The Leader - May/June 2008 - (Page 20)

Gr een r eal e s tate : W Hat Yo u Really ne e D to kno W Trend #3: Biophilia. The human biological need to interact with and be closely connected to nature – and the greater physical and emotional health (and hence productivity) those interactions and connections engender – will become more and more a part of building design and campus planning. Trend #4: Biomimicry. This practice doesn’t just mimic nature’s functional processes to create non-toxic materials and products using energy-efficient manufacturing processes that minimize greenhouse gas emissions and waste, it will soon become an integral part of green building construction and renovations. Architects, for example, are learning how to design commercial and other buildings that create fresh water by studying the habits of Namibian beetles near the Atlantic coast who use day-night temperature swings and the warm air blown off the Atlantic Ocean at night to condense fresh water on their cool backs. Trend #5: Changing and New LEED programs. The USGBC is creating new LEED programs, including LEED for Retail, LEED for Schools, and LEED for Healthcare Facilities. The USGBC is also beefing up its requirements. All new commercial LEED projects, for example, must reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent compared to a conventional building. The USGBC’s third version of its LEED standards will include a Life Cycle Analysis and Bio-Regionalism, i.e., geographic-specific criteria. Trend #6: More Regulations, Fewer Incentives: The number and scope of green building, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions regulations will increase dramatically in the next five years. As the number of green building regulations grows, expect green building and energy efficiency incentives to disappear. Trend #7: Mandatory “Report Cards” for Buildings. Expect U.S. cities, states, and eventually the Federal government to follow in the European Union’s wake in the near future by requiring “Report Cards” for buildings that document their energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. Mandatory green building-based Ecology Certificates should come within the next decade. Trend #8: Renewable Energy. Renewable energy technologies will become standard features on new and even existing buildings. Photovoltaic systems, in particular, will dominate in the southwestern United States and other areas with a lot of sunshine. Workplaces in urban areas, particularly those with building-created wind tunnels, will be making use of rapidly advancing wind power technologies. Those companies leasing space in buildings that prohibit the installation of geothermal power supplies, or photovoltaic systems, or rooftop wind turbines, will turn to Renewable Energy Credits – the purchase of power from renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuel sources like coal-fired power plants. PepsiCo is leading the way. The company is purchasing 100 percent of its electricity use with renewable energy credits for all of its U.S. facilities – that’s 1 billion kilowatt hours – at a cost of $2 million. aBout tHe autHor Charles Lockwood is a green real estate authority and consultant. He advises companies on greening their corporate real estate and operations. For more information on this topic, go to CoreNet Global’s Knowledge Center Online. Reducing Energy Consumption: Sustainability at ABN-AMRO http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCM5/ kcoAsset?assetInode=3322672 Renovating Pitney Bowes’ World HQ: A Commitment to Sustainability http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCM5/ kcoAsset?assetInode=3322603 . tH e le aDe r 20 MaY / j u n e 2008 http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCM5/kcoAsset?assetInode=3322672 http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCM5/kcoAsset?assetInode=3322672 http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCM5/kcoAsset?assetInode=3322603 http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCM5/kcoAsset?assetInode=3322603

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - May/June 2008

The Leader - May/June 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Green Real Estate Work Without Boundries Building Flexibility Into the Business Strategy Multi-Generational Work-Force Design Work Force Longevity Analysis Wells Fargo's David Nelson Pennsylvania's Michael Rossman Globalization 2.0 Site Selection Consultant Directory The New York Report: A Core of Traditional and State-of-the-Art Opportunities Discovery Forum Findings Industry Tracker Young Leader Career Development Effective Leadership Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead In Our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars Index of Advertisers Executive Development Spotlight

The Leader - May/June 2008

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