From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle The emerging big trend in sustainable real estate is the industrial sector. While the triple-net lease structure dominant in the industry has obscured efforts to make industrial space more sustainable, both owners and tenants are seeking ways to make buildings greener. The push is coming from [...]
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Thinking outside the walls
From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle As building managers we tend to think inside our buildings, making sure they operate effectively. But, in doing so, we are missing a bigger picture. The office of the future extends well beyond the walls of the buildings that we manage. The new workers coming into [...]
The race is on
From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle Many U.S. cities have initiated tremendous programs to become more sustainable through public and private efforts. Most notable among recent plans is Chicago’s 2015 Sustainability Action Plan published by Mayor Emanuel last September. This comprehensive roadmap covers energy, transportation, water/wastewater, urban planning, recycling and climate change. [...]
A January ride and climate change
By Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle Last weekend I went for a bike ride here in Chicago. I haven’t done that here in January in over ten years. One day does indicate a trend, but a decade does. I decided to take a quick look at temperature trends over the last ten years. [...]
LEDs light the skyline
From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle The ball that dropped in Times Square on New Year’s had a special message that you might have missed: The age of the LED light is upon us. This year the ball had 32,256 LED lights on it. Just a few weeks ago the Empire State [...]
Are the lights going out for incandescent bulbs?
From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle No offense to Thomas Edison, but it looks like the end of the line for his great invention of 1879, the incandescent light bulb. Probably the most common symbol of creativity, the heat-producing, energy-eating incandescent bulb is being swept aside by a myriad of more energy-efficient [...]
You still don’t believe in climate change?
From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just issued a troubling little news flash today … July 2012 was hottest month on record for contiguous U.S. since record keeping began in 1895. There are still quite a few people that don’t want to admit that human [...]
Are there “alternative” alternative fuel vehicles in our future?
From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle With all the talk about electric vehicles (EVs) and charging stations, compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles have quietly snuck up and are passing EVs as “alternative” alternative fuel vehicles. A story in the Chicago Tribune by Julie Wernau on July 29th reports that there will be [...]
Package AC Units to Save Energy
From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle A study published late last year by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory indicates that control strategies for existing package air conditioning units could dramatically reduce energy use in commercial buildings. Consider that package cooling equipment is used in 46% of commercial buildings, representing over 60% of [...]
Putting sustainability second
From Bob Best Executive Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle The commercial real estate industry has been working hard to make the buildings that we build, manage or own more sustainable. That’s a good thing. We are starting to see the next stage in this effort unfold, where sustainability is less of a differentiator and more [...]