Page 264 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

242 CHAPTER 8

■ Internal Communication and Education. Serve as the primary source for dis-
seminating information on green business case studies, materials, and technologies;
■ External Communication and Education. Develop a set of toolboxes for distinct
real estate product types (office, retail, industrial, etc.) that enable brokers to edu-
cate clients and/or potential clients on sustainable practices;
■ Education/Advocacy/Business Development. Serve as the primary face of the
company or division for pitching sustainable services to potential clients;
■ Business Integration/Business Development. Serve as the primary link integrat-
ing brokerage services with other divisions of a real estate company (development,
construction, property management, consulting, etc.) or as the primary link between
a brokerage company and other companies that provide these services; and
■ Outreach and Advocacy. Serve as one of numerous individuals within the or-
ganization who promotes sustainable practices through speaking engagements;
involvement in civic task forces related to planning, promotion of sustainable poli-
cies and legislation, etc.

This list is not exhaustive, but it does provide a general flavor for the broad range of
responsibilities that need attention. Someone needs to keep abreast of the almost daily
changing landscape of green development. Someone needs to disseminate that infor-
mation to others within the organization as well as provide a process for leveraging
that information for business development. And so on. No wonder our original expec-
tation of having the brokers themselves take responsibility for these tasks fell flat. It’s
simply a full-time job.

DEVELOPING A TOOLBOX
OF INFORMATION
Think about it for a moment from a broker’s perspective. You have a number of list-
ings that you are diligent about servicing. Perhaps you’re a tenant rep broker search-
ing for locations in a broad geographical area. Meanwhile, you are working on adding
some listings, partly through working a known database of potential clients, partly via
cold calling. Deals in motion, potential deal listings you’d like to nail down, deal flow
to feed the pipeline down the road. And now, in the midst of all of this, you are think-
ing: How do I do all of this and pitch developing green to my clients and potential
clients? Clients will want to know: What does sustainability mean? What does it do
for me? Can you prove these claims? Where else has this worked successfully? Do I
need to change how I operate or how my brand looks and feels in order to be green?
Will it cost more? A broker needs a toolbox of case studies and metrics that will ease
a client’s natural disinclination for doing business differently than he or she has done
in the past.
Commercial real estate trade organizations such as Society of Industrial and Office
Realtors (SIOR), Certified Commercial Investment Managers (CCIM), and Realtors
Commercial Alliance (RCA) are realizing it is a matter of when, not if, sustainable