Meta-campaigns for sustainable building management?
Asked by
capet (
988
)
December 28th, 2021
I have seen various groups that try to set up small campaigns targeted at individual organizations to achieve a specific goal. Examples would be the various national organizations pushing fossil fuel divestment campaigns at businesses, colleges, etc.
Is there anything like that with the mission of trying to get businesses to retrofit or manage their buildings more sustainably? I have in mind the type of “white collar” business that owns or rents a lot of office space or similar commercial real estate. I have in mind actions like insulation, “smart” energy management, composting, rooftop gardening, etc.
My guess is that something like this does not exist, because the demands would need to be so specific to each building. But I figured I’d ask.
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3 Answers
I think this is something that sounds good in theory but is virtuall impossible to actually carry out.
Why?
1) many businesses – especially real estate and office building management – are owned by small business and small real estate management companies. Esepcially during covid, when they were losing tenants right and left – they didn’t have anywhere near full occupancy. So they didnt have the free cash flow to make the sort of investments that you suggest.
2) Retrofitting and older building is usually much more costly than building sustainability in the first time around. And they can’t charge enough rent – especially with tenants on long-term leases – to make back the costs.
Bottom line: the economics aren’t there – no matter how socially desirable they might be=.
@elbanditoroso that makes sense, but what about “non-construction-based” building management interventions, like smart thermostats or better use of waste? Are those impactful enough to be worth the effort?
And what about fortune 500 companies that are willing to lose money to look good?
Also, we need to normalize tacky energy efficiency retrofits :)—much cheaper.
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