HOUSTON – The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) and the City of Houston have joined forces to promote competiitions to encourage Houston building owners to step-up sustainability efforts.
An IREM statement reports:
Participating properties and tenant spaces will engage in a sustainability “challenge” comprised of two parts: the Houston Green Office Challenge and the IREM Sustainable Property Challenge. The goal: To improve the resource conservation, performance, and indoor environments of commercial real estate throughout the city.
SEPARATE BUT COMPLEMENTARY ROLES : IREM’s major role will be to promote and administer the IREM Sustainability Property Challenge, launched last year as part of the IREM Sustainability program, which also includes a sustainability platform and the IREM Certified Sustainable Property Certification. The challenge is a friendly, cost-free competition for individual properties. The challenge and other aspects of IREM’s program are driven by the Green Per Square Foot online platform.
Looking both to commercial property managers and office tenants to demonstrate leadership in environmental performance, the City of Houston will focus on promoting and administering the Houston Green Office Challenge, a competition first launched in 2011, that acknowledges property tenants for their achievements in greening their operations through mayoral and media recognition. The Houston Green Office Challenge also is driven by the Green Per Square Foot online platform.
Locally, the combined challenges will be known as the Houston Green Office Challenge+IREM Sustainable Property Challenge and will call for completion of activities drawn from seven main categories: education and outreach; energy; water conservation; materials and waste; interiors, exteriors and purchasing; transportation, and stakeholder engagement. Completing activities earns points, and points move participants up a leader board, with top performers rewarded with prizes and public recognition.
IREM and the City of Houston will work together to engage participants, facilitate educational events, and provide information on how property managers and tenants can work together to improve whole-building sustainability.
IREM SUSTAINABILITY www.iremsustainability.com is a dedicated website that contains detailed information on all components of the sustainability program, including applying for certification. Challenge participants from any location, including Houston, may enroll properties or spaces through this website.
THE HOUSTON GREEN OFFICE CHALLENGE www.houstongoc.org is a dedicated website through which Houston tenants and spaces may enroll in the Houston Green Office Challenge+IREM Sustainable Property Challenge.
An affiliate of the National Association of Realtors, IREM is the home for all industry professionals connected to real estate management – and the only organization serving both the multi-family and commercial sectors.
IREM offers a variety of membership types for professionals of every experience level, from on-site managers to high-level executives. Today, IREM membership includes more than 19,000 individual and 550 corporate members.
ABOUT GREEN PER SQUARE FOOT Buildings are the worlds #1 consumer of energy and resources and the mission of Green Per Square Foot (GreenPSF) is to help them use less. GreenPSF helps building owners, property managers and users achieve profitable sustainability through better information, competition and transparency. To learn more, visit www.greenpsf.com.