Meme of the Moment: Responsible Property Investing

Posted: June 18th, 2008 | Author: mfguide | Filed under: Investment, Sustainability | No Comments »

Professor Gary Pizo, University of Arizona, is a leading author and proponent of Responsible Property Investment (RPI). His recent paper, “Responsible property investment criteria developed using the Delphi Method” (Building Research & Information, (2008) Vol. 36, Iss. 1) discusses the development of criteria used to evaluate the micro (property level) and macro (community level) value of property investments.

The Delphi Method, which uses multi-round feedback from a group of experts as a way to achieve ‘broadly considered opinion’, was employed in a 3 round exercise involving experts from socially responsible investing (35%), real estate (40%), engineering and design (8%), and academia (17%). Using a group of 51 experts to start, the Delphi Method helped prioritize 66 criteria when considering responsible property investing. There was considerable overlap amongst the top 20 criteria, and among the top 10, most are derivations of either efficient use of utilities or proximity to multi-modal transportation. Most interesting is Table 4, which describes the criteria using categories such as location, site and building design, owner behavior, occupant behavior, and operations and maintenance. Tellingly for my purposes, 52 of the 66 criteria had some overlap in operations and maintenance. In short, investors value the sustainability of their sustainable investment. Overall, an interesting paper that should lead to further investigation by academia and industry.

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Honeywell updates Denver Housing Authority

Posted: February 19th, 2008 | Author: mfguide | Filed under: Investment | No Comments »

Showing that housing authorities and other owners can be lucrative customers, Honeywell is upgrading the heating and cooling systems of the Denver Housing Authority. As part of the Greenprint Denver program, Honeywell was awarded an $11.6 million dollar, 12-year contract to reduce utility costs. Interestingly, the project is expected to be revenue-neutral, as savings should offset costs. Phase 1 is expected to finish in August 2008, just 12 months after the awarding of the contract.

“The first phase of the program will focus on traditional infrastructure upgrades to more than 940 DHA buildings, including hi-rise apartments, single-family homes and offices. Honeywell will make improvements to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, install new boilers and furnaces, seal buildings to reduce the loss of hot and cool air, retrofit existing fluorescent lights with energy-efficient fixtures, upgrade plumbing systems with aerators for improved water conservation, and replace resident refrigerators with high-efficiency Energy Star models.”

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