The Commercial Real Estate Informational Portal

Welcome to CRE-Expert.com

Welcome to the Commercial Real Estate Expert Blog! A host of industry leading real estate professionals, lawyers, and consultants providing the latest in real estate relevant news and advice.

Category Archives: Energy

Energy

How Climate Change Poses Risks for Banks and Insurers

In 2010 the Securities and Exchange Commission passed a rule requiring publicly traded companies to report their corporate risks from climate change. CERES, a non-profit organization that tracks this disclosure prepared a report cited in a 2014 Wall Street Journal article that concluded that climate-related disclosures by S&P 500 companies are terse, provide little discussion…

March 2015 Events

Start            End              Conference                              Location 1 5 ICBA National Convention Orlando, FL 2 4 CLRM Roundtable Phoenix, AZ 3 3 CREJ: Multifamily Owners and Managers Conference and Expo Englewood, CO 3…

How LEED Can Help You Qualify For SBA 504 Funding

The US Small Business Association (SBA) recently made some changes to its 504 Loan Program. The program, which offers loans with low down payments and low, fixed long-term interest rates, normally requires that borrowers have projects that will deliver certain public benefits such as job creation and a number of community development goals.  But, the…

Ready or Not, Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance Requires Action in 2014!

Partner Engineering and Science, Inc.’s Bob Geiger and Joanne Choi discuss Chicago’s new benchmarking ordinance and the requirements for compliance. In September 2013, the Chicago City Council approved the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance in Chapter 18-4 of the Chicago Municipal Code.  The Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance became effective on September 21, 2013 and requires building owners with over 50,000…

A Marriage That Will Last

The excitement over the corporate marriage between Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. and the former Birdsall Services Group (BSG) seems justified as the idea of the two working in tandem has quickly become a reality. Key Birdsall competencies are intact: Mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) engineering design, construction services, energy and sustainability services, civil engineering and site survey services,…

The Legacy of Birdsall Services Group

Birdsall Services Group (www.birdsall.com) was founded in 1919 and the assets of BSG were recently purchased by Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. (Partner).   Birdsall Servicse Group (BSG, Birdsall) was an award-winning full-service engineering firm headquartered in Eatontown, New Jersey.   Ralph Orlando was named President of Birdsall Services Group in November of 2012 replacing the retiring…

Solar Due Diligence

Taking a look at how a thorough transactional due diligence assessment can help you make better decisions in the solar market. Are you buying, selling or financing a solar Photovoltaic (PV) facility? The solar industry has evolved rapidly from 2006, and the bustle of activity surrounding this renewable energy source continues.  Today, the costs of…

ENERGY DISCLOSURE IN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE DEALS

The State of California as well as individual municipalities within California are on the forefront of energy disclosure.  Section 25402 of the California Public Resources Code requires benchmarking and disclosure of energy usage of commercial properties.  Energy benchmarking can be conducted through the EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager, which provides ratings based on energy usage…

Partner Spring Webinars

Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. is pleased to launch our spring webinar series. This series offers new and updated webinars that discuss commercial real estate trends, standards updates and changes as they affect the commercial real estate industry. Registration for all webinars is at no cost to industry professionals. Webinar Topics Include: The Essentials of Seismic Risk…