With the rapid development of the green building movement and the integration of tech solutions into all sectors of real estate, we are currently witnessing the rebirth of the modern workplace. White walls and blunt office spaces have been replaced with nurturing environments focused on sustainability, livability and cost-efficiency. Architects, designers and developers are working hand in hand to promote environmentally-responsible construction and have begun delivering innovative products that reshape the way we perceive the world. Spectacular roof gardens, green walls, natural ventilation systems, solar panels and soothing recreation areas have become regular components of the new-generation workplace. On the same note, major employers around the globe are trying to define the right mix of features to drive both people and asset productivity. Beyond social responsibility and ethical considerations, there are many pragmatic reasons why incorporating sustainable practices into a business is a good idea. Investing in green enhancements can produce measurable financial gains such as increased property value and rental rates, decreased operating costs, reduced risk of depreciation and higher attraction and retention rates. Dallas-based Gaedeke Group is strongly dedicated to reducing carbon footprint and has been aggressively pursuing LEED certification portfolio-wide. Gaedeke’s Regency Plaza (pictured, right), a 16-story multi-tenant office building in Uptown Dallas, has achieved LEED Silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Existing Buildings program. Among several features promoting sustainable construction and design, the facility earned exemplary performance points for a solid waste management program for durable goods. High tenant participation in Gaedeke’s year-round e-waste recycling days for computers, phones and other electronic devices yielded high scores as did changes to plumbing fixtures, which resulted in a 42% savings in annual usage. Along environmental concerns, the need for digital and more user-friendly technology dictates many of the...

Green design features are here to stay. And as they become more ubiquitous in the multifamily development landscape, expectations for innovation just keep on growing.  A team of Los Angeles architects is among those encouraging drastic changes to apartment buildings, and they’ve focused their efforts on windows. B+U Architects initiated the Animated Apertures Housing Tower in Lima, Peru to depict technology and nature working together in multifamily housing. Instead of adhering to the norm of traditional American architecture, the team opted to design a rental community that champions incongruence, asymmetry, and organic curves. B+U substituted the rigid angles and smooth planes of traditional buildings with rounded edges and textured surfaces. While the building itself is undoubtedly eye-catching, the windows are the architects’ pride and joy. Designers aimed to break down a window into its most basic component, a transition between the interior and exterior of a building. B+U then created a space that blends the characteristics of a window, balcony, and plaza into one: the fiberglass apertures provide residents with a clear view to the outside while bathing the housing units in natural light. These pod-shaped openings also serve as inhabitable spaces that blur the divide between indoors and outside. Read more of this story on Green Apartment Design at...

The concept of sustainable design is taking significant steps forward, according to one expert, but it still has a way to go. While efforts are expanding into the planning stages and incorporating operations and asset management as well, hard data evidence of results are still missing, affirms Tom Paladino, founder of consulting firm Paladino and Co. Without that data, most developers are treating new-construction efforts on a one-off basis rather than taking a more programmatic approach to sustainable construction. Certification programs are both proliferating and expanding, offering more options to put an official seal of approval on local materials, efficiency measures and other improvements. And research is picking up, too, for instance through the Greenprint Foundation, which is collecting data from a growing number of companies to track carbon emissions, with some very lofty goals for the industry at large. But those efforts are focused on cleaning up the environment, Paladino notes, who was instrumental in developing the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program, directed its pilot program and has been technical editor and author of the version 4 reference guides. While environmental improvements are certainly a worthwhile pursuit, nobody is really studying property performance to determine the best business results. For instance, while the industry can measure a leasable area, opinions differ on specifics that combine to create a daylit building that contributes to productivity gain—let alone can they precisely measure what that productivity gain is. The result is that only a few developers are approaching application of sustainable design in multiple projects systematically, with business performance goals in mind. Expansion of the sustainability team might help further those tracking efforts. While there are 200,000 LEED APs out in the market now, there are few other types...