Over the past couple of weeks, it’s been impossible to ignore the economic doomsday scenarios that pundits have been tossing about in the wake of several high profile bankruptcy declarations by subprime lenders like American Home Mortgage (as well as the $11.5 billion loan obtained by Countrywide Financial to bolster its cash reserves). So, should […]
Archive | Market Analysis
McGraw-Hill: Healthcare Sector Lags in Green Building Practices
$28 billion worth of healthcare facilities are under construction in the United States here in 2007, but only six percent of those buildings will go green. In a report that was recently released by McGraw-Hill in cooperation with Turner and USGBC, practitioners cited a variety of factors for this unacceptably low statistic in such an […]
Industrial Property Owners Push for LEED Credit Recognition
An article that appears in the Summer 2007 edition of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties’ (“NAIOP”) Development magazine helps demonstrate the necessity for USGBC to move its LEED Version 3.0 plans forward with greater urgency. Back on March 21, KSS Architects hosted a LEED charrette in Philadelphia. Organized by NAIOP, the charrette […]
Green Buildings Driving Midtown Rents to Unprecedented Heights
Last week’s edition of Crain’s reported the highest average asking rents (per square foot) in Midtown. It probably won’t surprise you that the highest are found at LEED Platinum hopeful Bank of America Tower (image to left), where an eye-popping $150 will give you (and presumably the clients paying for your sparkling new eco-friendly digs) […]
DRI Announces Subsidiary Offering Turnkey Solar Roofing Services
Earlier this week, I received a press release describing the launch of a new solar roofing company called DRI Energy (announced yesterday). A subsidiary of one of the larger roofing contractors out West (the DRI Companies), the new venture will assist clients in each step of solar residential roof installation, from concept through engineering and […]
Thoughts from Insurance Industry on Green Building Risks: Contract Language Remains Key
The May/June issue of eco-structure magazine offers an excellent article on insurance industry perspectives towards green building and the potential risks that design professionals may unwittingly encounter on green projects. Written by Chicago-based Gary Kingery, a design professional liability underwriter for architects and engineers, the article starts out by noting that insurers have little understanding […]
Greening of Corporate America: McGraw-Hill Polls Execs on Green Building
In cooperation with its research partner Siemens, McGraw-Hill Construction today announced the release of its Greening of Corporate America SmartMarket Report, which polled executives on sustainability and green building issues. The results provide powerful support for the business case behind green building. Some of the figures from the poll include: 60 percent of CFOs have […]
Green Retail, Building Now Weekly Staples in Crain’s
Over the past month or so, I’ve noticed that Crain’s New York Business has included an increasing number of articles on a variety of green building- and green business- issues. This week, Elisabeth Butler notes the proliferation of eco-friendly New York City retailers, from the Lower East Side’s MooShoes, which sells vegan shoes and accessories […]
Despite Market Downturn, Resilient Green Materials Sector May Owe Its Strength to Expensive Oil
As the U.S. housing market continues to cool, Kermit Baker, chief economist of the American Institute of Architects, believes that the continued strength of the green materials sector, despite the downturn, owes itself to the price of oil, through the use of oil well surveillance. Quoted in The Wall Street Journal Online, Baker says that […]
Crain’s: NYC Developers Remain Unconvinced of Green Building Economics
Today’s edition of Crain’s New York Business contains an article describing a variety of New York City-based developers who remain skeptical about building green. (Unfortunately the article is only available online to premium subscribers so I’m unable to provide a link). NYC Developers Resist the Push to Go Green quotes Rex Hakimian of The Hakimian […]
