| IN THE
March 6,
2009 ISSUE |
New Green Standards to Mesh with Local Building
Codes
A swath of new standards for green building may soon make
sustainable construction and energy efficiency retrofits in the United
States more predictable. The standards coming to the market include
three sets of building rules and an improved version of the longstanding
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines.
Designed to enhance clarity and provide more specific performance
objectives, the new reference works include:
More Insurance Carriers Offer Green
Coverage
As insurance underwriters become more familiar with the
risks and opportunities in the green building hemisphere, more carriers
are entering the marketplace with increased capacity and product
offerings, according to a year-end update of insurance global giant
Marsh’s green building report.
The report entitled "Marsh Green Built Environment in the United States
Market Survey" was first released in June 2008. Since then, several
additional builders’ risk insurance carriers now offer specific green
endorsements. They include Zurich Financial Services, Travelers
Insurance and ACE USA.
Green Lives Despite Economic Crisis
Conventional thinking might tell you that in times of
economic crisis, the last thing on institutional investors’ minds is
sustainability and green initiatives. But a new report from San
Francisco-based RREEF, “How Green a Recession? — Sustainability
Prospects in the U.S. Real Estate Industry,” makes the case that in
spite of this recession, sustainability should be a fundamental part of
any long-term investor’s strategy.
Andrew Nelson, the author of the report, leads RREEF’s sustainability
research and relies on more than 20 years of experience working in
private and public real estate investment and development. RREEF is the
investment management division of New York-based Deutsche Bank, with
more than $67 billion in assets under management.
Hartz Mountain Industries Makes the Switch to
Solar
Hartz Mountain Industries Inc. recently installed a
412-kilowatt SunPower T10 Solar Rooftop solar array on the 65,000 sq.
ft. roof of its Meadowlands Exposition Center located in Secaucus, N.J.
It is the first of many solar installations the company plans for its
39 million sq. ft. portfolio.
Approved by the Board of Public Utilities in April 2008, the two-year,
$105 million pilot program allows Public Service Enterprise Group
(PSE&G) to offer loans to installers of solar panels on their roofs with
repayments using solar credits (SRECs). The loans can finance 40% to 60%
of the cost of solar-panel installation.
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