The newly formed Investor Confidence Project (ICP) is attempting to provide a definitive set of criteria for energy efficiency projects—a kind of good housekeeping standard for green investments.
Created by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), ICP aims to provide confidence in investments for energy efficiency upgrades, a needed service the organization says will help spur more such projects. “In today’s commercial real estate market, there are a variety of different standards for identifying, designing, and implementing accretive energy efficiency projects,” writes John Rockwell, a national client manager at Partner Energy, an energy consulting firm.
“This variety creates uncertainty among building owners, managers, and investors who seek to understand Return on Investment (ROI) of potential efficiency projects. Compounding this issue is the fact that energy projects are often too small and too unique to effectively underwrite and reflect in the valuation of the real estate as a whole.”
Rockwell writes that the ICP’s adherence to rigorous engineering standards makes for more confident investing in sustainable projects.
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Editorial
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Prefab Trailblazer
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Apartment complex will offer affordable green housing
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Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East
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Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum
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| Oct 13, 2010
Community college plans new campus building
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
| Oct 13, 2010
Bookworms in Silver Spring getting new library
The residents of Silver Spring, Md., will soon have a new 112,000-sf library. The project is aiming for LEED Silver certification.
| Oct 13, 2010
County building aims for the sun, shade
The 187,032-sf East County Hall of Justice in Dublin, Calif., will be oriented to take advantage of daylighting, with exterior sunshades preventing unwanted heat gain and glare. The building is targeting LEED Silver. Strong horizontal massing helps both buildings better match their low-rise and residential neighbors.
| Oct 12, 2010
Owen Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Officials at Michigan State University’s East Lansing Campus were concerned that Owen Hall, a mid-20th-century residence facility, was no longer attracting much interest from its target audience, graduate and international students.
