Focus Green

Earth Day all year at Alliance

By Leah Etling on Apr 22, 2013 in People

Today, April 22, is Earth Day. Alliance Residential Company is among the Yardi multifamily clients that will mark the occasion: A tree will be planted at almost every Alliance community this week, except those that are in exceptionally urban environments or have special circumstances.

“The goal is to plant a tree at the majority of our Alliance communities,” said Kelly Vickers, Alliance’s National Director of Sustainability. “Trees do so much for the environment: filtering air pollution, reducing soil erosion, creating shade, helping recycle water.”

Alliance’s facility directors, who oversee 257 apartment communities across 13 states, worked with the companies’ regional landscaping vendors to coordinate the selection of appropriate local native trees, which will find new homes in the ground at each community site.

The properties that can’t plant trees are helping out in a different way, such as supporting the Nature Conservancy’s “Plant a Billion Trees” campaign, which is working to preserve Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, an endangered tropical forest, and entails planting a billion trees by 2015. Each $1 donated equals one tree planted, and Alliance communities are encouraging their residents to support the cause.

Broadening awareness about the benefits of sustainable living is just one aspect of Alliance’s Focus Green campaign, which was formally launched in 2012. Earth Day comes and goes in a flash. With Focus Green, Vickers and Alliance have developed a set of comprehensive principles to help guide the company toward a greener future. This year, the program will expand into action items that touch development, operations, training and administration.

“The program has two overarching goals. The first is to reduce the consumption of energy and natural resources at our communities and our offices. The second is to educate, promote and support our associates’, residents’ and owners’ participation in more sustainable lifestyles and operations,” said Vickers, who holds a MBA in sustainable enterprise from Dominican University in Northern California and created the foundation of the Alliance program while working on her GreenMBA degree.

To guide the Focus Green effort and produce tangible results, specific foci of the program include:

-Improving indoor air quality at Alliance buildings by use of Zero-VOC paints with Zero-VOC colorants, and greener cleaning products.
-Use energy efficient lighting and appliances, low-flow faucets, toilets, shower heads and native, drought-tolerant landscaping.
-Work toward higher energy efficiency and water conservation at offices and properties.
-During development, plan along green building guidelines and achieve national and local standards like LEED and NAHB Green, and Build It Green (California).
-Educate and train employees in sustainable living and business operations, using video training, marketing materials, social media, and more. Trained site staff can then share their -knowledge with community residents.
-Provide onsite recycling programs across all properties and markets. Encourage use of recyclable building materials during development.
-Include environmentally conscious amenities like electric vehicle charging stations, shared gardens, on-site composting, bike repair stations and more in new project development, and add them to existing communities where appropriate.
-Promote community walkability.

Now that the Focus Green standards have been clearly expressed and communicated companywide, Vickers told us that the next step is to more closely align sustainability efforts between Alliance’s development and operations divisions.

“We have a strong focus on pursuing more green certifications such as LEED, NAAHB Green, and local programs. Our development teams are pushing forward and pursuing sustainable building practices.”

Generation Y/Millennial renters are especially conscious of green living options, and seek them out when making decisions about where to rent. Beyond items of practical value that are useful every day – like a walkable urban location for a community or an electric vehicle charging station – an overall focus on sustainability also adds value for savvy renters, who seek out conscience-focused corporations.

“It may be more difficult to place a direct value on it, but that really resonates with the eco conscious renter because it’s aligned with their own personal values. That can help set you apart from the competition,” Vickers said.

This Earth Day, what is your property management business doing to practice and promote eco-conscious living and green business?