little bit more rigor,” said Rob Fernandez, a credit analyst at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, which buys green bonds.

Some investors said having inflexible rules would be counterproductive, discouraging issuers from selling green bonds and making it more difficult to pay for environmentally friendly projects. But they said it is important that issuers are transparent about how the money is used.

Environmentally dubious deals are rare, and one questionable bond shouldn’t disrupt the market, investors said. But “if there were multiple events in a short period of time, and investors just get uncomfortable, that would be a different story,” said Manuel Lewin, head of responsible investment for Zurich Insurance Group, a green-bond buyer.

At Salem State, where many people commute, students said the need for parking is real.

“I feel like I’m in a battle with all these people for spots,” said Tessa Haynes, a junior. “It’s a little episode of ‘The Hunger Games,’ ” a movie about a fight to the death among teens.

The parking garage isn’t the only project to come under scrutiny. Environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth U.S. and International Rivers, have raised concerns that proceeds from a green bond sold by French power company GDF Suez SA could help support a hydropower plant in Brazil. The groups said the plant could imperil fish species and has increased deforestation.

‘I really don’t trust developers and bond issuers to police themselves, to make sure what they say is green is really green.’

—Karen Orenstein, senior analyst at Friends of the Earth

GDF Suez said “a great effort is being undertaken to understand and to preserve biodiversity.” The company said it is deciding which projects will benefit from a €2.5 billion ($2.66 billion) green bond it sold last year and will disclose its decision in the coming weeks.

Mr. Adelman, driving around the Salem State campus, pointed out cars parked on nearby side streets with university parking stickers. He said the new garage isn’t encouraging people to drive more but is serving existing students who must park off campus. “Nobody objects to building a parking garage,” said Mr. Adelman, who drives a hybrid car himself. “The reason it’s questioned is because of the discussion about the green bond.”

 

Source: Wall Street Journal

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Report Says Incentives Make Going Green Easier For Commercial Landlords

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Providing better incentives and more financing options are among the ways to encourage commercial building owners to invest in green technology in Houston, a report concludes.

The recent report unveiled at Rice University includes an action plan with recommendations that could apply to a range of buildings, from the smallest strip centers to the tallest towers. The report follows a three-day workshop, the Houston Energy Efficiency in Buildings Laboratory, that brought business and city leaders together in October to discuss how to save energy in the commercial sector by at least 30 percent. The group said this saving would contribute to more than $500 million in the local economy, enough to power 10 midsize power plants.

Houston was one of the first cities in the world targeted for this effort, sponsored by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development. Previous cities were San Francisco, Shanghai, Mumbai and Warsaw.

William Sisson, co-chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, said some of the same roadblocks found in Houston exist in other cities that have been part of this effort. He said local support is key. “In my experience, the business community is definitely out in front and looking for ways to save cost, enhance the bottom line and make their assets more attractive,” Sisson said. He said the challenges are to communicate to individuals the larger benefit of such investing, ensuring there is adequate capital available for them to do so and making sure that public policy keeps up with what the market is doing.

Good For Society

A condenser pump at 2 Houston Center helps save energy. A report calls for more financing options for green energy. Photo: Gary Fountain, Freelance

A condenser pump at 2 Houston Center helps save energy. A report calls for more financing options for green energy. Photo: Gary Fountain, Freelance

The final report essentially argues that it makes business sense to invest in energy-efficient technologies. It also appeals to the public sector, saying that reduced air pollution and improved public health will be a societal good. It focuses primarily on lower-tier building owners who have been more reluctant to invest. Action-plan items include raising awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency in buildings, targeting communications and providing case studies to building owners.

The plan includes financing solutions, such as energy service agreements that reward companies for reducing energy usage, and calls for creating more transparency in collecting energy data on buildings because owners may not have access to their tenants’ energy output. Strategies recommended by the panel include raising awareness through city initiatives and publicizing how much money companies can save through more efficient operations.

Already in Houston, the top tier, or Class A, office buildings compete for LEED certifications and energy-efficient building has become standard. Yet the lower-tier class B and C owners and tenants are less aware of the role and importance of energy efficiency. Those owners also do not have the scale or structure to pursue energy efficiency investments. The report concluded that incentives offered for green building do not do enough for the smaller owners and operators.

Mayor’s Goals

The report said that while Houston has progressive building codes, their reach and enforcement are limited, even as green building has become a focus for Mayor Annise Parker. She announced goals to reduce greenhouse gas emission by80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050. Emissions already have fallen by 32 percent since 2007. The city has also launched the largest LEED-streetlight conversion in the country. The report says Houston is ranked fifth nationally for the number of LEED-certified projects, with 369.

Gavin Dillingham, research scientist with the Houston Advanced Resource Center, which will lead the effort to create awareness and promote new policies in the area, said he hopes to show business owners why energy-efficient practices are good for business and show the government that these practices have societal benefits. “We need to be ahead of the curve and operate as efficiently as possible,” Dillingham said. “There is definitely an opportunity to improve.”

 

Source: Houston Chronicle

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$500M Solar Energy Firm Conergy To Run Global Operations From Aventura

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A European energy company that faced insolvency three years ago is now generating $500 million in annual revenue, thanks to an Aventura firm’s takeover.

Kawa Capital Management acquired Germany-based solar energy firm Conergy in 2013, aiming to build on the company’s strong brand, global footprint and 15-year track record, Kawa partner Andrew de Pass said.

Solar energy could provide a long-term steady cash flow, de Pass believed, as long as the firm sold off certain manufacturing units that were losing money. “We were able to eliminate over 250 million Euro in debt,” said de Pass, now Conergy CEO. “So we started fresh — no debt, no loss-making manufacturing operations.”

Kawa’s Aventura office already houses about 15 Conergy employees. That number will double in the next year, meaning Conergy will need to expand into a larger space in the next six months, de Pass said.

The 300-employee company will maintain its Hamburg, Germany headquarters, but is making its Aventura office a twin headquarters, de Pass said.

Conergy’s goal for 2015 is to solidify its strong presence in the United Kingdom, Japan and Southeast Asia, as well as expand into cost-competitive emerging markets such as Mexico, Chile and Turkey, de Pass said.

The company also plans to increase its market share in the U.S., although “it’s a very competitive and fragmented market,” de Pass added.

De Pass said he hopes Conergy’s Florida location will help the firm work with Florida Power & Light’s parent company, Juno Beach-based NextEra Energy, as it ramps up solar projects.

Now that Conergy has eliminated massive amounts of debt, the firm is prepared to compete against giants such as SunEdison, de Pass said. “What really makes us competitive against the big guys is we have a global footprint,” he said. “We have built over 300 [solar] projects in our 15-year track record. We have deep experience.”

 

Source: SFBJ

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Newly Launched Ballot Petition Demands Broader Solar-Energy Options

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Our state’s nickname, The Sunshine State, is more than just a bumper-sticker slogan: Florida has the best solar energy resource east of the Mississippi.

This potential, coupled with Florida’s size and growing population, means that we should be a national leader in affordable solar-energy generation. But we’re not.

Two of Florida’s big power companies have recently announced new large, utility-scale solar projects. However, the private investment market is clamoring to invest in solar in Florida, too. Florida’s distributed (roof top) solar market, which is funded by private investment dollars, is being artificially constrained by unnecessary barriers.

So far, Florida’s big monopoly utilities have been effective at controlling who generates power from the sun and what they can do with it. These barriers stifle innovation, constrain customer choice and prevent job creation, hurting my business and hundreds like it.

Kent Crook

Kent Crook

That why longtime solar advocate, CEO of Wiremaster’s Electric, an electrical-services company in Miami, and board member of the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy, Kent Crook, supports a newly launched ballot petition to expand solar choice by allowing customers the option to power their homes or businesses with solar power and choose who provides it to them. This petition is not a mandate, and it won’t raise taxes. It simply removes barriers in order to expand the choices for Floridians who want to power their homes and businesses with clean, renewable solar power.

Solar choice would enable customers to contract with solar providers who can offer innovative financing plans to provide solar power systems at no upfront cost — much as we already purchase and finance homes or cars. Landlords likewise will have the opportunity to provide the economic benefits of solar power to tenants. And this ballot would also permit solar providers to sell power directly to the customer at a long-term fixed rate. Fixed rates lock in long-term savings and offer more control over our energy future. In addition, recent studies have shown that solar-energy systems increase homes’ resale value.

These benefits are great news for middle- and lower-income customers who may have been locked out of the solar market because they did not have the upfront cash to invest in a solar system. Clean, nonpolluting energy sources like solar can also reduce traditional energy’s health impacts, which disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities in our state and around the country. Thus we are able to leave cleaner air and water for future generations to enjoy.

Despite protests from the big power companies, solar energy does not raise electricity rates, and because the fuel source — the sun — is free, it will help customers control electricity rates. Monopoly power companies like Florida Power & Light make their money by building new power plants. They earn a guaranteed rate of return, which is then passed on as profits to its shareholders. The company doesn’t seem to consider its low-income customers when gutting customer energy-efficiency opportunities or building costly new power plants.

Monopoly utilities are understandably scared of losing their monopoly and the lucrative profits that the government guarantees them. When homeowners and businesses are able to generate their own power, it means less profit for power companies.

 By allowing the private market to invest in solar, investment risk is shifted away from the monopoly utilities’ customers to the private market, saving customers money and reducing the need to build new expensive power generating facilities.

It’s called the free market, and competition will benefit us all. More solar energy customers means businesses will hire and train more solar installers and electricians — resulting in more well-paid, local jobs that cannot be outsourced.

A recent poll found that 74 percent of state voters support a proposal to change the law and allow Floridians to contract directly with solar providers to power their homes or businesses with solar energy. Residents of the Sunshine State clearly support solar power, but they are currently being denied the right to choose it as their power source.

Floridians for Solar Choice is bringing the issue directly to the people. Sign the petition at www.FLsolarchoice.org.

 

Source: Miami Herald

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When A ‘Green’ Building Isn’t Really Green: It’s More Common Than You Think

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When Scott Hardin found a home four years ago for his real estate appraisal firm, The Appraiser Guy, at Woburn’s Trade Center 128, he was pleased to settle into the “green” building.

Besides the convenient location on Route 128, the building was equipped with solar panels, low-flow toilets, and even bathroom towel dispensers that use smaller sheets of paper. The building’s advertised LEED credentials played a big part in Hardin’s decision to rent there. The LEED award – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – is the building industry standard for environmental and energy efficiency used worldwide and issued by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council.

A bronze wall plaque in the lobby of the half-million-square-foot Trade Center, owned by Cummings Properties, features a USGBC logo. Posters displayed in hallways highlight the building’s green features with a logo touting “LEED Gold pre-certified,” using the USGBC name. But the office complex is not, in fact, certified for any LEED award by the non-profit group.

“It’s not?” asked Hardin, when told by a reporter who had checked the USGBC registry. “I just thought the building was.”

While Cummings uses the LEED branding in promotional material and registered the building to become certified for the award, the company decided not to continue what it considered an onerous process merely to obtain “a piece of paper,” said Dennis Clarke, the company’s president. Company officials maintain that the building was built as “green” as if it were certified by the USGBC.

LEED administrators are concerned about “a small group of developers or project owners who may take advantage of the LEED name” by using their simple registration of intention to build green as an actual LEED award, said Marisa Long, the USGBC spokeswoman. They may use it in their advertising, while never following through to get certified.

GreenLeedHowACommercialBuildingIsCertifiedGreenIn the world of building green, there may be no bigger influence than the US Green Building Council and its LEED certification, which can assure higher rents and sale prices for commercial buildings. But the New England Center for Investigative Reporting has found that limited USGBC oversight allows developers to misappropriate the LEED brand. Some use misleading advertising that can deceive renters or buyers by exaggerating a project’s LEED certification status – or by obscuring the lack of one.

“There’s a lot of gamesmanship and strategy promoting buildings as LEED-certified,” said Norm Miller, a professor of real estate at the University of San Diego. Miller helped produce a 2011 study in 14 American cities that found that buildings advertising LEED certification bring an average of 7 percent higher rents than ones without the designation. In Boston, where large-scale projects are legally required to meet LEED standards, the researchers found LEED-certified buildings command nearly double the rent of those without it.

A LEED award only goes to projects that have completed a rigorous certification process, said Long: “The only way to measure a building’s sustainability – energy efficiency, environmental features – is through certification. There’s no other way to do it. If a project is not certified to LEED standards, it’s not verified by USGBC that it’s a green building.” But, Long added, the policing of the standards – and public misunderstanding of them – is not something the council can fully control. “It’s like any trademark or any copyright – we can’t control everyone who is using our name. We can only address it when it’s brought to our attention.”

In an informal review of Boston-area developers, NECIR found eight projects – including Trade Center 128, the current home of Middlesex Superior Court – that have used the LEED brand to advertise their green features without LEED certification.

Some building owners inflate the fact that they are “LEED registered,” and some say they are “pre-certified” – but that simply means a builder has submitted green construction plans for preliminary review. Neither is an award, said USGBC officials, and one even called these designations “pretty minor.” “A lot of buildings have filed papers to become a LEED project, but that doesn’t mean they’ve completed the LEED certification process,” said John Scofield, an Oberlin College professor who has studied the energy efficiency of LEED-certified buildings and is a critic of the USGBC system. “It’s a huge difference.”

For example, in Northampton, PeoplesBank advertised the green attributes of a LEED “registered” branch for at least a year; but it did receive certification for the LEED gold award Jan. 26.

The Nantucket Dreamland theater’s website touted conflicting claims about its renovation – one that it had earned a LEED silver certification, the other that it was in the process of becoming LEED certified. When NECIR reached them by phone Feb. 3, the executive director Melissa Murphy said the certification claim was an error and she removed it.

In Braintree, the Campanelli construction company advertises three Massachusetts projects with the LEED branding, even though none is certified by the Green Building Council. “Even if you don’t have the formality of [LEED], the building is still sustainable,” said Danielle Simbliaris, the Campanelli marketing manager.

Campanelli advertises the 400 Uplands Woods Corporate Center in Norwood as LEED “registered” – but it was never built and has been replaced by an apartment building that broke ground in November. The company stretches LEED branding in wording that says its 2 Pond Park Medical office in Hingham “could have” achieved a LEED award. And it also highlights the LEED “pre-certification” of the Presidential Woods Corporate Center project in Woburn, says Simbliaris, which will not likely be built.

“There is nothing that is said here that is incorrect,” said Simbliaris. “It’s the truth, whether [the customers] understand that or not.” And that’s what LEED administrators are concerned about – as in the case of The Appraiser Guy, Hardin, who did not understand his building’s LEED status. “[W]e don’t want to dilute the LEED brand by having projects that haven’t gone through that rigorous third-party verification to be promoting it as a LEED building,” said Long.

LEEDing The Way To Green

LEED is in demand. A 2014 Turner Construction study of 300 executives found that 62 percent said it was “extremely or very likely” they’d seek LEED certification for constructing green projects, up from 48 percent in 2012.

McGraw Hill Construction reported that between 2005 and 2011 (the latest data available) the green building business grew from $10 billion worldwide to about $78 billion. And according to the latest tax records available, USGBC earned revenues of more than $74 million in 2013 – up nearly 40 percent – from $53.6 million in 2012. LEED certifications are issued by the Green Building Certification Institute, a sister organization of the USGBC, which also issues professional accreditation to about 190,000 members who do reviews of LEED award applicants.

“People who are in the US Green Building Council and people who get LEED certifications are looking for a financial edge. This is a very big money operation,” said John Scofield, an Oberlin College professor who has studied the energy efficiency of LEED-certified buildings and is a critic of the USGBC system.

Across the U.S., more than 140 federally owned or leased office spaces are LEED-certified, according to the Government Services Administration. Since 2007, Massachusetts has required LEED certification for state-owned building projects larger than 20,000 square feet. And Boston and Cambridge require some developers to ensure their projects meet LEED standards; while a handful of towns in the state encourage building to LEED standards.

In Massachusetts, there are more than 680 certified commercial properties, including hospitals and schools, according to the USGBC. (Among them is WGBH headquarters in Brighton, which hosts some offices of the New England Center for Investigative Reporting.)

Other local LEED-certified projects include UMass Memorial Medical Center’s Lincoln Street ophthalmology facility in Worcester, as well as the U.S. federal courthouse and the White Street fire station in Springfield. Worcester State University’s administration building, Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s recreation center, and Clark University’s Blackstone Hall all have LEED certifications. Local retailers also operate LEED-certified spaces, including a Stop & Shop in Springfield and a Shaw’s in Worcester.

LEED certification is a point-based system – scores increase with each feature, such as making use of sustainable materials, implementing energy and water efficiency, and taking advantage of mass transit. “What a sophisticated consumer or potential tenant needs to ask, [is], ‘What kind of certification, and what level?’” said Miller, the University of San Diego professor.

Deciding what makes a building “green” is judged by a growing number of private and governmental groups. But few have the influence of the non-profit USGBC LEED program, which has certified more than 25,000 new construction and retrofit commercial projects and government offices globally with its LEED award. “Getting LEED certification is a very long, drawn-out process that requires a lot of time and documentation with the USGBC,” said Scott Weiss, managing director of commercial development at the Burlington-based Gutierrez Company. His company’s office building at 5 Wall Street in Burlington was LEED certified in 2009.

Meaningless Logos

In the case of the Woburn Trade Center, with about 150 tenants, Clarke, the Cummings Properties president, downplayed the significance of the LEED award. After his company obtained pre-certification for the Trade Center, he said, it decided that obtaining a LEED award wasn’t worth the time.

But Trade Center advertising suggests there is value in LEED branding – it liberally uses USGBC logos on its lobby plaque and on posters around the building. Management removed custom-made USGBC logos from its website after NECIR asked questions about them. Told of the logos used by the Trade Center – which is, indeed, pre-certified by the Council – the USGBC’s Long, said an official logo for pre-certification “doesn’t exist.”

In Newton, Elaine Construction Company’s president, Lisa Wexler, removed a USGBC membership logo from her company’s website after being asked about it by an NECIR reporter last summer. The membership, which offers reduced rates on building reviews, had expired in December 2008. Wexler said its continued use was an oversight.

The Elaine website highlights the firm’s LEED experience, including eight projects it says are LEED-certified. Six are listed as certified in the USGBC database. One, Boston Coach, in Everett, is not in the council public database at all. And Elaine’s renovation of the Presentation School Foundation in Boston – touted on its website as “LEED gold,” with “pending” added after NECIR queries on Feb. 3 – is not certified, according to the database and a former board member of the school who maintains the building at Oak Square, Michael Green. But Green expects certification by March, and said the foundation needed three years to raise the $12,000 to $15,000 to pay for the certification process. USGBC would not confirm that certification is pending.

Elaine also advertises six projects that it claims haven’t sought LEED but meet its standards. The company advertises that its own office space has “the rigorous standards of LEED Gold certification,” without claiming actual certification.

It Pays To Check Your ‘Green’ Status

The USGBC’s public database is not always an accurate picture of LEED certification in Massachusetts. Abandoned projects, such as IKEA’s aborted Somerville store proposal, remain listed as “in progress” for certification. And some LEED-certified projects aren’t listed, such as Staples’ Roslindale store, which received a LEED certification in 2009.

The USGBC typically relies on project managers to provide updated data on any project registered in the LEED system, said Long. Another USGBC official said that the council has three employees and some “informal data stewards” who follow up on reports of misuse of the LEED brand. Long, who could not confirm that, did say that the organization can only investigate misuse when informed of it and would have “no reason” to track all registered projects until they’re ready to begin the certification process.

In the case of the Gutierrez Company’s office building at 5 Wall St. in Burlington, the USGBC repeatedly told a NECIR reporter that the project was never certified, even though the USBGC’s own press release said it was certified in 2009. Upon further NECIR questions, USGBC discovered that Gutierrez did achieve a LEED gold certification, but the company had not clicked an online form that would trigger notice of certification.

Gutierrez’s Weiss said he was not aware of the error until a reporter raised the issue. “We’re not typically looking up our own buildings online to see if they’re there or not,” Weiss said. “Perhaps in the future we should do that.”

 

Source: WGBH News

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US Green Multi-Residential Buildings To Receive Lower Interest Rate Loans

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The US Federal National Mortgage Association has announced it will provide lower interest rate loans to green multi-residential buildings.

Rick Fedrizzi, chief executive and founding chair of the US Green Building Council, commented:

“This is a great demonstration of leadership from Fannie Mae, and the partnership between the multifamily finance industry and the green building industry…This is real money and an incentive to not only build green but also for existing buildings to achieve certification. For the first time, Fannie Mae multifamily lenders will be able to reward building owners for their better buildings.”

Jeffery Hayward, executive vice president for multifamily at Fannie Mae said the organization was leading the way in financing through its low interest rate offering:

“We clearly see the value in the triple-bottom line of certified green buildings: financial benefits of lower operating costs for owners and tenants; social benefits of better quality housing for renters; and environmental benefits for everyone.”

All loans financed under the lower interest rate will be securitised as green mortgage-backed securities, growing the total volume of green bonds in the market. Fannie Mae provided $28.9 billion in financing to the multifamily market in 2014, working with lenders to finance 446,000 multifamily housing units.

 

Source Intelligent Building Today

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