A short guide to staying up-to-date
The first time I ever presented a case study purely on the economic value of sustainability was at the NWP Energy Summit in 2014. It was an amazing, nerve-wracking experience in which, prior to...
Requiem for sustainability?
As a practitioner of sustainability in multifamily, sometimes I hear things that crack me up. My all-time favorite was an article about a town in North Carolina which moved to ban solar because it...
Who’s afraid of the BPS?
I love that my neighborhood leans into Halloween. The witches, ghosts, and skeletons are filling the yards down our block. Some are animatronic/motion activated with limbs stiffly gesturing, saying phrases like, “I will be...
Keep them with stitches
I grew up in unincorporated Fresno, California (that is the part of Fresno, that Fresno does not want.) There were not a lot of extracurricular activities that were of interest to me, so I...
Winter is coming
It is that time of year again! I know that some individuals are focusing on politics this week. This is understandable, but it is important for us to also focus on a critical aspect...
Prepare to beat the summer heat
I have the song “Feeling Hot Hot Hot” by the calypso band The Merrymen going through my brain. Summer is in full swing and temperatures are in the stupid hot range. It really makes...
Study and prepare to dominate the test
I am different from my family in many ways. To me the most striking difference is in our disparate aptitudes. If you conduct a quick internet search on Buzz Nitschke or Bear Nitschke you...
The perils of assuming
Assume is a hilarious word. It can make an “ass” of “u” and “me.” If you are using assumptions and not evidence in your decision making around sustainability, you could make some poor choices....
GRESB, like the tide, waits for no man
A friend of mine often uses the phrase “The tide raises all boats” when talking about sustainability. His beautiful focus is that we must work together to make any kind of achievement. That has...
As irrigation season arrives, adapt to the weather
As we cruise into summer, we anticipate it being warm, hot, or perhaps even stupid hot, depending on where you live in the country. Regardless, summer means that we tend to increase our irrigation...
Future-proof with level two
In 2013, the developer/operator that I worked for built our first project equipped with the ability to provide EV charging for our residents in Mountain View, California. For every unit, there was the ability...
The good stuff is at the bottom
As a child, I loved it when my grandmother would pick my brother and me up for an afternoon playdate. It was the best. My grandmother was indescribably beautiful, exuded love, spread laughter and...
Finding the low-hanging fruit of efficiency retrofits
I get asked a lot what are the top opportunities for efficiency retrofits. I never answer that question because there are always SO MANY opportunities for retrofit. Let’s face it, we are only limited...
INFOGRAPHIC: Grinding housing into votes
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Landlords rarely escape the machinations of politics. Just how far will tinkering with free markets go this election cycle?
In an election-year effort to shift responsibility for the nation’s high costs of living away...
Learning humility through EV charging
I must admit openly, I have been spoiled by the simple payback of sustainability. With some energy efficiency upgrades having less than a three-month payback, I can make upgrading to granite look like a...
