Site Visit - Green Living Retail Store

Site: Green Living Retail Store
http://www.green-living.com/

 Our quick stop at Green Living in Dallas allowed us to look around through a variety of green-based products for the home, such as furniture, paints, interior finishes, and yard maintenance products. Many of the products were appealing and some of them were not significantly more expensive than regular household goods. I paricularly enjoyed some of the furniture that was offered by Rizzy Furniture, a companythat sells furniture and home products that are exported from India. (http://www.rizzyhome.com/index.php)

It was interesting to hear the history of the store. The business recently relocated from a larger, more expensive space in Lakewood to their current location in the Design District. According to our tour guide, the store's revenues plummeted during the housing downturn in 2009, which required the owner's to refocus and streamline their strategy. Fortunately, the business survived the economic downturn and now appears to be poised for growth into the future as green products become more in-demand and viable.

The store's struggles during the economic downturn does bring up an interesting debate about whether green or sustainable products will lose their demand during economic hardships. Would opening a business in the green or sustainable realm open up a business owner to increased uncertainty during times of economic turbulence? Are green products considered premium products and therefore viewed by potential consumers as dispensable in times of economic trouble? I don't have a specific answer to these questions at this point but it does bring up an important point to consider for potential green entreprenuers..

Site Visit - Ferrior Homes Build Site

Site - Ferrior Homes Build Site - 2807 Hedgerow Drive
http://www.ferriercustomhomes.com/home/

Don Ferrier met us on-site at one of his current projects at 2807 Hedgerow. The project is a new build that is being built to replace their former home. The house is located within a few hundred feet of the DART line and just south of the Love Field airport. The home will feature an 18 seer HVAC unit, tankless water heater, upgraded insulation and windows, drought-resistant landscaping, and a TPO reflective roof membrane. Don quoted a rough price estimate for this house at around $1.35 per square foot considering all of those features that were included.

The conversation with Don was excellent because of his in-depth knowledge of green home building, his obvious passion for green building, and his generally sunny disposition. Don helped me understand that some of the best methods of making a home more efficient may not always be the flashy methods. For example, Don said that the single most impactful thing you can do to improve a building's efficiency is to improve the air-tightness through improving insulation and windows. According to Don, improving these basic features are the foundation of what he does when building a new structure. In contract, splashy green features such as solar panels are the last feature that he considers when creating a green structure. These features can help improve efficiency of a building, but improvement comes at a much higher cost than other more basic improvements. To me, sustainable improvements are all about prioritizing by what gives you the best 'bang for your buck.'

An interesting conversation we had while visiting the property was regarding how assessors and potential buyers assess green houses such as this project. Private owners typically approach Don to have him build them a green home or commercial space. If one of Don's home hit the open market, it would be interesting to see if assessors or potential buyers were willing to assign the appropriate value to the green improvements. My guess is that these features don't translate dollar for dollar to a higher sales price until the general homebuying public becomes more educated and and expectant of green features in homes.

Don was a wealth of information. Here are some other random notes:
- buffalo grass is a native drought resistant grass strain
- Don's first step is always an energy audit - computerized process to determine best use of improvement funds
- Don created a net zero casita, which can be viewed on his website at http://www.ferriercustomhomes.com/services/custom_homes/projects/Zero%20Energy%20Casita/tour/
- When installing solar, you can have Oncor and the Federal Gov't each pay for 1/3 of the project
- Wind and Solar power create DC power (like Europe) so you need an inverter to convert to AC

Site Visit - Fairmont Hotel

Site: Fairmont Hotel
http://www.fairmont.com/dallas

The Fairmont Hotel's Chief Engineer, Jason, toured us through their hotel in downtown Dallas. This particular hotel was built in 1961 with 545 rooms plus significant banquet space. As compared with other local hotels that I've witnessed, this hotel staff seemed to be more aware of sustainability issues and conservation. Jason discussed several initiatives that were currently in place at the hotels, including single stream recycling for guests and employees, ice machine condensate recapture (which has saved them 101,000 gallons since last April), reuse of hotel keys and toiletries, a rooftop garden used to grow ingredients for their restaurant and new efficient lighting. As an example, Jason had just recently finished changing out light bulbs in the valet parking area to a more efficient bulb. The Fairmont Hotel group setup a 'Green Team' to discuss sustainability issues at the hotel and have created a sustainability-conscious culture within their organization. According to Jason, the Fairmont Hotel group focus on sustainability and efficient as an organization because they feel it will help save them money over the long term. Jason referenced a 50% drop in electric usage as an example of how the company's focus on efficiency has helped their bottom line.

Bottom line, this hotel will always consume a significant amount of energy in the course of their operations. Hotels consume energy in a variety of ways: power is consumed in vacant and occupied rooms, sheets and towels need washing (hopefully), guests need showers, etc. etc. Although this hotel will continue to consume a significant amount of energy as long as they are operating, it is encouraging to see staff members motivated to minimize their impact and consumption as much as possible. Even though the operations team is minimally staffed, they are still being innovative in their approach to conservation. The company culture focused on innovative ways to conserve is based upon a business case for conservation, which is the only way conservation and efficiency will ever be focused on for most business owners.

Finally, I appreciated Jason's focus on measuring results. Too many organizations undertake sustainability iniatives without any way to track their impact. Kudos to Jason for comparing electricity usage to prior usage and for strapping a meter on to his ice machine recapture mechanism, which allowed him to show off measurable results from his efforts.

Site Visit - Trinity River Audobon

Site: Trinity River Audobon
http://trinityriver.audubon.org/green-building

Building Features

• LEED Gold Building
• Permeable Paving and Stormwater Control
• Drought-resistant landscaping
• Rainwater Harvesting
• Living Roof with native Texas species
• Water Use reduction
• High-Efficiency HVAC and Electrical
• Slanted windows for glare reduction
• Building Materials sourced from within 200 mile radius
• Solar panels to power exterior lights

The Trinity River Audobon was constructed to LEED Gold Standards in 2008 with help from the City of Dallas. According to our tour guide, the approximate cost was $14.7 million. The design of the building was the most impressive element in my opinion, as it was modeled after a variety of natural shapes and colors. The building blends with natural surroundings because of it's shape, color and prominent natural roof that can be seen from the exterior. The area surrounding the building was a significant departure from the urban jungle of Dallas with natural features like native trees, grasses, and ponds. While on the property, there were several birds and other small mammals located within close proximity of the building. Amazingly, the site of the facility was a former Brownfield site that was restored. The Brownfield site was a landfill covering 120 acres of illegally dumped trash. When considering the history of the land, the beauty of the building and of the surrounding environment was particularly impressive.

As fantastic as the land and building were, I couldn't help that someone could bring more attention and more use to the facility. During the tour, I made a note that said simply 'beautiful facility - needs more use!!' to remind myself that this was an important point to discuss in this post. As we were touring on a relatively slow Saturday, it felt as if this building had suffered the fate of other expensive and impressive efficient buildings. The building showcased letters from politicians and articles discussing it's completion and congratulating the City of Dallas for their efforts. However after much fanfare at the opening, it seemed that the attention died down and the building will need to work to maintain it's prominence. As much effort and expense that went into the original construction of the building, it's important that the building is utilized and that people are aware of it.

BEFORE CLEANUP

AFTER CLEANUP



Overall, the building and reclaimed land were very impressive. I particularly appreciated the natural elements incorporated into the design of the building. I hope that the staff at the facility can continue to find creative ways to bring people out to the facility. With as much public money that was spent on the facility, it's important that the facility is utilized to it's highest potential for educational and recreational activities.

Site Visit - Texas Regional Water District

Site: Texas Regional Water District - Fort Worth Office
Host: Laura Blalock
http://www.trwd.com/home.aspx

Building Details and Features:

• Built in 2009
• First building in Tarrant County to achieve LEED Gold
• Solar array located on roof
• Efficient fluorescent lighting system run off a sensor and timer system
• Drought-resistant landscaping
• Irrigation system fed with collected rainwater through soaker hoses
• Interior finish outs including fly ash in concrete, cork flooring, recycled plastic used in carpet product
• Low-E windows double paned windows

This relatively brand new building in north Fort Worth is an important building in the recent history of sustainable buildings in the North Texas. Although there have been more recent buildings in North Texas that have achieved LEED Platinum such as UNT's Football Stadium (http://web3.unt.edu/news/story.cfm?story=12353) and various other projects that can be found within the USGBC searchable database (http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/Project/CertifiedProjectList.aspx). The building is incredible visually appealing and it's clear that the architect took immense pride in it's design. Further, Laura has done an excellent job keeping with the sustainability theme with the way that the building is operated by offering a recycling program, setting appropriate temperature controls during low usage periods, conserving irrigation water used, and other tactics.

In one of my questions, I asked the on-site employees what the most impactful element of the design is. According to Laura, the most impactful element of the building is the solar panels. There are currently 1157 solar panels in place on the roof. The solar panels are able to produce enough electricity to cover about 50 - 75% of the buildings usage overall. Much like the Bedford Public Library, the building owners are not able to sell back their excess usage to the grid due to some complications of signing up as an 'Energy Provider.' In addition, Reliant is the only provider at this point who currently buys back power from sources such as private solar panels.

I have been increasingly paying attention to the drought-resistant landscaping at the properties we toured as well as others around town. As I look at the drought-resistant landscaping, it makes me think back to my time in multifamily property management. Many months, our irrigation bill would exceed $4000 per month during the summer on a 300-unit three story property. Installing drought-resistant landscaping is a sustainble idea that not only improves water conservation as a whole, but can also save a building owner significant money and maintenance costs over time. Drought-resistant landscaping can be very attractive and colorful so installing does not mean curb appeal will suffer as a result. Based upon savings to irrigation and the reduced amount of maintenance needed for hardier landscaping materials, building owners could save literally thousands of dollars every month during the summer by choosing drought-resistant products.

As beautfiul as the building was during our tour, I kept wanting to see and dig into the development and operational numbers.  According to Laura, the Tarrant Regional District building cost over $9 million to develop prior to completing any interior finish outs. Because of the nature of their business, the Tarrant Regional Water District knows with relative certainty that they'll be in the facility for a long time, which more easily allows them to justify some sustainable features that will create savings over a much longer term. In order to close the loop on sustainability and really become a believer, I am going to need to spend a significant amount of time reviewing individual feature ROI and measurable savings. Almost to a fault, I always go back to what can be measured quantitatively to determine success. I am very excited to spend some time reviewing projects like this one to fully understand the economic feasability of some sustainable features like the ones we saw at this building.

Site Visit - Omni Fort Worth

Site: Omni Fort Worth
Host: Mike Davis
http://www.omnihotels.com/findahotel/fortworth.aspx

The Omni Hotel in Fort Worth was hoppin' on a Saturday afternoon. It's a busy place on the weekends with reunions, weddings, and vacationers. It's easy to see why sustainability iniatives could take a backseat in the busiest of times when employees are just trying to survive and don't have time to go the extra mile to conserve.

 The Omni has 614 rooms plus 84 condos available for purchase. According to our guide Mike, 22 of the conds have sold since the property was developed. Unfortunately for the Omni, many of the condos were finished at a challenging time in the late 2000's which has made sales difficult. If I remember correctly, the asking price for a standard 800 sf condo had decreased down under $3/ft from a high of near $5/ft.

The energy needs of a hotel of the Omni's size are tremendous. The average electric bill varies between $115,000 and $160,000 on a monthly basis according to Mike. The property has three 600 ton chillers that are used for air conditioning. The chiller system is monitored through a computer system, which allows the technicians to monitor the temperature remotely.

There are areas where the Omni could improve their focus on energy conservation, although I don't see them as guilty of behaving any differently than any major hotel. The Omni focuses on providing an excellent customer experience moreso than they focus on energy conservation. A few ideas that come to mind that could potentially help improve the efficency of any major hotel with minimal impact:
- adding a recycling program using high quality recycling containers. The hotel reported that guests may respond negatively to recycle bins, but I disagree and think that many customers may appreciate their efforts
- replacing current light fixtures once they die with more efficient lighting
- encouraging guests to conserve water by reusing towels on multi-night stays (many hotels do this, the Omni may have a program like this that I was unaware of)
- utilizing their rooftop garden for producing fresh products that could be used in the restaurant. They have plenty of space to farm produce if they have some on their staff that has the capability

Overall, the Omni is a nice but busy hotel that is focused on operating a profitable business more than they are concerned with creating efficencies. They seemed to understand that they could be more efficient but that short term concerns and customer service currently take precedence, which I completely understand. The Omni would benefit from a third-party review of their operations with suggestions on how they can easily make improvements. Many improvements could pay for themselves if implemented properly. Perhaps some intelligent, forward-thinking MSRE student could make a business out of helping busy businesses become more efficient ... 

Site Visit - Recycle Revolution

Site: Recycle Revolution Dallas
Address: 1703 Chestnut St., Dallas, TX 75226
Host: Eddie
http://www.recyclerevolutiondallas.com/

Our second stop of the day was Recycle Revolution in Dallas. Recycle Revolution is a small business owned by the passionate and sneakily business-savvy Eddie. Recycle Revolution is a labor-of-love dedicated to reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills while building awareness of the 'Recycle Revolution' brand and ideal that we should produce less waste. They will recycle almost anything they possibly can, including items such as styrofoam that probably actually cost the business money to process. Recycle Revolution is competing against much bigger competitors in the industry but they seem to be carving out a unique nitch and have been in business since 2007.

Recycling is something I believe in whenever it is possible and economically feasible, however there weren't a lot of direct correlations between the recycling business and what I hope to  accomplish in the real estate industry. The trip was still valuable from a professional development perspective because of our conversations with Eddie. Eddie is a passionate guy who is focused on improving our environment, but he is also a good small business owner for a lot of reasons. He is a good long-term focused, visionary leader who understands what he would like to accomplish for his business. He also understands that ideas are only as good as how well you implement them, which is a basic principle that often gets forgotten I enjoyed seeing his roundtable white-board approach to creativity and brainstorming. I can honestly say that I ordered a new whiteboard as a result of our trip. Seeing all of these effective leadership principles in action at a small business was impressive.

Eddie's passion for his business was contagious. Spending time with him made me excited about their future plans and growth opportunities. In my career, I frequently reference The Hedgehog Concept that is introduced my Jim Collins in Good to Great. Collins argues that in order to reach your full business potential, you must understand the merger of the three circles: what drives your economic engine, what you can be the best in the world at, and what you are deeply passionate. I can't really comment on Recycle Revolution's economics or skills at their trade, but I know without a doubt that Eddie has started a business in an area where he is deeply passionate. It was inspiring to me to see the Hedgehog Concept in action and to interact with someone who took the leap of faith by starting a business within his area of passion.

I could spout off some interesting recycling facts that I jotted down (styrofoam is the worst product by far, glass fetches $10 per TON, hard stock paper is the gold of recycling, etc. etc.), but the more important lessons were related to leadership and faith in your skills and passions. I have no doubts that Edie will be successful in his business pursuits because he is following the path of the Hedgehog.



Site Visit - Bedford Public Library

Site: Bedford Public Library
Address: 2424 Forest Ridge Dr., Bedford, TX 76021
Host: Maria Redburn
http://www.bedfordlibrary.org/

Building Details and Features:

• Current building configuration was designed within a former Food Lion store
• Geothermal well field
• Solar panels on roof
• Energy saving reflective roof membrane
• T-8 Lighting
• Drought-resistant landscaping

Our tour of the Bedford Public Library showcased some of their effective strategies for minimizing energy comsumption and maximizing efficency.

The Library received two different grants, one from SECO in the amount of $1.9 mil. and the other from the Department of Energy in the amount of $200,000. The grants were used to put on a reflective white roof membrane and to then add solar panels to the roof. More research is needed on my part to determine what types of roofs qualify for Energy Department grants and if any of our future roof needs for my company could qualify. We currently typically use a .060 mil TPO for most replacements.

The solar panels seemed to be efficient in generating electricity as Maria reported that almost all of the electricity that was used by the library was generated from the panels. They currently do not sell back their excess usage. More in-depth analysis would be needed to determine how much time it would take to see a positive return on investment. My guess is that the solar panels wouldn't ever cover their total cost when factoring in initial cost, maintenance costs, and ongoing replacement costs. Maria reported that each panel that would need to be replaced costs $1200 per panel and that panels generally have a useful life of approximately 25 years. It would take additional research to determine if these panels made economic sense for a private builder or if there wasn't access to financial assistance.

In my opinion, the most impressive features of the building were the geothermal wells. This technology is new to me but the concept seemed straightforward and wasn't cost-prohibitive. According to Maria, there was an additional cost of around $200,000 when putting in the HVAC system to add the wells. Since the air temperature underground stays around 50-60 degrees, it takes much less energy to get the underground air to a comfortable climate as compared to taking air supply from the roof with a temperature that could fluctuate greatly. There was no trace on the surface of the wells that were working underground and the area could be covered with parking, outdoor seating, or a variety of other uses. This picture from a private contractor website (http://www.gscgeo.com/GeothermalCooling.asp) seems to illustrate the process.

Some of the other interesting elements of the building were the native landscaping, the automated book sorter, the windows and their configuration and the lighting upgrades. Using drought-resistant landscaping with a crushed rock base looks good and saves a tremendous amount of irrigation. The book sorter made the office operations more efficient and allow staffing rollbacks. The windows had additional thickness and were configured in a way that restricted late date sun from the west. The T-8 lighting created a bright, white natural light and ran the entire adult reading section of as much power as a standard hairdryer.



Through the usage of two grants and some excellent independant research by Maria, the Bedford Public Library should be an efficient building that serves the community for years to come. More research would be needed to determine the return rate of individual sustainable improvements to the building but in general, I was very impressed with the design and execution of the building's sustainble features.

What did I take away from our class on 5/12/12?

More than anything, I was very excited to get into class and meet my fellow classmates. It's always exciting to see who you'll be working with in a program like this one. Needless to say, I was happy to meet everyone and I'm sure that I'll be able to learn a lot not only from our curriculum but also from my fellow students. Our experience and reasons for enrollment varies greatly. Different students represent public and private sector, non-profit and for-profit businesses, and operational and administrative positions. Some students have significant experience in real estate while other have no experience or are changing careers.  I think this amalgamation of experience and talent will help us all grow and benefit from each other.

Also, it was very refreshing to be back in a creative environment. Not that my current employer restricts creativity, but we all just get so busy with our daily tasks that it can be hard to find time to explore your creative side. Since our class, I have been much more in touch with my creative side, thinking about potential future business projects or partnerships. I believe that it is this creative element of this experience that may be most beneficial for me. Many times, I feel a desire to branch out and work or invest in new or creative ways. The problem is, I can't ever really figure out exactly how to turn that desire to do something innovative and creative into action that will pay off from a personal and professional perspective. Throughout this class, I am going to be exposed to new contacts, projects, ideas and initiatives that will constantly allow me to consider new alternatives for personal and professional growth.

We disussed concerns or doubts that students might have as they enter the program. Probably like everyone, there were moments of self-doubt or 'will this really be worthwhile for me?' It was good to know that others in the class also shared doubts or didn't exactly know where this program would take them. For most all of us, it will be a journey of discovery as we explore a variety of developing and exciting topics regarding real estate and sustainability.

One question or potential doubt that I continuously found considering was, 'how can I make this profitable AND sustainable?' Maybe it's because I've always considered myself to be a true capitalist in every sense of the word, but projects or ideas really only interest me if I can understand how they can be economically viable. For example, the idea that we kept discussing of creating a community garden held virtually no appeal for me unless we were completing that project as a purely philanthropic mission. Although it sounded like a noble mission, I couldn't figure out how this project was improving efficency, saving waste, or improving profits. I think it will be part of my growth to see how unique and innovative projects can be sustainable while also making sense for investors or stakeholders. Perhaps at times I am not idealistic enough which may restrict my creativity, but throughout the program you can always count on me to add a touch of capitalism and realism to any conversation.

In general, I am excited about my future in this program. When people asked how it went on the first day, I generally responded with 'I am going to get out of the program whatever I put into it.' With that in mind, I plan to get a lot out of the program and grow my career in real estate in new and exciting directions.

- SP

A brief introduction ..

Introduction Entry - talking about background, experience in the industry, and what I hope to accomplish while enrolled in the program

Adding a few helpful links for the MSRE Program:

MSRE Program Description

Class Schedule

Professor Fred Forgey's website

Former Student Blogs

So it begins ... I've set this blog up for use during my coursework in the Masters of Real Estate Program offered by the University of Texas at Arlington. It will be exciting to use this blog as an ongoing journal of assignments, photos, musings, findings, contacts, and other important information. My hope is that this blog will evolve into a chance for me to showcase my work throughout the program.

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”