Commercial buildings used nearly 20 percent of total energy in the United States—more than half of which is consumed by small and medium buildings under 100,000 square feet, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. For small businesses that rent space in commercial buildings, energy is a top cost, often ranking behind only labor and … Continued
Geis Properties: Leaders in Sustainable Construction and Green Leasing The Cuyahoga County Administrative Headquarters building in Cleveland, Ohio demonstrates that properties with multiple stakeholders can be built and operated sustainably. The building itself is owned by the Port of Cleveland, is managed by Geis Properties, and was built by Geis Construction. Additionally, the building was … Continued
Brewing Up a Plan to Percolate Energy Savings The Coffee House was founded in 2009 and is owned by Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The shop is situated in a three-story building located in a center of education, medicine, arts, and cultural institutions, known as University Circle. To lower energy usage and improve … Continued
IMT and the U.S Department of Energy’s Better Buildings have developed this resource guide on rooftop unit (RTU) best practices for retail leases. This document provides lease clauses to facilitate RTU efficiency in retail leases for both retail tenants and commercial real estate landlords. This document recommends insertion of clause language into standard commercial leases … Continued
While innovative financing mechanisms such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) have garnered more attention in recent years for facilitating investment in building energy efficiency, these niche energy efficiency products comprise only a small fraction of the overall commercial real estate loan pool. Far greater involvement from the commercial banking industry is needed to scale … Continued
IMT’s new report, “Energy Efficiency Finance for Commercial Buildings: Insights from Lenders” illuminates that some hard work lies ahead to improve commercial buildings through the investment of energy efficiency. To gain better insight on what’s needed, IMT interviewed 30 commercial lenders across the U.S. to hear their take on the market for building energy efficiency … Continued
IMT, the Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association (PIMA), and the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing introduce the Roof and Wall Thermal Design Guide: Applying the Prescriptive Insulation Standards of the 2015 I-Codes. This non-proprietary I-Codes Design Guide provides building designers helpful information regarding the prescriptive thermal value tables in the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code … Continued
Many of today’s businesses have realized the value of promoting sustainable operational practices. They know that exercising good environmental stewardship also makes long-term economic sense. In fact, an Accenture survey of 1,000 CEOs found that 93 percent see sustainability as important to the future success of their businesses. The top reasons to go green were … Continued
Moving a business to a new location provides a clean slate to explore sustainable design solutions that offer a host of benefits. For a business leader, it’s important to align a company’s economic, environmental, and social goals—an energy-efficient office space can help achieve this. As businesses think about moving to new space, it’s important to … Continued
It is relatively easy to make the connection that tracking and disclosing a building’s energy usage will promote energy savings, but in fact, there are many other benefits that go far beyond simply kilowatt hours. While benchmarking brings building owners’ attention to energy efficiency, resulting in behavioral and operational changes that spur immediate and low-cost … Continued