GreenPropertyManagement.com

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.

Continue Reading

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.

Continue Reading

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.”

Continue Reading

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.”

Continue Reading

Smoke Free Property Management

Posted on 01. Apr, 2011 by Kimberly Madrigal.

Since 2006 municipalities across the country have been passing smoke-free ordinances. Some may set rigid timetables while others allow a percentage of smoking units, but they all have the same ultimate goal. To prohibit smoking indoors.

Continue Reading

Defining Green

Posted on 23. Mar, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

Green to me is more about personal responsibility, weighing my own needs against the needs of those around me and the planet and seeing the big picture.

Continue Reading

Calculating the Value of a Green Tenant

Posted on 16. Mar, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

How do you calculate the value of an eco-conscious tenant? It goes well beyond a timely rent payment — a tenant can easily pay rent on time, while destroying your property from top to bottom.

Continue Reading

Best Practices for Tenants to Conserve Energy

Posted on 09. Mar, 2011 by Mary Girsch-Bock.

Tenants are always looking for easy ways to conserve energy and save some money in the process. No one likes to put a large chunk of their paycheck towards outrageous energy bills that are once again on the rise nationwide. Management companies can easily provide their tenants with a list of things they can do to save both energy and money. Many of these things require little monetary investment, and tenants can see lowered utility bills almost immediately. Here are some suggestions that your tenants will appreciate.

Continue Reading

Let the Sun Shine In with Solar Leasing and Power Purchase Agreements

Posted on 02. Mar, 2011 by Kimberly Madrigal.

Everyone would like to get their electricity from a clean energy source but cost can be a prohibitive factor, particularly for rental properties. Two ideas that may merit further investigation are power purchase agreements (PPAs) and leasing of solar photovoltaic (PV) equipment.

Continue Reading

Getting a Handle on Stuff

Posted on 23. Feb, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

Having too much stuff eats up our valuable time, because there’s more to organize, maintain, move, and store. As a result, what we have grows less useful as it wastes away in some forgotten corner—slowly becoming obsolete. The New York Times and other publications have been reporting of late about a new strategy to simplify our lives. All we have to do is whittle down what we own to 100 items or fewer (including toiletries). This is an exciting experiment to read about over morning coffee, but most folks would be hard-pressed to successfully pare down a household or office to 100 items.

Continue Reading

GPM Electric Vehicle’s Charging into the Future

Posted on 16. Feb, 2011 by Kimberly Madrigal.

The future is here when it comes to electric vehicles or EVs with several models now available to consumers. As gas prices continue their inexorable rise, property management professionals will have to contend with the demands of these new EV owners. The most obvious demand will be a need to access charging infrastructure; in other words, a place to plug in.

Continue Reading

Become a Destination for Earth Advocates

Posted on 09. Feb, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

Making your office a destination for eco-conscious folks will bring more green traffic your way, start a green dialog with prospective tenants, and add value to current tenant relationships. Your efforts will prove invaluable in nurturing a long and fulfilling relationship with eco-conscious tenants — and the planet.

Continue Reading

“Cool It” and Help Make Your Rental Properties “Green”

Posted on 02. Feb, 2011 by Marc Courtenay.

Most of us don’t know how much money we and our residents can save by transforming our cooling systems to be truly energy-savings. The good news is many steps you can take to cut our cooling costs whether you’re sticking with your current cooling systems or planning to buy a new, high efficiency one.

Continue Reading

Green Materials Go Mainstream

Posted on 26. Jan, 2011 by Kimberly Madrigal.

Like cars, homes require repairs and maintenance to keep them safe, secure and comfortable for residents. Green materials help ensure that harmful chemicals are not unwittingly introduced into the household. As with any material, green materials must be durable, perform well and be cost effective. Along with these traits, green property managers also consider toxicity, resource efficiency, amount of virgin material required to produce the product, embodied energy, carbon footprint and ongoing maintenance requirements.

Continue Reading

Watching Your E-Waste in the New Year

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

We streamline our offices by using less paper, more energy-efficient light bulbs, and by carpooling to work. But do we ever consider the impact of the beasts of our heavy office lifting — computers, fax machines, and printers?

Here are a few strategies for softening the environmental impact of office hardware:

Continue Reading

Save Energy by Marketing Properties to Local Employees

Posted on 12. Jan, 2011 by Kimberly Madrigal.

Buildings account for approximately 30% of all energy used in the United States. While this may seem like an astounding number, consider that transportation to and from home and work can consume an equal and more often greater amount of energy. As a real estate and property management professional, there are several ways to decrease this load by attracting local employees to your rentals and altering office practices to encourage greater sustainability.

Continue Reading

A Bright Post-Holiday Idea

Posted on 05. Jan, 2011 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

This season, I was eager to explore the intricacies of holiday light recycling after reading about a local program in Minnesota.

Continue Reading

Green New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on 29. Dec, 2010 by Nora Betz.

New years eve is almost here and it’s time for the annual and ever-so-important “new years resolutions.” When thinking of ways to improve your property management business, so many things come to mind like acquiring new owners, investing in web-based property management software, putting a smile on your face Monday morning, shedding a couple of [...]

Continue Reading

Stuff the Stocking, Not the Landfill

Posted on 22. Dec, 2010 by Kimberly Madrigal.

It’s that giving time of year again, so here are a few ideas to help your property management business stay green over the holidays.

Continue Reading

Promising Plastics and Paints

Posted on 16. Dec, 2010 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

Market demand is an impressively powerful force, and it’s not always for the good of the planet. But in the case of a small thing like a paint roller tray or a less toxic paint, things are looking better. And so is my kitchen.

Sometimes it’s the small things that have the greatest impact.

Continue Reading

Stormwater Management: From Roof to Root

Posted on 09. Dec, 2010 by Kimberly Madrigal.

With less than one-percent of the world’s water made up of fresh water, it has become imperative for property management professionals to take a greater hand in managing this most precious resource. Whether you live in the North or South, East or West, the basic process of stormwater management for independent rental operators includes collecting the water, sinking it or diverting it using a variety of methods including vegetation, permeable paving and cisterns.

Continue Reading

Deconstruction of Residential Real Estate

Posted on 06. Dec, 2010 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

If deconstruction is a new trend in the world of real estate development, you can expect re-use centers to be brimming with stock and plenty of opportunities for you to find just what you need at a very green price. I imagine that tracking and searching inventory will eventually become more sophisticated and easier to navigate as the demand for deconstruction increases.

Continue Reading

Apartment Communities Are Going Green

Posted on 29. Nov, 2010 by Mindy Williams.

Here are some bullet point tips to help you go green at your apartment community. These ideas only scratch the surface, but every little bit helps!

Continue Reading

A Conversation with Minnesota’s First Eco-Broker

Posted on 22. Nov, 2010 by Jennifer Marcus Newton.

The earth benefits of eco-brokering are self-evident. But I wanted to know how certification helped an agent’s business, so I sat down with Gina Vermilyea to discuss eco-brokering and what led her to get certified.

Continue Reading

Achieving the Triple Bottom Line Through Paperless Office Management

Posted on 18. Nov, 2010 by Kimberly Madrigal.

Until recently real estate transactions were dominated by the fact that written agreements were the only type of binding agreement according to federal law. With the exception of eviction notices, all other typical real property management functions can be performed online.

Continue Reading