Here is an interesting article from Utility Dive: “Energy entrepreneur Elon Musk believes electric vehicles will boost power demand and help the utility industry avoid the so-called “death spiral,” where increasing numbers of power customers leave the grid for distributed generation options….” Read More Kent McDonaldKent works at RealPage and helps apartment firms reduce operating…
Author: Kent McDonald
Kent works at RealPage and helps apartment firms reduce operating costs related to utilities. You can connect with Kent at LinkedIn.com/in/kentmcd or Twitter.com/AptsKent.
Hey! You’re eating all my water!
California is in a major drought. Ok, so that’s not breaking news. Most of you are probably thinking, “I’m tired of hearing about this. Why do I care if Kent’s grass turns brown? California’s drought doesn’t impact me.” Or does it? The following article in The New York Times takes an interesting approach of showing…
How new turbine technology will open up the Southeast to wind development
Interesting article from Utility Dive: “Wind turbine technology is about to open up an almost untouched sector of the U.S. market. With over 82,000 MW of coal, natural gas, and nuclear capacity in the region being generated by infrastructure that is over 40 years old, the economic opportunity could be enormous….” Read More Kent McDonaldKent…
Survey on DC energy investment decisions
The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) and the DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) are looking to interview apartment owners and managers about management and investment decisions that affect their Washington, DC multifamily portfolio’s energy performance. IMT’s Megan Houston, Senior Program Associate for Multifamily Finance, will be conducting 30-minute interviews over the coming weeks. Participants will…
Energy Price Analysis with Candlestick Charts
Have you heard about “technical analysis” with regard to energy prices but never really knew how to get started? One way to ease into this type of analysis, especially if you are a visual learner is through Candlestick Charts. The following article from StockCharts.com provides an introduction to the topic. The first few paragraphs provide a good overview…
Energy Saver 101 Infographic: Cooling
Learn more about the basics of saving energy through a cool infographic from the US Dept of Energy (high resolution versions available for download on their site): “As summer starts to heat up and temperatures rise, many of us are cranking up the air conditioners to stay cool. It should come as no surprise then…
Participation growing in GRESB survey
Here is an interesting article highlighting the growth and potential usefulness of participating in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark: “Since its inception in 2009, GRESB has annually surveyed and analysed the way real estate companies and funds approach and manage sustainability and the results that they achieve….” Read More Kent McDonaldKent works at RealPage…
What is GRESB and all this attention on benchmarking?
According to the GRESB website, “In 2009 three large pension funds joined forces to better understand their exposure to risks related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in their global portfolios of investments in property companies and private equity real estate funds… Five years later, sustainability reporting has become standard practice for a large…
Upcoming Training Opportunities with ENERGY STAR®
Spring has sprung and now is a perfect time to start nurturing your ENERGY STAR education! Join EPA to learn about a variety of topics, including financing energy efficiency upgrades, and ENERGY STAR success stories in the multifamily housing sector. To register for upcoming trainings, click the links below or visit esbuildings.webex.com. If you…
Top Ten Sustainability Measures
Happy Earth Day! Sometime last year, I saw a list of top ways that commercial real estate professionals can make energy efficiency and sustainability a priority was published by Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International. Many of their ideas also apply to multi-family buildings, but a few of them maybe not so much. Here is…