NYC: The Green Frontier
What sustainability really means has evolved drastically in the past five years, say Vornado corproate sustainability SVP Suki Paciorek (left) and Related sustainability VP Charlotte Matthews (second from right), whom we snapped with EZBuildingEHS CEO Amelia Janisz and GSA Public Buildings Service chief greening officer Eleni Reed. It's not only about the buildings themselves, but operations. Both woman have been vital in greening their firms' respective portfolios since they were hired in '08; Charlotte making sure all of Related's projects are at least LEED Silver (and now she's putting together ground-up infrastructure for the 17M SF Hudson Yards) and Suki helping bring Vornado's 100M SF up to LEED-EB. To keep each building's retrofit line items from being cut from budgets every year, Suki had Vornado create a capital fund for her department, cycling properties in and out as needed.
