Green Edge | Unleashing the Power of Green
Apple, Google and Facebook: How Green is Green, Really?

A lot has been written about the proposed new Apple, Google and Facebook headquarters. Each one is slated to incorporate state-of-the-art green building features.

In Apple's case, these include 700,000 square feet of roof top solar panels that will produce 8 megawatts of power----- enough to power 4,000 homes, and other "climate responsive" technologies intended to result in a "net-zero energy campus."
 
Google is rumored to be installing an expensive system to recycle its own sewage, a so-called "blackwater" recycling system that will run all water and sewage through a series of treatment tanks so the water can be reused.  

Facebook's proposed headquarters in Menlo Park, CA

Facebook is said to be considering full-grown trees, rather than the more typical shrubs, for its vegetated "green roof" that will require laying as much as four feet of soil on top of their proposed quarter-mile-long building.  
 
Green Infrastructure is One Thing; 
Green Occupancy Another

In order to maximize the return on these green building investments, it is essential that Apple, Google and Facebook employees occupy their new green headquarters in a sustainable manner. There are countless examples of buildings designed to meet rigorous green performance goals but whose actual performance is disappointing at best. I'd bet that in almost every case, very little attention was paid to engaging with the future building occupants to facilitate sustainable workplace behaviors.
 


So I am wondering whether Apple, Google and Facebook are preparing their tens of thousands of employees to occupy these amazing new buildings 
in a sustainable manner. Are they doing anything to ensure that their employees self-select sustainable workplace behaviors once they move into their new green headquarters? 
 
Maximize Financial and Carbon Returns with Sustainable Workplace Engagement

Imagine your workplace humming with the upbeat tempo of an innovative and motivated workforce that is engaged in what they're doing. Look more closely and see that your teams are enjoying the physical environment of your office that they play a significant role in maintaining. That is the essence of sustainable workplace engagement and that's what yields optimal financial and carbon returns on green infrastructure investment. 
 
Green Edge has a unique process for making this happen. Our Sustainable Workplace Engagement Process (Green Edge's SWEP) enables us to access the collective intelligence embedded in our clients' organizations in order to create a road map resulting in sustainable workplace engagement. The benefits range from reduced resource consumption and costs to the increased revenues and profitability that are generated by an engaged workforce.

Key to the Green Edge SWEP is a series of metrics that measure and monitor the benefits, even those that are "qualitative" but essential to a sustainably better bottom line.    
 
So a word of advice to Google, Apple, Facebook and every other company that is greening its office space: Implement a Green Edge SWEP now, you can't afford not to! 

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We Look Forward to Hearing from You

 

If you have questions about anything you've read in this newsletter or if you are wondering how to meet your own green challenges, we'd love to hear from you.  

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Ellen Sinreich Hi Everyone! 

The signs of spring are everywhere and nowhere more so than at Green Edge. Here are some of my personal highlights: 

 

I am busily preparing to teach a graduate level green building course at NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate. What a great opportunity to educate up-and-coming real estate professionals about how to transform the built environment to a lower carbon footprint.

 

A sample green lease that I prepared for the real estate industry will be published this spring. It demonstrates how landlords and tenants can be aligned in greening commercial properties.

 

Finally, in April, Part 1 of a 2-part program that I co-chaired and moderated in NYC focusing on the real economic value of greening retail properties took place and Part 2 is coming up in June.  

 

Let me know what you've been up to this spring and how we can help you reduce your carbon footprint. As always, I welcome your input and look forward to working with you to make our world a greener place.  

 

Warmly,   

  

Some Fast Facts about Energy  
800 Million sub-Saharan Africans consume the same amount of energy as the 19.5 million residents of New York State.
$152 Billion is the estimated size of the global market for energy efficiency improvements in commercial buildings in 2020.
30% is the amount by which European cars are more fuel-efficient than American ones.    
12.5% of the electricity consumed in the United States in 2011 came from renewable sources.  
100% of Iceland's electricity is generated by renewable sources.
The REAL Economic Benefits of Going Green
Measure Green Results

Join Ellen Sinreich as she moderates a program for the International Council of Shopping Centers on the costs and benefits of incorporating green building features into retail real estate.

Industry experts will discuss how to evaluate potential improvements affecting energy, water, waste and indoor environments from a financial perspective and how to partner with the public sector to achieve meaningful financial goals. The program takes place on June 18th in New York City. Link here to sign up. 
Green Edge Opportunity:
Greening Your Real Estate 

Green Real EstateTransform your bottom line: Green Edge will help you leverage green building opportunities to attract tenants, investors and lenders; reduce operating expenses; strengthen brand reputation and mitigate risk. 

Our services include: 
  • Employee Engagement
  • Energy Efficiency Financing
  • Portfolio Enhancement 
  • Metrics, Measuring & Reporting 
  • LEED Advisory Services
  • Green Leases
  • Regulatory Compliance
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EDITOR: Ellen Sinreich

DESIGN DIRECTOR: Sara Mears 

 

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