PEOPLE, PLANET, PROFIT
Wringing a profit out of green—for new construction and existing buildings—was the focus yesterday of the first-ever Bisnow Charlotte Sustainability Summit at the Westin. No, money doesn't grow on trees, but cutting them down won't win you any favors either. | ||
 | ||
| Our able moderator was Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer SVP Warren Snowdon, next to USGBC executive director Emily Scofield, Cousins director of engineering David Edwards, Forsite president and founder Tom McKittrick, CALOR managing partner Lisa Lee Morgan, Bissell interior construction manager Alicia Bickett; Ginkgo principal and CEO Phil Payne, and Wells Fargo SVP Curt Radkin. ?Everyone is a stakeholder in sustainable design,? Emily says. Despite the down economy, ?sustainable design has become very cost effective.? The added cost of making green buildings: as little as 2%, she adds. | ||
 | ||
| The environmental community has for years struggled with, or even ignored, the economic aspects of sustainable development, says panelist Phil Payne, whose company does multifamily development. People have finally realized you can "make it work and make money at the same time.? He advocates the continued merger of the social, environmental, and economic aspects of building green, down to replacing the ubiquitous five-gallon flush toilet. Quoting New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Phil says, ?There is only one thing bigger than Mother Nature and that is Father Profit. He also injected the notion of the 3 P's, "People, planet, profit. And not all P's are created equal." He allowed a certain ambuity over which "P" should get the emphasis. | ||
 | ||
Curt noted that it's important not just for buildings themselves to be LEED certified but individual spaces. The company's uptown HQ is 97% occupied, and 80% of the tenants have gone green, he says. | ||
 | ||
| University City Partners' Mary Hopper and event panelist USGBC?s Emily Scofield schmoozed before the summit. People need to care about renewable resources, green space, and environmentally sound buildings, because it's our future, Mary tells us. ?Either we fix it , or suffer dire consequences.? | ||
 | ||
Panelist Lisa Lee Morgan, daughter of the late Bill Lee, co-founder of what is now Duke Energy, tells us the current energy grid is outdated by almost 100 years. Society has made great strides in developing improvements in technology and communications. The same sense of entrepreneurship and imagination needs to go into more efficiently consuming energy and fuel. Lisa (a true Daughter of the South) confides she enjoys her air conditioning as much as anyone. (?I'm not a rabbit. I don't want to live and die in the woods,? she says.) But the means to make that air conditioner run efficiently are at hand. ?But price will always be the driver.? | ||
 | ||
?Old school? might work for blues quartets, but it's not for today's building environment, says Argus Development Group's Stanford Garnett whom we snapped after the event. He also remarked on the overall state of the market. ?Things are getting done,? Stanford says. ?It just depends on where you're sitting.? | ||
 | ||
Grubb & Ellis? Karen Mankowski says sustainability traditionally has taken a back seat to economics. Now, the building owner, the broker, the architect, the GC and all the subcontractors need to recognize that a credential like LEED certification is now simply a part of doing business. ?If you take the short-term approach, you're not going anywhere.? |
