May 7th, 2010 | 
Author: Non Green
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| Golf Advice |
Building Green in Tampa, Implications for Commercial Real Estate
Building Green in Tampa, Implications for Commercial Real Estate. By Stephen Beachy
Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to a structure and using a process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.
Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by:Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources,Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity and Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies intended to improve performance in metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is intended to provide building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.
As with any process claiming environmental benefits, the actual construction of Green Buildings and there economic impact must be evaluated.
In an article by Norm Miller, PhD, utilizing CoStar data, and updating earlier studies he presents findings indicating that only 378 Class A commercial office properties were sold in the United States in 2010, and of these only 5 were LEED certified and only a dozen were Energy Star labeled. He further noted the following results. Rents continue to show premiums for LEED properties of several percent over non-green counterparts even though any of these came on line during soft markets. Energy Star labeled property rents appear more in line with the overall market. Miller states, "the delivery timing of many LEED buildings has resulted in higher than average vacancy rates by about 4% to 5 % on average but they note that the rental premium makes up for this differential in most markets. A vacant building searching for tenants is less likely to be focused on selling green features and simply trying to find tenants and make a deal."
According to Miller, the greenest states based on the proportions of green office buildings relative to the total stock of buildings in the market in the US are: Washington, DC, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Colorado, Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire, Illinois, and California.
The brownest states based on the proportions of green office buildings relative to the total stock of buildings in the market in the US are: Oklahoma, Louisiana, West Virginia, South Dakota, Mississippi, North Dakota, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana and Nebraska
Miller goes on to state that "in the long run these greener buildings are likely to retain more value as the bar is raised and tenant expectations change. Many of the green building owners plan on keeping their properties. They know that in the long run this modest effort pays off very well indeed. Those who have ignored many of the simple actions necessary to improve existing buildings when undergoing a retrofit, and this includes distressed property, or to design buildings for greater occupant comfort and operating efficiency will find not a premium for green but a discount for brown."
Local LEED-rated buildings in the Tampa Bay area include the newly constructed headquarters of R.R. Simmons on a bank of the Hillsborough River in Telecom Park in north Tampa and the Southeast Regional Office of San Antonio, Texas-based USAA. Both are Gold certified. The Simmons headquarters as a new building and USAA's office as an existing building.
R.R. Simmons, a design and construction firm, developed a heavily wooded riverfront and left most of the site's natural vegetation in place. The firm also used native plant materials in the building's construction. Double laminated (low-emittance, or Low-E) glass windows help Simmons reduce its energy consumption.
The USAA building in New Tampa is nearly 524,000 square feet. It was the first existing building in the Southeast to be certified by LEED and is one of the largest existing buildings to receive the certification.
Other Gold-certified buildings include: Hillsborough Community College Multipurpose Facility, Ruskin, Met West International, Tampa, Walker Brands, Tampa and Woodland Corporate Center, Tampa
About the Author
Stephen Beachy holds a Master of Science from Florida State University in Urban Regional Planning. He is a landlord and holds a Florida Real Estate Licenses and where he actively markets Commercial and Residential Real Estate for Engel and Voelkers in the Tampa Bay Area. Engel and Voelkers is an international company serving 37 countries in 5 continents. Mr. Beachy works in both Spanish and English.
For more information on LEED certified buildings contact Stephen Beachy at steve.beachy@engelvoelkers.com
How can a green card holder petition for a non-US citizen spouse who is currently living outside of the US?
I am a green card holder. I just got married to a non-US citizen. My husband is not currently living in the US. I am planning to petition my husband for green card. I filed for I-130. I am new to this immigration thing. Could anyone tell me what the next step is, please. Your help is much appreciated. Thank you.
Pretty much the same way as any citizen. the primary difference is the time frame. since you're currently a green card holder, the petition you filed for your husband falls into the F2a family preference category, and those take about 5 years from the time they are filed before they are valid for use. Of course, if you become a citizen while you're waiting, the petition would be upgraded to an IR-1 petition and that would be valid immediately. if that happens, be sure to tell USCIS about your petition as they won't go looking for it unless you do.
When your petition gets closer to being valid, you'll be contacted by the National Visa Center for an Affidavit of Support. then, it will be sent out to the embassy or consulate handling immigrant visas where your husband lives. but for now, you're in for a long wait.
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