The effect of ISO14001 certification in property management on property price

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17107393

Abstract:

Purpose - As environmental awareness has become increasingly pronounced among various stakeholders such as governments and communities, many businesses start to adopt a more environmental-friendly approach in their operations. Even a service-oriented industry such as property management is no exception. One way to showcase a company’s commitment to this cause is to become ISO14001-certified, under which it is required to implement an environmental management system (EMS). In light of this, this paper aims to investigate the impact of this certification in property management, along with two other well-known management certifications/awards in ISO9001 and HKMAQA, on property price.

Findings - The results show that 1) a flat managed by a company with ISO9001 certification is 8.87% higher than another flat managed by a non-ISO9001-certified PMC; 2) the adoption of ISO14001 certification appears to help generate a premium of about 3.65% in property price for a PMC which has already been ISO9001-certified; and 3) for a company already with both ISO9001/14001 certifications, the obtaining of HKMAQA brings about an extra 15.37% in housing price. It can be said that the impact of ISO14001 certification on property value is smaller than that of the other two management standards.

Reprovisioning of Diamond Hill Crematorium - Green Building Award 2010 - Merit Award (New Buildings Category - Hong Kong Institutional / Community Project)
http://www.archsd.gov.hk/archsd/html/report2011/en/recognitions-and-awards.html

Design/methodology/approach - The hedonic price model was used to determine whether or not there is a relationship between ISO14001 certification (as well as ISO9001 and HKMAQA) and property price, and if so, its impact. Three districts from different parts of Hong Kong, including seventeen private residential developments, were covered in this research.

Research limitations/implications - The findings do not necessary suggest that the adoption of ISO14001 (or HKMAMA) generates the exact same premium to a residential property by itself, as two or more components in tandem may create more value than the sum of the parts. Nonetheless, considering that most companies have already been ISO9001-certified prior to considering an ISO14001 certification, they, as separate variables, are inevitably highly correlated which could be an issue when using methods such as hedonic models. This renders the assessment of the impact on property price solely attributed to ISO14001 rather problematic if they are studied together.

Practical implications - In the short-run, ISO14001 certification, as a public relations tool, might actually help flats within these developments to gain an advantage over the competitors within the district, or at least offset the adverse impact of some of its intrinsic defects in order to stay competitive (for instance, the age issue and the smaller brand name effect due to the development’s lack of scope), but not in the long-run.

Originality/value - The paper has provided some insights regarding the effect of various management standard certifications in property management, from the perspective of the end-users (i.e. homebuyers), rather than from that of those involved in the operations as seen in previous studies. This serves as a reference for developers, property managers, buyers, and users alike.

by Eddie Chi-man Hui, (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Cheuk-kin Tse, (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Ka-hung Yu, (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
Journal of Facilities Management via Emerald Group Publishing Limited www.emeraldinsight.com

Volume 12, Issue 2

CoreSpace Boosts Energy Savings and Power Reliability in its Data Center with GE SG Series UPS System

http://tinyurl.com/lc2zq5o

GE’s Critical Power business (NYSE: GE) has announced that CoreSpace, a provider of dedicated servers and cloud services, is introducing a new service level agreement guarantee for power protection in its Dallas data center. The center now employs GE’s highly reliable SG Series, three-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system running in eBoost* energy efficiency mode. One of the first infrastructure improvements CoreSpace made when it acquired its Dallas data center was to install a 500-kilovolt UPS system to replace more than 230 distributed single-phase UPS units connected to each of the individual 45-U[1] (73.5-inch high) server racks. The GE UPS system enabled a centralized power management approach, bringing a new level of uptime, quality and reliability to CoreSpace’s Dallas data center, while also generating significant energy cost savings.

Prior to deploying GE’s centralized power management system, CoreSpace’s distributed UPS architecture used more than 100 kilovolt-amperes (kVA) of power annually, with additional energy and dollars expended to cool the more than 345,000 British thermal units (BTUs) produced by the 230 single-phase UPS units. Since deploying the GE SG Series UPS system, CoreSpace is realizing energy savings of 92 kVA a year, which translates to $88,800 per year in energy savings by running the UPS system at 99 percent efficiency in eBoost mode. The company also reduced its data center cooling costs with the new GE system, cutting the total single-phase UPS BTU output from 345,000 BTUs to just 14,000 BTUs for the three-phase UPS system. 

GE www.GE.com

Press Release dated January 22, 2014

IBM Taps Big Data to Help Solve Water Challenges Across South Africa“WaterWatchers,” a new mobile app, harnesses the power of crowdsourcing

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/40705.wss

IBM (NYSE: IBM) marks World Water Day with the launch of a crowdsoucing project to help capture, share and analyze information about the water distribution system in South Africa. The project, called “WaterWatchers,” is driven by a new mobile phone application and SMS capability that will enable South African citizens to report water leaks, faulty water pipes and general conditions of water canals. Every update will provide vital data points to an aggregated “WaterWatchers” report to create a single view of the issues challenging South Africa’s water distribution system.

The free app, currently available for Android download at www.ibmwaterwatchers.co.za, and the SMS capability* together provide an easy way for anyone to collect and report issues on local waterways and pipes to a centralized portal. After taking a photo and answering three simple questions about the particular water canal or pipe, the data is uploaded in real-time to a central database. After 30 days, the data will be analyzed and aggregated into a meaningful “leak hot spot” map for South Africa.

...

IBM began exploring crowdsourcing to address water related issues in the city of San Jose, California, with its CreekWatch mobile app, which is still available and currently being used in more than 25 countries. WaterWatchers was adapted from the CreekWatch concept to include additional capabilities such as SMS and the ability to share photos on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

... South Africa has seen the department of water affairs increase spending by 20% to R9 billion ($900M USD) in 2011- 2012. Similarly, spending on water sector management has increased by 28.8% year on year over the same period and spending on water infrastructure management has risen by 13.2% year on year. But the pressure of urban population influx continues to place more strain on ageing water infrastructure. According to the 2011 Census, ninety-three percent of South African households had access to safe water in 2010 but only 45% of those with access to water actually had it in their homes.

A WaterWatchers report will be made available to local municipalities, water control boards and other water system stakeholders once the data is filtered appropriately.  This could help local municipalities vizualise and prioritize improvements to city water infrastructure.

The WaterWatchers platform holds enormous potential for similar applications that can be used to monitor and report on just about any aspect of one’s environment: city services (report potholes, late buses), wildlife, noise pollution, air quality, weather and more.

...

For more information about IBM Smarter Water, visit www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/water

The IBM Smart Water site offers an October 15, 2012 white paper from the IBM Institute for Business Value by Mary Keeling and Michael Sullivan and available free of charge at http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/uploads/1/IBM_Smarter_Water_Management_White_Paper_1.pdf entitled "Fixing the future: Why we need smarter water management for the world’s most essential resource" which  highlights the vulnerability of the world's water system and outlines why cities, utilities and businesses "must take immediate action to deploy a smarter approach to water management to solve the world’s water crisis."  This white paper highlights the vulnerability of the world's water system and outlines why cities, utilities and businesses "must take immediate action to deploy a smarter approach to water management to solve the world’s water crisis."

The report notes that according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), US$68 billion of the $121 billion of economic activity generated by the water industry is provided as inputs to other activities. This underestimates the true value and importance of water in supporting economic activity as the price paid by users for water in many countries does not reflect the true cost of supply. Water is needed to produce a host of goods and services.

An alarming percentage of the world’s water is going to waste. For example, nearly 35 percent of all the water used each year in agriculture is frivoled away by poor resource management. according to “The world’s 4 trillion dollar challenge: Using a system-of-systems approach to build a smarter planet.” by Peter Korsten Peter and Christian Seider also of IBMs Institute for Business Value available at http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/ibv-smarter-planet-system-of-systems.html.

...

The link between water and health is significant – more than 50 percent of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by people suffering from water-related diseases, and 80 percent of diseases in developing countries are attributed to poor quality water.

Energy optimization software reduces industrial power consumption

http://www.youris.com/Energy/Ecodesign/The_Ecologic_Badminton_Robot.kl
Thanks to the EU funded research project ESTOMAD, a new computer program is now capable of  detecting the energy guzzlers in so-called mechatronic systems, that are controlled by both software and electronics. ... Following an energy efficiency analysis of a badminton robot with the new software, the team made some small changes in segments in the robotic where energy wastage was greatest. “We were able to cut down the energy consumption of the badminton robot by 50%!” claims Wim Symens.

Industry has already expressed interest in performing this type of energy efficiency analysis. For example, PICANOL, a [major producer] of weaving machines, was able to cut energy consumption of existing machines by 10-15% with the software.

In the future, engineers could use this software for machines even before they are built. Performing a virtual analysis at an early stage, could provide a [significant] competitive advantage to industry. “A virtual approach is always a preferred one. They can even simulate unusual conditions: high speeds or very high temperatures. In real life those tests are very expensive!” explains Tom Boermans of engineering solution consultancy LMS International, who is based in Leuven, Belgium and one of the partners in the project....

European Research Media Center www.youris.com
January 29, 2013
via www.gizmag.com

To Help Light Up Africa, Many Drops in the Bucket

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/to-help-light-up-africa-many-drops-in-the-bucket

By visiting Web sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, you can give money to any number of causes. These Web sites collect small amounts from many individuals in what is known as crowdfunding to finance everything from business start-ups to charitable causes to art projects.

While online crowdfunding is still relatively new, it has already demonstrated that many small contributions can add up. Deloitte, the accounting and consulting firm, estimates that the largest 30 crowdfunding sites raised more than $1.5 billion over the last five years, and expects that in 2013 alone the number could be $3 billion.

...Since its crowdfunding site made its debut last July, SunFunder has raised $50,000 from about 300 investors to finance four business ventures that sell solar-powered products in these areas, according to ... founder, Ryan Levinson. Anyone is eligible to join the site - so far investors have come from 18 different countries - and the minimum investment is $10.

Unlike some other crowdfunding operations, SunFunder does not contribute the money to these small businesses; it lends the money and charges interest. As the loan is paid back, SunFunder returns the principal to its investors. Two of the four projects are already starting to pay the money back, Mr. Levinson said.

... Demand is booming for small-scale solar-powered systems that provide light and charge cellphones. The alternative for many people in those regions is to rely on kerosene lamps to light homes and shops, which exposes them to potential harmful problems and the risk of starting a fire if a lamp is knocked over.

With the price of solar-powered technologies coming down, a solar-powered light can pay for itself in seven weeks with the money saved on kerosene, Richard Turner marketing director at at SunnyMoney, said. Since its founding, SunnyMoney has sold almost 300,000 solar-powered lights, which charge during the day and provide several hours of light at night. It hopes to hit the million mark before the end of this year.
...
Within a month of being listed on the SunFunder Web site, SunnyMoney's latest project, providing solar lights in the Chadiza district in Zambia, had attracted 86 investors contributing a total of $10,000.

Not only was crowdfunding quicker than negotiating a loan with a bank, it also helped SunnyMoney get its message out ....
...

By JIM WITKIN

The New York Times www.NYTimes.com Green Blog http://green.blogs.nytimes.com

FOR FULL STORY GO TO:

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/to-help-light-up-africa-many-drops-in-the-bucket

February 14, 2013

Verdantix Says The US Market For Energy And Environment Technology Services Will Reach $2.5 Billion In 2015

http://tinyurl.com/8bpz3qu

By 2015, large firms in the US market will spend $2.5 billion annually on technology consulting and systems integration relating to their energy, environment and sustainability initiatives, according to a new report from independent analyst firm Verdantix. The forecasted level of investment reflects a 47% increase from spending of $1.7 billion in 2012 and a compound annual growth rate of 11% over the 2011 to 2015 period. This compares with a total US market size for all energy, environment and sustainability spending of $39.8 billion in 2012 making technology services 4% of the total market.

“Power utilities will account for a whopping 47% of US private sector spend on energy and environment technology services in 2012” commented Stuart Neumann, Verdantix Senior Manager and author of the report.  “This reflects the growth in smart grid technology services spend which will reach $503 million in 2012 and the boom in smart meter projects represents $385 million of spend. The $4 billion in US stimulus funds targeted at smart meters has been a key driver. Other growth factors revealed in our analysis include a big push by oil and gas firms to strengthen their environmental management systems, an ongoing focus on energy and carbon data management and data-driven facilities energy efficiency. The roll out of large solar parks and utility-scale wind farms is also creating new IT systems requirements.”

The Verdantix report ‘US Sustainable Technology Services Spend 2011-15’, covers spend by 1,833 firms across 11 different energy, environment and sustainability initiatives. Spending on technology services related to six energy management initiatives dominate the market opportunity representing $1.4 billion of the $1.7 billion total in 2012. Technology services in the environmental management and water stewardship market segments will be worth $218 million in 2012. Strong environmental technology services practices such as Deloitte, ERM, Fujitsu Services and Mahindra Satyam will benefit from this spending. The embryonic market for sustainability technology services – covering climate change, sustainability performance management and low carbon transport – captures just $151 million of corporate IT spending in 2012.

“The size and growth rate of the US market for energy, environment and sustainability technology services is sufficient to generate interest from all major technology services firms” commented David Metcalfe, Verdantix CEO. “The problem is that few IT services firms are making money in this market. The opportunities are fragmented across eleven different categories making market entry problematic. And growth rates for supposedly ‘hot topics’ like water stewardship are just 10% per annum over the 2011 to 2015 period. Headline issues like climate change risk management systems will garner just $30 million in spend in 2012 – less than a medium-sized IT outsourcing deal. Only suppliers with a strong market position in sectors like utilities or oil and gas are making a decent profit. New entrants need smarter strategies.”

Knowledge is (Less) Power: Experimental Evidence from Residential Energy Use

http://papers.nber.org/papers/w18344

Abstract: This paper presents experimental evidence that information feedback dramatically increases the price elasticity of demand in a setting where signals about quantity consumed are traditionally coarse and infrequent. In a randomized controlled trial, residential electricity customers are exposed to price increases, with some households also receiving displays that transmit high-frequency information about usage and prices. This substantially lowers information acquisition costs and allows us to identify the marginal information effect. Households only experiencing price increases reduce demand by 0 to 7 percent whereas those also exposed to information feedback exhibit a usage reduction of 8 to 22 percent, depending on the amount of advance notice. The differential response across treatments is significant and robust to the awareness of price changes. Conservation extends beyond the treatment window, providing evidence of habit formation, spillovers, and greenhouse gas abatement. Results suggest that information about the quantity consumed facilitates learning, which likely drives the treatment differential.

by Katrina Jessoe, David Rapson
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) www.NBER.org
NBER Working Paper No. 18344; Issued in August 2012

U.S General Services Administration (GSA) Implements Cost Saving Ideas, Saves Over $5 Million

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/141687

On August 22, 2012, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced plans to implement five cost savings ideas that will save the agency an estimated $5.53 million. As part of its ongoing top- to-bottom review, GSA launched The Great Ideas Hunt asking its employees to share their best ideas on how to improve the performance and efficiency of the agency. 
...
To date, GSA received a total of 632 ideas submitted via the web from employees across the country. GSA staff then voted for their favorite submissions, registering close to twenty thousand votes online. The agency is now taking action on five of the most popular ideas, which are currently being implemented.

These include:

• Reduce Subscriptions: A GSA employee highlighted the fact that GSA can save money by reducing the number of newspaper and magazine subscriptions and choosing online versions when possible. By doing this the GSA can save up to $630,000 agency-wide.
• Eliminate Redundant Survey: Three suggestions were submitted urging the agency to retire a costly and redundant employee survey. It turns out that the survey costs $1 million annually and virtually all of its questions are addressed in the Office of Personnel Management Employee Viewpoint Survey, which is free. GSA has now stopped its use of the survey.
• Create Web-based Surveys: Four GSA employees submitted an idea to replace the paper-based Public Buildings Service (PBS) Tenant Satisfaction Survey with a web-based solution instead. PBS is making this change immediately, which will save about $1.2 million annually.
• Expand PrintWise policy: Two entries noted that setting the default printing settings to ‘double-sided’ will save money on paper and reduce GSA’s impact on the environment. As a result, GSA will roll out this policy agency-wide, and could realize a savings of $2.7 million.
• Implement External Great Ideas: GSA received so many helpful ideas through this campaign internally, that three employees suggested the agency create an external website to allow federal partners and vendors to share ideas and feedback on how GSA can better manage our offerings.

The Great Ideas Hunt began May 31 and ended July 6. In addition to these five ideas, the agency is reviewing and researching 40 other ideas submitted through the program, and expects to implement them on a rolling basis.

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) www.GSA.gov

August 22, 2012

Userful to Demo Ultra-Low-Cost School Computing Solution at BETT 2012

http://userful.com/press/bett-multiseat-linux

Userful, "the world leader in Linux desktop virtualization", will be demonstrating the next generation of their Userful MultiSeat™ solution which turns one Linux computer into multiple high performance independent computer stations using the HP t200 thin client device, a multiseat device that can be connected either via USB or Ethernet using Userful's software. Userful MultiSeat enables schools to deploy more than twice as many computers for the same cost, while enabling multiple users to use different applications at the same time from one host computer, each with their own monitor, keyboard, and mouse. The new product truly redefines the cost of a full featured high performance computer.

Userful MultiSeat enables schools to quickly deploy large numbers of computer stations for a very low cost, whether in the classroom, computer lab, or school library. It is easy to set up, use and maintain, and provides teachers with the tools they need to give their students a high quality computer-based education. It dramatically reduces electricity use, paying for the computers in power savings alone in 4 years or less, and reduces environmental heat, noise and pollution at the same time. It also reduces infrastructure costs, by requiring fewer cables and fewer electrical outlets, and enables schools to reinvest by starting new computer labs with the computers recovered as a result of a MultiSeat computing upgrade.

"Userful is shaping the future of economically and environmentally sustainable educational computing," said Tim Griffin, President of Userful. "We've already done the world's largest ever desktop virtualization deployment, and one of the largest digital inclusion initiatives in the world. Userful is the perfect solution for anyone who wants the benefits of desktop virtualization, without the price tag."

More than 50,000 schools worldwide are already using Userful MultiSeat to provide millions of students with computer access. Userful has proven to be the computer solution of choice for governments with digital inclusion mandates to provide school age children with computer access, on limited budgets. Countries such as Brazil, who have already successfully deployed over 500,000 Userful computer stations to schools in every municipality, have shown that with the combined cost savings of Userful MultiSeat, Linux, and open source software, it is feasible to provide every student with a comprehensive education using computers, regardless of whether they live in a city or a remote indigenous village with little infrastructure. The Brazilian Ministry of Education has reported saving 60% in up-front costs, and 80% in annual power savings as compared to their previous PC-per-station solutions.

Userful MultiSeat Linux allows each student to individually control their own computer station and applications. To the students, it seems like they each have their own dedicated computer. In reality they are all sharing the resources of a single host computer. It's high performance, and set up is Plug-And-Play. Ten students can engage in multiple activities such as watching a full-screen video, exploring Google Earth, conducting research on the internet or using a word processor. It is easy to add new computer stations and teachers can easily expand the number of stations in their lab or classroom in minutes. Since it's Linux based, hundreds of educational software applications are available at no charge, including classroom computer management software for teachers. Teachers also don't need to worry about downtime. In the event that a host computer fails, teachers can simply move (hot-swap) the station cable to one of the other computers in the lab/classroom and the students can resume working.

Every ministry of education worldwide is eligible for a free 90 day pilot so that educators can easily experience first hand the high performance, and ease of use of the solution.

To arrange a demo, meeting, or interview at BETT, please e-mail karl@userful.com, or phone +1.403.289.2177 x218

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
For more information, visit http://userful.com/products/userful-multiseat-linux

For more information on the HP t200 multiseat device, visit: HP t200 Product Information
http://userful.com/press/bett-multiseat-linux
Press Release dated January 3, 2011