Southern California Green Real Estate Blog

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1. Moody’s Economy.com economists and analysts believe that the national declines may conclude this year.

   Stockton, Calif., is expected to experience a total peak-to-trough price drop of 67.1 percent, with prices reaching bottom in the fourth quarter, according to the report. The report also forecasts that Punta Gorda, Fla., will experience a total drop of 65.4 percent, hitting bottom in second-quarter 2010.

   A Reuters report notes that the Moody’s outlook “assumes stronger action by U.S. policymakers” and even then a recession “will keep the housing market from fully recovering until the end of this year.”

   http://www.economy.com/default.asp?src=economy_mainnav

   Comment by Moody's Economy.com — February 7, 2009 #

2. The thrust of the Clean Energy Stimulus and Investment Assurance Act of 2009 is to create green-collar jobs and revitalize the economy through clean energy investments. Section 506 of the bill, offers property owners a 30 percent tax credit for qualified green roof expenses. The tax credit applies to both new and retrofit projects, but it requires that at least 50 percent of the roof area be covered with vegetation.

   Comment by Nigel F. Maynard — February 7, 2009 #

3. By the end of the housing downturn, nearly 62 percent of the nation’s 381 metropolitan areas will have experienced double-digit-percent declines in house prices, peak-to-trough, says the report by Moody’s Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi and a team that includes Celia Chen, senior director of housing economics.

   Comment by Moody's Economy.com — February 7, 2009 #

4. If China is getting greener does it mean that Romania is getting greener as well?

   Comment by propertyfrontiers — February 12, 2009 #

5. When foreign investors were asked about best opportunity for asset appreciation, the U.S. was also named first with 37% of the votes. Brazil jumped 10 places into the #2 spot, replacing China, which dropped to #3, followed by the U.K. (up from 9th) and India (which fell from 3rd). Other key findings included that apartments were the preferred U.S. investment property, followed by office, industrial, retail and hotel, a shift from office being most preferred the past two years. Also, nearly 75% said a U.S. property’s “green” features influenced their purchase decision and were worth a rental premium. Survey respondents reported that finding attractive U.S. investment properties is becoming less difficult.

   Comment by NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS — February 14, 2009 #

6. virtually every major initiative from Villaraigosa has been a dismal failure; from a poorly executed program to plant more trees to a subsidized drive to refashion downtown Los Angeles into a mini-Manhattan. Instead of reforming a generally miserable business climate, Villaraigosa has fixated on fostering “elegant density” through massive new residential construction. This gambit has failed miserably, with downtown property values plunging at least 35% since their peak. Many “luxury” condominiums there, as well as elsewhere in the city, remain largely unoccupied or have turned into rentals.

   Comment by Joel Kotkin — February 27, 2009 #

7. Things may be looking up in China, but they remain dire in America. The latest Federal Reserve Beige Book, an anecdotal view of the economy in the central bank’s 12 U.S. districts, indicated the U.S. economy won’t be recovering from its subprime blues much before the end of this year.

   Comment by Carl Gutierrez — March 4, 2009 #

8. the archetypal green city is Curitiba, Brazil. When architect and urban planner Jamie Lerner became mayor in 1972, he quickly closed six blocks of the city’s central business district to cars, delighting residents and business owners alike. Today the pedestrian-free zone is three times larger and serves as the heart of the bustling metropolis. Lerner also put in place a high-tech bus system, greatly reducing traffic, energy usage and pollution; the move also encouraged density around transit hubs and thus preserved open space in other areas that would have likely turned into suburbia. Today the bus system still goes strong, and three-quarters of the city’s 2.2 million residents rely on it every day.

   Comment by AmericanTowns.com — March 9, 2009 #

9. A year ago, China’s industrial sector looked like it was going to be safe from the repercussions of the credit crisis that was beginning to engulf the US. But today the picture is far less rosy. While most analysts predicted the Asian nation’s growing internal demand would more than compensate for any falloff in the export economy, the much larger falloff than expected combined with growing numbers of unemployed make it virtually impossible for the domestic market to make up for the loss of overseas business.

   Comment by John McCloud — March 11, 2009 #

10. China’s massive $585 billion government stimulus program appears to be kicking in, new data suggested Friday, raising the chances that the world’s third-largest economy may be turning a corner.

    Chinese demand for raw materials, hard hit in past months, is showing signs of recovery, with crude-oil imports hitting a one-year high in March. Steel mills in March imported record quantities of their key raw material, iron ore, in anticipation of a pickup in demand in coming months.

    Comment by WSJ.com — April 11, 2009 #

11. Training for Green

    With the Obama Administration stating goals of improving existing buildings’ by 25% in 10 years, training on the latest technology is essential, according to Building Owners and Managers Institute International (BOMI), an Annapolis, MD-based nonprofit organization focus on educating property, facility and systems professionals. While the Building Systems Maintenance Certificate (SMC) designation has existed for years, it now incorporates training and information about energy consumption and adherence to emission regulations, and continues to adapt to changing technology.

    “It has evolved, and is under construction as we speak,” says BOMI trustee Lenny Jachimowicz, FMA, vice president of engineering for Marriott International. “The curriculum has evolved over time, and has recently undergone some changes to contemporize the technology section within certain parts of the curriculum.”

    The SMC certificate is a preparation for the Systems Maintenance Administrator (SMA) designation, one of four offered by BOMI, which also includes: Real Property Administrator (RPA), the Facilities Management Administrator (FMA), and the Systems Maintenance Technician (SMT).

    Comment by Debra Hazel — April 11, 2009 #

12. Total international trade flows continue to take a nosedive and in fact the rate at which trade volumes are decreasing has become very alarming to many economists. The only country in the world where there seems to be some glimmer of hope is in China where demand seems to be slowly increasing. However, China’s exports dropped off the most of any country in the world in February.

    Comment by LAEDC Kyser Center for Economic Research — April 13, 2009 #

13. A study by the Cascadia Region Green Building Council looks at the return on investment (ROI) for developing Living Buildings. The purpose of the study is to provide up-to-date information on the incremental cost between LEED Gold buildings and Living Buildings, and answer questions regarding the anticipated payback. As with many ROI calculations, the payback improves if
    the owner has a holistic perspective and includes operating costs in addition to one-time project costs over a longer time horizon. Building
    scale, the location’s climate and energy costs, and the building use have significant impacts on the ROI’s of green buildings.

    Comment by Cascadia Region Green Building Council — May 12, 2009 #

14. The euro fell against the dollar and extended a weekly loss versus the yen as the economy of the 16- nation region contracted the most in at least 13 years, raising concern the pace of recovery will be slow.

    The yen extended its weekly rally against counterparts including the South African rand and Norwegian krone as a drop in stocks discouraged investors from buying higher-yielding assets funded in Japan’s currency. The euro posted its first weekly decline versus the dollar in a month as gross domestic product in the region shrank.

    Comment by Oliver Biggadike and Ye Xie — May 15, 2009 #

15. Net-Zero Energy ≠ Carbon Neutral
    It’s important to note that net-zero refers to energy use, and does not necessarily mean zero carbon emissions from energy use. A key issue here is what type of energy the building produces. For tall buildings, renewables probably will not be enough to power the entire building, and therefore some sort of carbon-based fuel source will have to be used

    Comment by China Green Buildings — May 25, 2009 #

16. U.S. setbacks dealt by the weakened economy have helped China’s prospects in green commerce. It’s become the capital of solar and wind power manufacturing, and it aims to be the main source of affordable electric cars. In the U.S., the lending freeze has combined with cheap oil to stunt the fortunes of clean energy. Wind, solar and biofuel projects have been canceled and seed capital is scarce, leaving fertile ideas on the drawing board.

    Comment by Еdward Silver — May 28, 2009 #

17. China Manufacturing Ticks Up
    BEIJING — China’s manufacturing ticked up in June from the previous month, helping drive a recovery in the country’s economy.

    The Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 53.2 in June from 53.1 in May, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing reported, exceeding the
    boom-bust threshold of 50 for a fourth straight month.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124641782651378191.html

    Comment by WSJ — June 30, 2009 #

18. PepsiCo opened a new manufacturing plant in China specifically designed to be more environmentally friendly than conventional company facilities.

    The company expects the plant, located in western China in the city of Chongqing, will use 22 percent less water and 23 percent less energy than other PepsiCo plants in the country. The company predicts the annual savings will total 100,000 tons of water, four million kilowatt hours of energy, and 3,100 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

    Comment by Green Biz — July 12, 2009 #

19. If we’re going to be able to add carbon capture and storage to our toolbox of ways to address climate change, the time to demonstrate it is right now — or yesterday, maybe…CO2 emissions are continuing to rise, and we’re seeing
    impacts of climate change.

    A climate bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and up for debate
    in the Senate would provide research money and incentive for companies to
    work on the technology.

    Comment by John D. Sutter — July 15, 2009 #

20. The United States and China have agreed to a research partnership on energy efficient buildings and communities, redoubling collaborative efforts between the two countries in the development of cleaner, greener technology.

    The agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Chinese Ministry of Urban-Rural Development was announced Thursday, just a day after the two countries unveiled plans to establish a joint research center that is to focus on low-carbon technologies for green buildings, clean cars and carbon capture and storage.

    Comment by GreenerBuildings — July 31, 2009 #

21. China resembles nothing so much as Japan shortly before its stock and property markets melted down two decades ago. A speculative frenzy of borrowing and bidding up is at work. If and when prices crash, there will be hell to pay.Signs of the times: government bureaucracies funding themselves by foisting debt on state-owned business enterprises; local governments raising capital by selling land at sky-high prices to corporations they own; and a People’s Bank of China lavishing liquidity on the entire system in a way that makes Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke look downright stingy.

    Comment by Forbes — December 10, 2009 #

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