Page 255 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building
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SUSTAINABLE BROKERAGE 233
other deals that could potentially be green. The pace of diffusion of green practices,
the speed with which green gains market acceptance, can to a large degree be
affected by the work of brokers.
It has taken our brokerage division a long time to arrive at these fundamentals. In
many ways, we are still not there, but we are taking steps to re-define brokerage.
Sustainable brokerage plays a key role in the green movement that is rapidly becom-
ing mainstream in this country. In the following sections we discuss how our business
model for sustainable brokerage works, how it differs from traditional brokerage prac-
tices, how it has the capacity to be an agent for change toward green building practices,
and, finally, how it actually can be profitable.
Defining Sustainable Brokerage
To talk about how sustainable brokerage differs from traditional or conventional bro-
kerage, let’s remind ourselves what traditional brokerage is about. First and foremost,
traditional brokerage is about getting the deal done within the ethical and legal
framework of the real estate profession. Often that is a tall order, in and of itself.
Traditional brokerage is most often focused on a single bottom line—making the
commission. It rewards the highest producers—the ones who sell the highest dollar
volume and secure the largest commissions. Future success (high dollars, high vol-
ume) is predicated on similar past success. A quick survey of real estate business
cards tells you this is so. Production is the top priority. Success is measured in dol-
lars. Traditional real estate companies stress the importance of their agents and bro-
kers belonging to professional organizations, a source of individual status and
networking potential.
Community service, or whether the particular deal serves the interests of the com-
munity, is generally not a priority. Traditional brokerage serves the interests of bro-
kers and brokerage clients, but doesn’t typically consider the greater consequences a
deal might have once it is accomplished. Traditional brokerage doesn’t ask questions
like: How might the development of this site impact the surrounding natural envi-
ronment? How might the development of this site create good jobs or provide needed
services for area residents? How much energy, water, and materials will the buildings
that are built here consume? How much carbon dioxide will those buildings emit?
What would it be like to work in this building? Could you ride public transportation
or walk to this building? How will this transaction impact the community in the
future?
Sustainable brokerage asks all of these questions and then some. Sustainable bro-
kerage looks beyond the immediate impact of a deal (closing the sale, satisfying the
client, making the commission) and considers the deal in a triple bottom line con-
text. We work with our clients to create deals that are good for business, good for
the communities where properties are located, and good for the natural environment.