by Shane Henson — January 10, 2014—Facilities and property managers striving to make their buildings more energy efficient and sustainable and can gain the knowledge and skillset needed to start key initiatives through the Institute of Real Estate Management’s (IREM) newly created sustainability program.
Called IREM Sustainability, the program is open to the industry at large to help property managers and other practitioners strive for efficient buildings, enhance financial performance and property values, and make a positive environmental impact. It consists of three integrated parts: a Web-based platform, a challenge competition, and a new property-level certification.
Software
The Web-based platform, powered by Green Per Square Foot, provides energy and sustainability management tools that give practitioners free and immediate access to a wealth of information that makes it easy for them to take action, IREM explains. They can profile their buildings, find savings opportunities, and connect with qualified contractors, product manufacturers, and projects finance companies that can assist them in moving forward. The platform also greatly simplifies the process of implementing efficiency projects and helps to educate and engage owners and tenants to get buy-in, adds IREM.
Challenge
The IREM Sustainable Property Challenge is a friendly, cost-free competition that calls for the completion of activities for individual properties drawn from seven main categories: education and outreach; energy; water conservation; materials and waste; interiors, exteriors and purchasing; transportation; and tenant engagement. Completing activities earns points, and points move participants up a leaderboard. The Challenge runs through September 2014, with winners to be announced at IREM’s Fall Leadership Conference in October 2014. Top performers will be rewarded with attractive prizes and industry-wide publicity.
Certification
The IREM Certified Sustainable Property certification provides a pragmatic path to efficient operations for property managers and other industry professionals and is accessible to most properties. To get certified and distinguish a property as a high-performance building, participants must complete core activities in the Sustainable Property Challenge program. Properties that have already obtained LEED EB (Existing Buildings) or NC (New Construction and Major Renovations) certification are eligible to “fast track” about half of the core activities.
Commenting on the initiative, IREM President Joseph Greenblatt said, “IREM is committed to serving all industry practitioners with products, programs and services that help them address their day-to-day challenges while adding value to their companies and the properties they manage. IREM Sustainability is a prime example of that commitment, one that will yield benefits for all program participants, their constituencies and properties and, of course, our shared environment.”
