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 According to McKinsey & Co.’s recent report, “Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy,” investing in energy-efficient buildings now will lead to $1.2 trillion in savings, as well as reduce the nation’s energy consumption by 23 percent, by 2020. “Green building can stimulate the economy at a level one and a half times larger than the federal stimulus bill,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of the USGBC, one of the 12 sponsors of the report.  “By leveraging existing green building approaches, like LEED, which is rooted in holistic and integrated design, we have the ability and capacity…

Coney Island: Balancing Profit with Personality The Long Island beaches and the Jersey shore are both just a day trip away from my home, but my family sometimes enjoys staying within city limits for our beach outings. We like being able to get on the subway in our neighborhood and be at Rockaway Beach or Coney Island an hour later. Coney Island in particular (my new favorite) possesses a gritty urban vibe that I really like. As Sebastian Smith explains in his travel report at TheAge.com, “The decline of Coney Island began more than half a century ago as urban…

OK, let’s be transparent with one another for a while, shall we? How many of you in the service provider industry know anyone who is still working full time who hasn’t taken a pay/perk/benefit reduction of some kind over the last 18 months? For those of you who haven’t, kudos and congratulations, and may the force be with you. For the rest of us, who, from what I can tell, constitute the vast majority of all professionals, sacrifices have been made in the interest of mutually supporting our peers, or in some instances, even our organizations. Here in California, as…

What do Bentley Prince Street’s Cool Carpet, Arbor Contract Carpet, WeatherTRAK Smart Water Management by HydroPoint Data Systems Inc., Post Properties’ EcoActive program, The Tower Companies’ “Beyond Green” program and Forest City’s “Roadmap to Intrinsic Sustainability” have in common? They were all winners of MHN’s 2008 Green Initiative Awards! (Click here for details about last year’s winners.) With sustainability an increasingly “hot,” albeit important, topic, more and more companies are paving the way for a greener future. Whether it’s a recycled-content carpet, technology that creates a rational irrigation schedule based on the landscape or a corporate initiative pledging a company’s…

“I think you’re bluffin’.” John Wayne in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, (1962) (C) John Ford In what I can only attribute to political gamemanship, the Right to Rent program is making its way around the Hill, seeking support for what will surely amount to be the epitome of a liberal agenda. According to industry pundits, labor unions and very socially liberal organizations, those renting homes that are foreclosed need protection against losing their housing due to proceedings designed originally to turn the asset and get it back on the market as soon as possible. Rather than just asking…

NAA Exhibitors ScentAir and Beaulieu Demonstrate the Role of Scent Management in the Apartment Business We know that the smell of baking cookies can make a house more attractive to prospective buyers. So why not apply the same principle to rent apartments—or to keep residents from moving elsewhere when their leases are up? There is a growing body of research on the sense of smell to affect consumer responses. According to The Scent Marketing Institute, “scent can be highly effective in helping us distinguish one product from another. It can trigger a memory or desire that influences a purchase decision….

The House of Representatives recently passed energy and climate legislation that would include a number of provisions for green building incentives. The Waxman-Markey bill, otherwise known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454), would include such things as: -A building retrofit program, which would include standards for both residential and nonresidential buildings; -A building energy performance labeling program, which would encourage both owners and occupants to learn about building energy performance; -Established percentage targets for energy use reductions in new residential and commercial buildings; -The GREEN (Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods) Act, which includes…

 Greywater is Making a ‘Splash’ in Portland, Oregon  It’s hard to ignore the fact that the affordable multi-housing sector frequently leads the way in green initiatives. In Portland, Oregon, for example, the work of Central City Concern (CCC), a non-profit affordable housing provider, has helped direct statewide regulatory change.   Commercial and residential buildings in Oregon are now allowed to use rainwater. This change will result in significant savings for owners as well as low-income residents. It will also help conserve a precious resource.  As CCC points out, the greatest challenge of a truly sustainable building is…  water independence. Its groundbreaking work has helped…