by Brianna Crandall — August 10, 2016 — Two properties have received designation as an IREM Certified Sustainable Property in recent weeks, including the first U.S. apartment community and an office building next to the Wrigley Building on Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile, according to the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), an international affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS that serves both the multifamily and commercial sectors.
IREM Certified Sustainable Property
The IREM Certified Sustainable Property is a prestigious sustainability certification program that focuses on the role of exceptional real estate management in green building performance. IREM’s sustainability certification provides properties with recognition for resource efficiency and environmental programs.
To earn the certification, a property must first meet key baseline requirements, and then earn necessary points across energy, water, health, recycling, and purchasing categories. Tenants and residents increasingly associate environmental performance with quality, so the certification presents a prime opportunity to showcase quality, responsible real estate management, points out IREM.
IREM notes that many properties have successful sustainability programs but no way to validate them and demonstrate green performance to stakeholders, since programs such as LEED may be too far out of reach and not make financial sense. The organization created this program to be attainable, affordable, meaningful, and available to three main property types — office properties, multifamily communities, and shopping centers. IREM also points out that whereas the LEED requirements are often out of a property manager’s control, this certification is much more customized to property managers.
Waterford Place apartment community
Ron Granville, CPM and CEO of Woodmont Real Estate Services, recently announced that Waterford Place, a Dublin, CA apartment community managed by his company, has received recognition as the first apartment community in the United States to be designated as an IREM Certified Sustainable Property.
Waterford Place is a four-story apartment community comprised of 390 units that feature one-and-two bedroom apartment homes with custom finishes.
Located at 4800 Tassajara Road in the East Bay Community of Dublin (South of Oakland), Waterford Place is four stories and comprised of 390 units that feature one-and-two bedroom apartment homes with custom finishes. Built in 2002, the property is owned by UBS, and Woodmont Real Estate Services has managed the property since 2011.
Kristin Torrice, Woodmont’s property manager at Waterford Place, managed the application process and collaborated with her leasing and maintenance teams to gather data and implement water and energy conservation programs to meet IREM’s standards to earn the sustainability certification.
REALTOR Building
While the outside of the REALTOR Building is notable for being prominently situated next to the Wrigley Building on Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile and for providing the exterior shots for the workplace of the 1970’s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show, the inside is noteworthy as well, according to John Gagliardo, vice president at GNP Realty Partners. Gagliardo recently announced that REALTOR Building, managed by his company, has received recognition as a designated IREM Certified Sustainable Property for its green building management achievements.
The REALTOR Building is a 13-floor high-rise office building located next to the Wrigley Building on Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile.
Built in 1963, the 13-story REALTOR building houses the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), among other tenants. In addition to being an IREM Certified Sustainable Property, the REALTOR building is also LEED O+M Gold and ENERGY STAR certified.
GNP Realty Partners plans to outfit the building with an LEED Dynamic Plaque, which is a building performance monitoring and scoring platform that measures building performance across the categories of energy, water, waste, transportation and human experience, sometime in September. The plaque generates a current performance score out of 100 that is updated whenever new building data enters the platform, and is displayed in a visually engaging manner for building occupants, tenants and visitors.
Renata Stec, CPM, senior vice president of GNP Management Group, AMO, commented:
Green building practices and a building environment focused on enhancing peoples’ health and wellbeing are high on our list of management services. Sustainability has moved from being an “innovation” to being what most people expect today. Not only does it make for a better work or living environment, but sustainability is important to maintaining and growing the value of the property — which is the bottom line for property managers.
