2009 Sept
2009 September Vol. 7, No. 9
Focus on...Energy & The Environment
Green Building Certification is Growing in Popularity
Real estate professionals, developers and builders are all reporting the same
thing: today’s homebuyers who are looking for maximum value are asking for more than granite
countertops and hardwood floors. They want energy savings and green buildings.
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Adopting Policies to Save Money and the Environment
The emergence of environmental problems and the corresponding need to reduce
carbon emissions, combined with tough economic conditions worldwide, is leading
more multifamily residential communities to work toward conserving energy and
becoming more “green.” In recent years, being green has become more than just a trendy buzzword—for many Garden State HOAs, it’s now a way of life. More and more communities are adopting and implementing
environmentally-sensitive policies, and intentionally using more eco-friendly
products.
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How Far Can You Go on the Green Scale?
Talk of “green” homes and buildings these days often evokes images of roof gardens, solar
panels, and even wind turbines humming in the background. For most condos and
HOAs however, “going green” comes incrementally, in much smaller measures.
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Getting Ready for the Cold
Good property managers need to be one step ahead of the game, and September is
no time to be caught flat-footed. The once-packed swimming pool is now
virtually empty, and the kids who filled it weeks ago are now lugging school
backpacks around. The temperature is starting to dip at night, and there’s no time to waste—winter is coming and it’s time to get buildings and amenities ready for colder weather. Preparing for
winter involves a number of tasks for the property manager, starting with
draining the pool and ending with test-firing the boiler before the first
frost.
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How To Go Green in Hard Times
Saving money by going green sounds great, but who has that initial capital in
these tough economic times? The average person can’t afford the luxury of buying solar panels or driving a hybrid car, however,
there are many energy-saving changes you can make that are relatively
inexpensive and have a fast return on investment. Below are ten strategies for cutting your utility bills and carbon footprint
that have a pay back period of less than two years.
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New Developments Offer Eco-Conscious Savings
If one wants to ascertain the state of the green building industry, shared—or “fractionally owned”—vacation condos might be a good place to start.
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Energy Efficiency Isn't the Only Consideration
When it comes to the windows in your complex, like most people, you’re probably focused on energy conservation—keeping the air conditioning inside in the summer and the cold air outside in
the winter. While you’re probably aware that not all replacement windows are created equal, when it
comes to energy savings, there are other “green” alternatives that your board may wish to evaluate when selecting replacement
windows.
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Taking Corrective Action with Employees
It’s an unfortunate truth that even the most harmonious condo community or HOA will
experience occasional friction between staff members, or between staff and
management. Sometimes it’s a personality conflict, or a case of an employee behaving improperly or not
fulfilling the duties expected of him or her. Regardless of the origin,
staff-related problems can be a burden on any association. Fortunately, there
are methods for dealing with these problems that can yield positive outcomes
for everyone involved.
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Redevelopment on the Waterfront
Asbury Park, one of the old showplaces of the Jersey Shore and a town that in
its heyday rivaled Atlantic City, has seen its fortunes rise and fall (and rise
again). Once viewed as a city in decline, Asbury Park benefited greatly from
the housing bubble of the early 2000s, and seemed poised for a renaissance of
sorts. Today, the future of development and gentrification in Asbury Park is
less clear, as the tanked economy has forced many of the residential projects
in the pipeline into a kind of limbo, their funding tied up or evaporated and
unit sales sluggish at best.
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Q&A: Common Hallway Camera in Condo
A neighbor down the hall from my condo apartment has installed a video camera over his doorway—presumably as a security measure. Our building has a doorman and double-locked vestibule, as well as security cameras in the lobby, so this seems redundant and invasive to me. I’m not comfortable with my neighbor—who I do not know well—monitoring the comings and goings in and out of my home. Is there a law against a tenant using a video camera in the common hallway? If so (or even if not), what can I do to compel my neighbor to cease his surveillance of our shared hallway?” Read More
