Founder's Message: What's green and why now?

Since the beginning of time, man has been trying to outwit Mother Nature. However, time and time again, Mother Nature wins. Rain, snow, wind, lightning bolts, floods, earthquakes, plagues, tsunamis, etc. - you do the math. The birds, the bees, the flowers and the trees - do the math again. All these stupendous creations come from a perfect producer - a producer who is predictable and unpredictable, can be violent or kind - but never goes away, and as far as we can trace since the beginning of time has never even hinted of going away. And, we have found, left alone, Mother Nature will rebuild what we tear down. So is it any wonder that after many years of man-made pollution and destruction and creating unhealthiness, that we finally bow down to Mother Nature and study the good that she has done and how we can follow her lead. That is where green buildings enter the picture. What is green you ask? Green is a term applied to practically everything in which energy savings and resources are conceived or reused. More specifically, it is related to the LEED rating provided by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) or the "Energy Star" rating provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While surveys have shown that a green building may cost a few more dollars up front, a recent Capital E Analysis showed a major s/f savings annually after 20 years that includes energy, water, emissions, maintenance, and health. ( I didn't print the figure because it is so large it is hard to fathom). And since we do not have any businesses without shelter (buildings), going green is the biggest thing that has happened to our industry since the cavemen discovered Geico. Hence, the Journal, the largest weekly commercial/investment/development newspaper in the country (world), is launching a special monthly section (it's about time) devoted solely to green buildings - the New England Green Buildings Real Estate Journal. On that subject, quoting one major national developer, "We're learning how to do high-performance buildings on conventional budgets. Add energy savings, productivity gains, marketing and public relations benefits and fast lease-ups and you have a growing recognition of the business case for green in all dimensions." Roland Hopkins is the founder of the New York Real Estate Journal, Norwell, Mass.