Has the Price of Going Green Really Dropped? Some Hoteliers See Red

http://nreionline.com/brokernews/greenbuildingnews/news/price_green_hoteliers_red_0314/

According to Denise Kalette, writing for the National Real Estate Investor http://nreionline.com

The sticker shock for going green is becoming easier to bear, according to some panelists at the Hunter Hotel Conference held last week in Atlanta. But not everyone agrees.
...
At the same time, the reasons for meeting the standards are becoming more urgent: properties that don’t meet sustainable levels are likely to suffer lower occupancy rates and resale prices.

“I think the premium on the cost side is shrinking or completely disappearing,” said Marty Collins, president and CEO of Gatehouse Capital Corp., a real estate investment and development firm based in Dallas. Gatehouse has developed hotels primarily in California and Texas, such as the W Hotel & Residences in Hollywood, with 300 rooms, apartments and retail space.

“We thought there would be maybe $1 million of additional cost to build this thing LEED. It cost $250,000 to $500,000 more to build a $680 million project,” to LEED standards, said Collins. His company just finished another project, he said, and the cost for sustainable development wasn’t a factor. “I don’t think we paid a dime.”

However, even if green materials and construction costs have dropped, the price of hiring a consultant to meet certification standards remains high, some hoteliers complain.

Gene Singleton, president of Summit Associates LLC of Raleigh. N.C., a hotel developer, said that when his company built a $24 million project, it spent $240,000 on green measures before deciding to go with a LEED program.
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Although green buildings may attract higher occupancy, a sustainable standard may not necessarily command higher rents. “I think you get absolutely no rate premium for it,” says Collins. “I think you may get some occupancy premium.
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Energy saving design and practices can bring financial rewards, some panelists pointed out. “We’ve seen operating savings up to 30% in properties that have achieved LEED certification,” said Faith Taylor, vice president of sustainability and innovation at Wyndham Worldwide, based in Parsippany, N.J.

Research has shown a correlation between green programs and higher guest satisfaction, says Taylor. Sustainability features can factor into deals, she adds, because many investors now track the carbon footprint and emissions data of properties that interest them, and weigh the data in their property valuations.

However, hotel guests are not willing to pay more for a room with green features, says Taylor. Still, given a choice between two hotels, including one with a sustainable design, they will choose the one with environmental elements, she notes.

And the costs are moderating. An initial investment can now be recouped in a shorter amount of time than in the past, says Singleton. “We’ve got it down to a three-year payback instead of five-year.”
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Despite the cost issues, green design and standards may be inevitable.
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Design engineers and architects will shortly need to be LEED-qualified “or they’re just not going to be in that business,” says Collins. “We will not be having this discussion in three years. You’re going to be in this LEED business regardless.”

By Denise Kalette, NREI Managing Editor
National Real Estate Investor http://nreionline.com
March 14, 2011
FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://nreionline.com/brokernews/greenbuildingnews/news/price_green_hoteliers_red_0314/

Measuring the social rate of return to R&D in coal, petroleum and nuclear manufacturing: A study of the OECD countries

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.02.048

Abstract: This paper estimates the social rate of return to research and development (R&D) in the energy manufacturing industry. Our model tries to quantify the positive contribution that lagged R&D has on total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the manufacturing of coal, petroleum products and nuclear fuel for a number of OECD countries. Using a panel of data from the OECD STAN database we are able to obtain results suggesting that R&D has a positive and significant rate of return that varies for each country.

Research highlights:
► The social rate of return to R&D are positive and significant for most countries.
► The US and the UK have low rates of return.
► Italy and Germany have the highest rates of return.

by David Corderi and C.-Y. Cynthia Lin; both of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States; Tel.: +1 530 752 0824, Tel.: +1 530 400 1023.

A full free version of the paper available at http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/Lin/Corderi_Lin_STAN.pdf notes:

The United States and United Kingdom, the two leaders in terms of R&D spending and size of the energy sector, have low rates of return 5.4 and 3.2 percent respectively. We suggest two possible reasons for this fact. First, these countries are the leaders in the sense that they are closer to the technological frontier; hence we should expect a lower return given that these countries may be experiencing diminishing returns to R&D. Second, these countries may also generate significant international spillovers through trade-related technological diffusion which is not captured in their own estimation of social rate of return at the country level; as we argued before, this type of spillovers are not measured in our exercise.

France has a rate of return of 5.8 percent. Being the third largest country in terms of industry size and the fourth largest R&D spending country, an argument similar to the United States may apply in this case. Belgium and Canada have also low rates of return, 3.8 and 2.9 percent respectively.

Italy and Germany have the highest rates of return of the sample studied, 26 and 18 percent respectively. While these countries are comparatively in the low and mid ranges of R&D expenditures and industry size, it is possible that they are benefiting from international spillovers from countries such as United States or the United Kingdom.

Korea has a rate of return of 8.7 percent. This country is the fifth country in R&D expenditures and has the smallest size of the industry in the sample. The Nordic countries which have relatively small industry size present rates of return of 7.9 percent (Sweden) and 10 percent (Finland).

Energy Policy via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Article in Press, Corrected Proof ; Available online March 10, 2011.
Keywords: Social rate of return to R&D; Energy; R&D

Quality-of-Life, Psychological, and Cost Outcomes 2 Years After Diagnosis of Occupational Asthma

http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0b013e31820d1338

Abstract:
Objective: To examine the association between clinical and socioeconomic variables and their influence on psychological and cost outcomes in patients with occupational asthma (OA).
Methods: Longitudinal study of 60 subjects who claimed compensation for OA in Quebec. Besides clinical markers of asthma, quality of life (QOL), psychological distress (PD) measures, and an instrument to diagnose mental disorders were used.
Results: The QOL and PD parameters had moderate correlations with clinical markers of OA. Asthma severity, employment, marital status, income, and the length of employment with the employer showed the strongest associations with QOL and PD. More-impaired QOL was associated with higher direct costs for compensation. Conclusion: Impaired QOL and PD are frequent among subjects with OA receiving compensation and are associated with clinical markers of OA and socioeconomic factors

by David Miedinger, MD; Kim Lavoie, PhD; Jocelyne L’Archevêque, MT; Heberto Ghezzo, PhD; Maria Victoria Zunzunuegui, PhD; and Jean-Luc Malo, MD
Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine
Volume 53, Issue 3; March, 2011; pages 231–238 

Law on Light Bulb Efficiency Angers Conservatives - Give Up Familiar Light Bulb? Not Without Fight, Some Say - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/business/energy-environment/12bulb.html

According to Edward Wyatt writing in the March 11, 2011 New York Times:American protests against the encroachment of government have been spurred by many causes — tea, of course, and guns, frequently. The latest catalyst: light bulbs.

A 2007 bill, passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush, will make the familiar incandescent bulb subject to strict efficiency standards next year.

The effect will be to make current 100-watt bulbs obsolete — and that has sent conservative lawmakers, libertarians, some environmental activists and owners of Easy-Bake Ovens into a frenzy of activity to get the law repealed or, at least, to stockpile the bulbs before they disappear from store shelves.

The law does not outlaw incandescent bulbs or dictate that consumers must use ... compact fluorescent lights.... Rather, it sets standards for the amount of light emitted per watt of power used. Current 100-watt bulbs must become 25 percent more efficient, and makers are designing new bulbs.

To Representative Joe Barton, the Texas Republican who has sponsored a bill to reverse the new guidelines, that nevertheless means Congress is dictating what types of light Americans can use in their homes. 
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Opponents of the regulations say the fluorescent bulbs are too expensive, flicker annoyingly and are health hazards because they contain mercury.

While they are not unanimous on the issue, some environmental activists counter that by saying the mercury in a single fluorescent bulb is less than what some power plants throw into the atmosphere while generating the electricity it takes to light one incandescent bulb.
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Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who introduced a bill to repeal the light bulb law in 2008 and again this year, talked about the issue,... Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said not only did he resent the light bulb standards but he also blamed the government for poorly working toilets in his house because of the regulations on how much water they should use.

... Last fall, General Electric closed its last major United States plant producing the old-style incandescent bulbs, in Winchester, Va.

Nearly all compact fluorescent bulbs are made in Asia, although some United States manufacturers are retooling former factories to make other energy-efficient bulbs.

Several companies in the United States are working on light-emitting diode, or LED, bulbs, and on energy-efficient halogen incandescent bulbs....

... Kathleen Hogan, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency at the department, told a Senate committee this week that by meeting the new lighting standards, consumers could save nearly $6 billion in 2015.

A household that upgrades 15 current incandescent bulbs could save about $50 a year, Ms. Hogan said, even after accounting for the higher cost of the fluorescent bulbs, which average above $1 each, versus about 35 cents for incandescent.

Halogen incandescent bulbs now cost about $1.50 each, and LED bulbs, which have only begun to be introduced, can cost $20 or more each, though they can last 10 years or more. Three-way bulbs, appliance bulbs and a few other specialty products are excluded from the new standards.
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The Environmental Protection Agency issues detailed instructions on how to clean up a broken fluorescent bulb because of the potential for spilling mercury. Each bulb contains about four milligrams of mercury, compared with 500 milligrams in old-style glass thermometers.
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The E.P.A. recommends recycling used fluorescent bulbs rather than disposing of them in household garbage.
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by Edward Wyatt
The New York Times www.NYTimes.com
March 11, 2011 
FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/business/energy-environment/12bulb.html

AT&T Implemented 4,200 Energy Efficiency Projects in 2010 Resulting in an Annualized Energy Savings of $44 Million

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=19259&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=31659
 
On March 3, 2011 AT&T announced that it realized $44 million in annualized energy savings as a result of implementing 4,200 energy efficiency projects at AT&T facilities in 2010. Examples of the energy efficiency projects include:

1. Replaced tower light controllers and incandescent bulbs with LEDs at over 1,100 cell sites.
2. As part of ongoing network upgrades, removed switches at 11 central office sites in 2010, thus cutting power consumption across the network by more than 300,000 kilowatt hours.
3. Deployed desktop power management software on 169,000 computers generating a total estimated annualized savings of $614,000.

This past year AT&T launched a comprehensive online energy management training program for AT&T corporate real estate managers. In 2008, AT&T established an energy intensity metric based on kWh per terabyte of data carried on their network and set a goal for 2009 to reduce that intensity by 15 percent. In 2009, AT&T achieved a 23.8 percent decrease in energy intensity using 498 kWh per terabyte of data carried on their network. For 2010, AT&T set a goal to further reduce energy intensity by an additional 15 percent as compared with 2009’s KWh per terabyte of data figure.

Also in 2009 AT&T rolled out a comprehensive Energy Scorecard, which is used to grade energy performance at each of AT&T’s 500 top energy-consuming facilities. The Scorecard tracks data, sets goals and actually awards scores based on the real estate managers’ energy performance. AT&T real Estate managers identified many of the 4,200 energy related projects implemented over the last year.
...
In 2010, AT&T participated in the EDF Climate Corps program, an initiative launched by Environmental Defense Fund to help leading companies shave operational costs and reduce emissions by identifying large-scale energy efficiency opportunities. “AT&T is on the right path by aggressively exploring ways to reduce energy consumption,” said Victoria Mills of EDF. “Through our Climate Corps program, we were able to help AT&T identify a potential savings of 80% in electricity usage associated with lighting use across more than 100 million square feet of space. This underscores that a compelling business case for energy efficiency can be made at any company.'

AT&T ... was recently added to Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s 12th Annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List. AT&T was also included in the 2010 Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI) and in Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) 2010 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI.) Visit www.att.com/csr and www.att.com/sustainability to learn more about sustainability at AT&T. Also visit www.att.com/csr to download the AT&T’s Citizenship & Sustainability Reports.

AT&T www.att.com
Press Release dated March 03, 2011
Via/Hat Tip Environmental News Network www.enn.com  and Triple Pundit www.TriplePundit.com

Combining ecological and recreational aspects in national park management: A choice experiment application

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.02.006

Abstract: Increasing pressure to diversify development of national parks emphasizes the need for new and relevant information for park management decisions. In this paper, we use choice experiment to value different tradeoffs that evolved in park development scenarios. Specifically, we examine which kind of development profiles are worth considering and which paths not to follow. We focus on biodiversity and recreational services provided by Oulanka National Park in Finland, which represents a popular recreation site attracting a large number of visitors. The increase of biodiversity was the most highly valued feature by the respondent national park visitors. Thus, our results show that the protection of biodiversity and recreational and tourism use of national parks can cause conflicting welfare effects if managed in inappropriate ways. Increasing the number of visitors, expanding present resting places, constructing new resting places and an intense increase in information boards, especially if combined with shrinking biodiversity, are welfare reducing managerial actions in national parks.

Research Highlights
► We use choice experiment to value tradeoffs in national park development. 
► We calculate visitors' willingness-to-pay values of different attributes.
► We show that national park development can cause conflicting welfare effects. 
► We found clear taste variation between domestic and foreign visitors.

by Artti Juutinen^{a, b, c} , Yohei Mitani^d , Erkki Mäntymaa^c , Yasushi Shoji^e, Pirkko Siikamäki^{f, 1}  and Rauli Svento^a 

^a Department of Economics and Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics, P.O. Box 4600, FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Finland; Tel.: +358 8 5532911; fax: +358 8 553 2906.
^b Thule Institute, P.O. Box 7300, FIN-90014, University of Oulu, Finland
^c Finnish Forest Research Institute, P.O. Box 16, FIN-96301 Rovaniemi, Finland
^d UMB School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway
^e Laboratory of Forest Policy, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University Kita 9 Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8589, Japan
^f Oulanka Research Station, Thule-institute, University of Oulu, Liikasenvaarantie 134, FIN-93999, Kuusamo, Finland

Ecological Economics via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Article in Press, Corrected Proof ,  Available online March 9, 2011