The Numbers Are (Finally) Making Sense on Sustainability. Here's Why.
We’re entering a new era in sustainability, according to Vidaris senior principal Robert LiMandri. It’s no longer a question of whether it’s worth it to build and retrofit greener buildings. The real question now, he says, is how to convince more commercial property owners that the dollars and cents will add up if they get on board.
How critical is sustainability to the bottom line of owning and developing in NYC? Mayor’s Office of Sustainability director Nilda Mesa, who keynoted our Sustainability event held yesterday at Merkin Concert Hall, recalls a recent statement by Doug Durst: It’s reached the point where projects without LEED certification often can’t even get financed.
Cohn Reznick partner Ted Gunther, a moderator, asked panelists what steps they’ve taken on sustainability that have bumped up their ROI. L&L Holding Co senior director Sara Fay (snapped with Ted), says a key calculation is whether things like going for LEED Gold, as L&L is doing at 425 Park Ave, will let you bump up rents a few bucks a foot. She also points out that if you plan from the get-go to go for LEED or other design changes to enhance efficiency, rather than treating it as an add-on and undoing parts of your design, you can get it done with no extra hard cost.
And there’ll be lots of chances for developers to get the ball rolling early. NYC Dept of Buildings chief sustainability officer Gina Borca (snapped with Urban Green Council executive director Russell Unger) says the city got about 3,000 apps for new buildings last year (up 5% from the previous year), and demo apps are up 27%.
NYC’s bumped its carbon footprint down by about 19% since 2005, according to the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability’s website. That’s with about 70% of greenhouse gases coming from buildings. But even as systems get more efficient, they can still get a lot better. And better means smarter, says Rudin Management Co COO John Gilbert. He puts it this way: why would a smartphone have an operating system but a 2M SF building not have one? He says Rudin’s developed a system called the Digital Building Operating System that uses algorithms to take past energy use data, crunch the numbers, and recommend energy loads that make sense for tenants and for Rudin’s bottom line. John says it’s meant about $5M annual savings so far, chipping a consistent 9% to 10% off the energy bill for Rudin’s 9M SF commercial office portfolio. Snapped: John, left, with Dave, Gina, Russell and Robert.
ConEd green team manager Dave Pospisil says big landlords like the Rudins or SL Greens of the world are sold on the cost-saving and tenant-attracting benefits of being sustainability leaders. But he says we’re at a point now where the challenge will be winning over those smaller landlords, who might not have the resources to have a whole in-house team that focuses just on sustainability.
