Green Blog

After recently taking part in the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce’s “Green Summit” I thought I would share some things that I learned from the speakers whom I spoke with. Bob Duval, Tom Sullivan and Chris Drobat all helped share their thoughts on what it means to have a Green Building, and in general what green means to commercial real estate. LEED, Energy Star, CHPS…. What are they all and what do they mean for our buildings???

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a certification a building can receive if it meets a set of pre defined points, the more points the higher the rating (Silver, Gold, Platinum). LEED has become the “Gold” Standard (pun intended) for the commercial real estate industry as not only are towns looking at their zoning to adopt green practice, but also as green building owners seek to have their properties marketed.

Energy Star was developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, and we may all be familiar with appliances in our home that are Energy Star rated because they save water/fuels/electricity, such as dishwashers, freezers, and AC units. There is also a labeling process that over 30 New Hampshire buildings have at the present time.

CHPS started in California, with Erik Estrada… or something like that. Actually from what I know Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) did come from California, and is now a national guideline for public school buildings seeking to increase the performance of their buildings.

There are other platforms out there to measure your success. Ultimately if you want to go green your success can be measured by the resources you use, dollars you save and the comfort level of the people in the building.

-Chris Norwood
Executive Vice President
NAI Norwood Group