USGBC Adds Green Building Finance Expert

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced today that Dan Winters recently joined the organization as Senior Research Fellow for Business Strategy and Finance.

Winters, a 20-year veteran of real estate finance and one of the first LEED Accredited Professionals in the financial industry, is the previous recipient of the 2012 USGBC Mark Ginsberg Sustainability Fellowship. Now with USGBC as a full-time staff member, Winters will utilize his background in institutional real estate finance, alongside his capital market perspectives, to foster and strengthen the growing relationships between the green building and investment communities.


“Dan is one of the foremost minds among those who develop high-performance buildings, the commercial brokerage community and the institutional financiers who seek to incorporate sustainable properties into real estate investment portfolios,” said Chris Pyke, vice president of research, USGBC. “USGBC is fortunate to be working with Dan, who will help lead our efforts to bring Wall Street into the fold while helping institutional investors realize the benefits associated with green building ownership.”

Winters plays an important ongoing role in USGBC’s newly released Green Building Information Gateway (GBIG), a global platform for green building insights and innovation. Winters works to implement key features within GBIG while further uniting the investment community with USGBC’s existing stakeholder base. He also helped support USGBC’s efforts regarding the recently released National Academy of Sciences report that reviewed the U.S. Department of Defense’s use of green building rating systems and recommended the continued use of LEED.

“It is a tremendous honor to serve USGBC, an organization peerless in its industry leadership,” said Winters. “Developing advanced solutions such as GBIG drives market transparency, which can reduce information asymmetry and address capital market failures. Increasing engagement with the investment community allows USGBC to strengthen industry mindshare and further its mission.”


Prior to joining USGBC, Winters was founder of Evolution Partners, a real estate advisory firm specializing in the financial aspects of environmentally responsible real estate projects. He was primary author of the Green Building Financial Underwriting Standard on behalf of the Capital Markets Partnership, and he worked with North American real estate firms to maximize the financial return of their sustainability efforts.

Winters’ professional background includes tenure at Russell Investments, a world-class institutional investment advisory firm, where he served as an industry analyst in Russell’s real estate private equity group. In addition, he spent several years at CBRE’s top-producing Washington, D.C., office engaged in debt placement and underwriting for major real estate projects. He was a participant on the Washington, D.C., Green Building Task Force, which helped to pass the District’s Green Building Act of 2006, and he was previously vice chairman of the USGBC Maryland Chapter.

Winters holds a master’s degree in real estate finance and development from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, an MBA from Southern Methodist University and a bachelor’s degree in consumer behavior and real estate from the University of Wisconsin. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland’s Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development. 

Turner Construction Survey Shows New Green Building Findings

Turner Construction Co. has announced the results of a new Market Barometer survey that focused on environmentally-sustainable, or green, building, and on sustainable practices in general. Key findings revealed that companies remain committed to constructing green buildings. While executives remained committed to incorporating sustainable building practices into their building programs, fewer said their companies were likely to seek LEED certification from the US Green Building Council when constructing a green building. 
 

Brightening Outlook for Construction Projects
Among real estate owners, developers, and corporate owner-occupants, 64% said they expect to undertake new construction projects over the next 12 months (up from 46% in the 2010 survey), and 71% said they expect to undertake renovation projects over the same period (up from 58% in the 2010 survey).

Widespread Commitment to Sustainable Practices
Ninety percent of respondents said their companies were committed to environmentally-sustainable practices. Of that percentage, 56% of executives said their companies were extremely or very committed to following environmentally-sustainable practices in their operations, while an additional 34% said they were somewhat committed.  In addition to citing financial reasons for this commitment, executives were most likely to cite broader considerations as extremely or very important including belief that it's the 'right thing to do,' (68%), impact on brand/reputation (67%), and customer requirements (61%), along with cost savings (66%).

Reducing Energy Costs and Operating Expenses are the Key Drivers to Green Construction
Executives were most likely to cite financial factors as being important to their companies' decisions on whether to incorporate Green features in a construction project. Respondents indicated that energy efficiency (84%) and ongoing operations and maintenance costs (84%) were extremely or very important to their decisions. 

More than two-thirds of executives also said that non-financial factors were extremely or very important including indoor air quality (74%), health and well-being of occupants (74%), satisfaction of employees/occupants (69%) and employee productivity (67%). However, only 37% of executives said it was extremely or very important to their companies to minimize the carbon footprint of their buildings. 

This suggests that the decision to incorporate Green features is driven by a desire to reduce cost followed by an interest to improve the indoor environment for building occupants, rather than broader concerns about the impact of buildings on the global environment. 

More than half of executives said their companies would be extremely or very likely to invest in improved indoor environmental quality (63%), improved water efficiency (57%), and Green materials (53%) if they were undertaking a construction project.

"Energy efficiency figures prominently in the decision-making process of green building primarily because of its large economic impact. Water efficiency in Green construction was seen as less important.  This is in spite of a growing awareness that water is a finite resource, both in its operational use and its role in the production of goods and materials. While the direct economic impact of water efficiency is less than the savings on energy, its environmental impact is quite significant," said Michael Deane, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at Turner Construction.

Fewer Companies Plan to Seek LEED Certification
Although the vast majority of companies remain committed to Green buildings, the percentage of executives who thought it was extremely or very likely that their company would seek LEED certification if they constructed a Green building was only 48%, down from 53% in the 2010 survey and 61% in the 2008 survey. Among executives who said their companies were not likely to seek LEED certification, the most important reasons cited were the cost of the certification process (82%), staff time required (79%), time required for the process (75%), and the overall perceived difficulty of the process (74%). 

It is apparent that in the last four years many companies seem to have become more knowledgeable about the means and methods of designing and constructing Green buildings and are less reliant on LEED as a checklist or a scorecard, as indicated by 52% of executives saying that they were only somewhat or not likely to seek LEED certification when undertaking a construction project. At the same time, 41% of executives thought it was at least somewhat likely that their companies would consider seeking certification under a rating system other than LEED if they constructed a Green building. Of those executives who indicated they would consider another system, 63% said they would be extremely or very likely to consider seeking certification under ENERGY STAR, which again highlights the importance of energy efficiency.  It should be noted that building owners may elect to certify under more than one rating system.

"We've seen from our own work and the continuing growth of the green building market that in spite of this reduction in enthusiasm for LEED certification, respondents are still building green," said Deane. "While some respondents are relying on their own standards or are considering another rating system, LEED certification remains the most widely used third party verification of achievement that is recognized by consumers and that can be used to market and promote a property."

Concerns Persist about Construction Costs and the Length of the Payback Period
When asked what length of payback period would be acceptable when considering Green features, 44% of executives said they would accept five years and almost 80% of executives said they would accept a payback period of five years or longer. Despite the acceptance by most executives of an extended payback period, 61% of executives still felt that the length of the payback period was an extremely or very significant obstacle to the construction of Green buildings while 62% cited higher construction costs. 

USGBC Announces Leadership Awards

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced the recipients of its 2012 Leadership Awards, recognizing outstanding individuals who embody the vision, leadership and commitment to the evolution of green buildings and communities as a vehicle to enhance our quality of life. The awards will be presented at the Leadership Luncheon on Nov. 15 during USGBC's Greenbuild International Conference and Expo held in San Francisco.

Tom Darden, Executive Director of Make It Right, a non-profit organization that builds sustainable homes and buildings for communities in need, received the Leadership in the NGO Sector Award. Make It Right has led the charge in redeveloping the Lower Ninth Ward with resource-efficient, durable homes after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Healthy Building Network's Tom Lent, Policy Director and Bill Walsh, Founder, each received the Leadership in Advocacy Award. Lent has advocated for the banning of arsenic-treated wood and educates on the environmental and health hazards of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), among many initiatives. Under the leadership of Walsh, Healthy Building Network has introduced new, healthier building materials into commercial markets and shifted more than $4 billion in materials purchases from toxic materials to healthier alternatives.

Steve Saunders, CEO, Texas Energy Solutions, received the Leadership in the Residential Sector Award. Texas Energy Solutions is a LEED for Homes Provider, and Saunders has done extensive work to expand and advance the LEED for Homes program. 

Nancy Cantor, Chancellor and President, Syracuse University; Joanie Mahoney, Onondaga County Executive; and Stephanie A. Miner, Mayor of Syracuse each received the 2012 Global Community Leadership Award for their collective and collaborative efforts to foster substantive change across the Syracuse and Central New York landscape. Among their many projects: Cantor has elevated the mission of green building on Syracuse University's campus through numerous LEED building projects and a school-wide goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. County Executive Mahoney led the charge on the Save the Rain program for stormwater management and advocates for green roofs, among many sustainability initiatives. Mayor Miner has advocated for local green buildings and worked to create a vibrant, revitalized connective corridor in the city of Syracuse.

M. Arthur Gensler Jr., Founder, Gensler; and Donald Simon, Attorney, Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean, LLP received the President's Award. Founder of global architecture, design, planning and consulting firm, Gensler, M. Arthur Gensler has helped pioneer green building as a business visionary and legend of the design industry.

2012 Leadership Awards Recipients

• Leadership in the NGO Sector: Tom Darden, executive director, Make It Right Foundation
• Leadership in Advocacy: Tom Lent, policy director, Healthy Building Network; Bill Walsh, founder, Healthy Building Network
• Leadership in the Residential Sector: Steve Saunders, CEO, Texas Energy Solutions
• Global Community Leadership Award: Nancy Cantor, chancellor and president, Syracuse University; Joanie Mahoney, Onondaga County executive; Stephanie A. Miner, mayor of Syracuse
• President's Award: M. Arthur Gensler Jr., founder, Gensler; Donald Simon, attorney, Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean, LLP.