GreenPropertyManagement.com

Backyard Chickens

Posted on 27. Jan, 2012 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

One of the perks of my last apartment in California was access to seven hens. Really, the perk had more to do with the eggs the chickens produced, but the thought of interacting with hens was strangely thrilling. I’d never been around them before and I was extremely curious. I imagined making my way to the coop with an egg basket tucked under my arm.

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Save Paper in Your Property Management Office

Posted on 11. Jan, 2012 by Mary Girsch-Bock.

As more property management companies become more environmentally conscious, property managers continue to search for more ways to go ‘green.’ One of the easiest ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to reduce paper usage in your office.

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An Environmentally Responsible Move-Out List

Posted on 29. Dec, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

You’re not the only one making wish lists this time of year. Here’s one for your residents to check twice to make sure their next move-out is environmentally responsible. Or, should a tenant leave you with a move-out mess, this handy list will help you navigate the detritus responsibly. Thank goodness for security deposits.

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Increase Your Energy-Saving Awareness and Green Profits Will Follow

Posted on 14. Dec, 2011 by Marc Courtenay.

As Property Managers, we are often measured by how we get along with our clients and residents. More and more we are also judged by the example we set as the “stewards” of the buildings and grounds that compose the properties we manage.

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Getting Personal about Public Transportation

Posted on 02. Dec, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

But no matter where you are in the world, local public transportation reduces carbon emissions for every person on board. It also reduces the number of personal vehicles on the road, thereby reducing traffic congestion. Over the course of a year, you can cut your own carbon emissions by nearly 5,000 pounds just by hopping on a bus rather than driving.

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6 Green Ideas for Your Residents

Posted on 02. Nov, 2011 by Nora Betz.

Property managers can find ways to green their offices and green their properties in order to attract ideal residents. After all, you want the kind of residents who will respect their interior and exterior environment, believe in a minimal impact way of life, and are likely to build a sense of community. These environmentally friendly folks may be looking for new ideas on going green.

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The Aesthetics of Recycling

Posted on 19. Oct, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

What comes to mind when you hear the word recycling? Do you ever think of anything more aesthetic than an iconic plastic recycling bin?

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Sustainable University 101

Posted on 12. Oct, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

What do college campuses generate? Students. And what do students need? Rental housing.

This is certainly not news but what you might not know is that college and university campuses nationwide are implementing strategies to be more sustainable.

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Rethinking the Toilet

Posted on 26. Sep, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

Did you know the earliest form of today’s flush toilet first emerged in 1596? And while ordinary toilets today do what they are primarily designed to do – that is, flush waste away from wherever you are to a treatment plant far, far away – mainstream flush toilets haven’t undergone truly significant innovative retooling in quite some time. Meanwhile, they continue to flush about 4.8 billion gallons of water every single day in the U.S.

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Window Treatments: A Green Investment

Posted on 16. Sep, 2011 by Nora Betz.

It is good to prepare properties for the upcoming winter months and residents can learn simple tips to keeping their utility bills down this year. According to the US Department of Energy, properly selected and installed window coverings can save you up to 33% in heating and cooling costs.

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The 21-Day Recycling Challenge

Posted on 11. Aug, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

If your office or home environments don’t currently have a system for recycling, now is a fantastic time to develop one. Let’s start by conducting a little trash experiment. We’ll call it the 21-Day Challenge.

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Be a Hero with a Zero-Waste Event

Posted on 04. Aug, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

You’ve probably heard of zero-waste events before. You might have even attended one. They are just like regular events, except they produce exactly zero waste.

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$3 Billion Power Drain

Posted on 12. Jul, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

$3 billion in electricity. That’s how much energy set-top boxes – the ubiquitous household device that liaisons between signal and television – consume in the United States per year. Even more shocking is that 66 percent of that energy (about $2 billion worth) is used when no one is even around to enjoy the actual televisions set-top boxes enable.

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Teaching an Old Dog a New Trick

Posted on 07. Jul, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

After reading about Max the Labrador, I’m thinking about introducing a new twist to our family walks. Max, who was rescued by his family from Orphans of the Storm, has learned how to recycle alongside his human family members. He actually fetches recyclable trash and helps his humans collect an enormous volume of litter by week’s end.

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Strong Resident, Strong Community

Posted on 29. Jun, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

My neighbor Sage comes to mind when I think about an ideal tenant. First off, she’s reliable, responsible and stable. She’s lived in her apartment for nearly seven years. She treats her rented space with the utmost respect — just as if it were her own. She organizes efforts to clean up litter, create street art and plant flowers. I figure that her landlord certainly must know a thing or two about enticing high-quality, socially responsible tenants.

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Turning Over a Green Leaf

Posted on 22. Jun, 2011 by Kimberly Madrigal.

By taking steps to reduce the water and energy used by homes, management may be able to extend the life of existing systems, attract conscientious, green renters and increase operating income.

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Go Green with Video Tours?

Posted on 15. Jun, 2011 by Todd Breen.

It’s no secret that shopping for a new place to live can take a lot of time, but do you know how much pollution it creates too? ‘On average, homebuyers see 15 properties before choosing one’ (HUD website)

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Going Green Is Not “All Or Nothing”

Posted on 08. Jun, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

Your green journey depends on many factors — job, family, hobbies, personal values, physical abilities and many more. In that way, eco-consciousness is more of a spectrum.

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Keeping it Clean with Green Cleaning Products

Posted on 01. Jun, 2011 by Nora Betz.

Today, many people are voting with their dollars and buying more green household cleaning products. Choosing green cleaners is a great way to go green at the property management office and in your home.

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Junk Mail: If the Name Fits

Posted on 11. May, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

There was a time when posted mail was full of an alluring promise of adventure, good stories and friendship. But these days, most mail has been reduced to bills or junk mail. Postcards are few, handwritten letters even fewer. The anticipation of something great is still there, but when all you find is a circular for sale-priced beef at the local grocery store (and you happen to be vegetarian), there is a serious letdown (and evidence of a serious disconnect between marketer and consumer).

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Nuturing Tenant Loyalty

Posted on 04. May, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

Once you’ve found a great match between a tenant and your property, you want to nurture tenant loyalty. Here are a few easy-to-implement ideas that will help build a long and beautiful relationship.

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Be Green and Save 80% on Your Energy Bills

Posted on 27. Apr, 2011 by Marc Courtenay.

Imagine harnessing the underground temperature of Mother Earth to provide heating, cooling and hot water at amazingly high efficiencies. Today that dream has become a reality. The geothermal heat pump system is now available and introduces a new paradigm for heating and cooling.

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How Do You Vet Prospects for Eco-Consciousness?

Posted on 20. Apr, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

First contact launches the screening process – green or otherwise – of potential tenants. Use this initial exchange, be it in person, by phone or via email, to highlight a few key green assets of your property. Even if the prospect isn’t entirely green-savvy, they will be put on notice that green principles rate high with you.

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Cloud Computing Services

Posted on 13. Apr, 2011 by Kimberly Madrigal.

In the same way that we trust Google to host email and Facebook to provide a social site, a process called “cloud computing” allows companies to host infrastructure, software and computing capacity. They sell this hosting as “services.”

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Better Buildings Initiative

Posted on 06. Apr, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

Who knew there was a link between energy savings at your local property management office and job creation on a national level?

Yet President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative connects the two. According to the President, “[m]aking our buildings more energy efficient is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to save money, combat pollution and create jobs right here in the United States of America.”

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