Educating Real Estate Professionals in Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency involves reducing energy consumption to acceptable levels of comfort, air quality and other occupancy requirements including the energy used in manufacturing building materials and in construction.

The need for improved energy efficiency presents risks and opportunities for many organizations involved in the construction and real estate management industry. So how can building owners and real estate management firms combine their relationships to address energy consumption and related environmental concerns?

We can start with educating the people at the top, the decision makers. That means the owners who can fund the investment and the corporate executives who can approve the specific energy saving projects. We need to find ways that we can inform and arm the decision makers with the necessary information so they can make an educated decision.

More and more I see commercial real estate organizations employing the services of an Energy Consultant (EC). Not long ago you might see an EC involved in a large renovation project, however, once the project was complete, the EC would move on to another client. Over the past few years I have seen medium and even small property management firms hire a full time EC that not only participates in current building project management but also works closely with the property manager and engineer to make sure the building’s hvac, lighting and other major energy consuming equipment is operating at peak efficiency. For most properties it is not difficult to justify this position since measurement of energy savings is part of the job description.

In addition, I have seen the increase in the number of building engineers completing educational classes designed specifically towards energy efficiencies that focus on the mechanical equipment as well as the overall operations of an office building.

This is a “crawl before you can walk” type of situation. As we all become more informed and knowledgeable in how to reduce energy consumption, more and more energy saving projects will be accomplished. Although this is not a new topic, there are plenty of commercial property managers getting educated and in the “LEED” program sponsored by the United States Green Building Council