Jessica Hoefer Author Archives

In addition to our commitment to green design, Common Ground works to foster and promote healthy/green living and energy efficiency among the staff and tenants of our permanent supportive housing sites. Our goal is create a culture of self sufficiency as well as healthy living/green lifestyle among our tenant populations. Specifically, we work to offer […]

he residential sector contributes over 20% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. In an Environment article published two years ago, Gardner and Stern identified a short list of the 27 most effective actions U.S. households could take to decrease their contributions to climate change, suggesting that altering the selection and use of everyday […]

Energy efficiency in buildings is dependent on many different factors; the material quality of the building, and the various technologies implemented. Nonetheless, the use and the users of buildings are also of great significance. This paper analyses building operators and their role in making buildings “work”. Building operators may be viewed as an important user […]

The terms “Sustainable Development” and “Sustainable Building” are often overused and ill-defined. A refocus on the core meaning basically results in two requirements with regard to buildings: 1) stay within nature’s limits, and 2) design according to human needs. In this context, the socio-technical system “dwellers and building” not only has to be “green” but […]

Since 2006, Global Green USA has completed a regular review of QAPs and established a national performance ranking for the green building practices promoted by the QAPs. Download

http://umadvisory.org/which-states-have-the-strongest-commitment-to-renewable-power/

Waste Management has a new way to add recycling to multifamily properties that are short on available space. http://umadvisory.org/a-new-idea-for-recycling-in-multifamily/

There are many discrete financial and regulatory events that may prompt an owner to upgrade a Multifamily building. However, in general, there are a few specific events in a Multifamily building’s Lifecycle when it is typically more cost effective, convenient and efficient to make savings and energy improvements. http://umadvisory.org/developing-a-long-term-portfolio-strategy-for-investing-in-energy-efficiency/

Understanding the different ordinances – it can be a jungle out there! There is no National Legislation that requires consistent compliance. Cities and States are driving this issue independently. So the answer is: it depends on where the property is located. http://umadvisory.org/benchmarking-disclosures-what-action-is-needed-now-by-multifamily-owners/

In addition to the common and well-known barriers that inhibit greater investment in energy efficiency technologies (e.g., split incentives, whole building information, initial investment costs and ROI, privacy etc.), there is a class of barriers that has received less attention. http://umadvisory.org/the-hidden-roadblocks-to-energy-efficiency/

Benchmarking the energy performance of a property—that is, measuring it and comparing it to similar properties—requires utility data on energy consumption and load over at least 24 contiguous months . Owners and operators of multifamily properties must have access to this utility data for the whole building in order to benchmark it accurately. However, whole-building […]

If you have even casually looked into energy management services for your portfolio, have you noticed the wide range of opinions and options? The differences are more significant than simply positioning. It is a more difficult (and meaningful) choice than asking “Do I want a Coke? Or Pepsi?” http://umadvisory.org/what-are-the-motivators-in-multifamily-for-energy-management/