This week, Olivia Millar discusses her role at Studley and how early site planning and green building help to save clients money.
As Director of Sustainability and Workplace Strategies, what do you do for Studley?
I work with brokerage teams across the country to help them evaluate the environmental attributes of sites and buildings that their clients are looking to move into or develop on. Some of the areas we evaluate include a building's outdoor air intake, air filtration, roof materials, recycling programs, green cleaning practices, bike storage availability, and proximity to public transportation. I also serve as the company's chief spokesperson for LEED initiatives and act as primary LEED resource for Studley clients nationwide.
As clients go through the process of negotiating a lease or purchase agreement, I also work with them to identify areas in those contracts where they can maximize environmental efficiencies. To date, Studley has worked with clients on the development of more than six million square feet of LEED certified space.
Are there any projects that you can talk about as examples?
Studley has worked on projects in nearly all commercial product types: office buildings, administrative campuses, biomedical, retail, industrial, etc. We have also worked on tenant improvement projects. Some of our recent projects include the U.S. Census Bureau, American Trucking Association, SEIU and Conservation International.
Conservation International is a good example of a client that obviously has a strong environmental sensibility. However, we've also worked with the American Trucking Association. You might think that they would be less likely to seek out our services, but they actually value sustainability as an important corporate goal. There are a lot more people are talking about sustainability today than there were even 12 months ago.
When I was working on the architecture side—which is what my background is—I found that it was best when brokers brought me in before the lease was finalized, and ideally during site selection. There are a dozen LEED credits that a broker can have influence over for the LEED-CI (Commercial Interiors) rating system, many of which are the least expensive credits to achieve. The projects where those environmental considerations were a part of the negotiations early on were projects that were completed on or close to budget. We actually helped clients save money by ensuring that we factored environmental issues into the building-selection process.
What is the process that a client would need to go through when they approach Studley?
Prior to the start of any project, we conduct a Sustainable Goals Assessment. This ensures that all environmental objectives are considered and protected during site selection as well as during the negotiation of a lease or acquisition agreement. It's important for us to understand what our clients' priorities are in order to align their real estate with their vision and values. After that, Studley mobilizes an experienced "green team" that works with the client from start to finish to ensure that all of their sustainable goals are met.
One of my roles is to help clients evaluate the buildings based on what credits they're looking to achieve and how much it will cost to achieve them. I also work with the brokerage team to include language in the lease that protects the client and the client's sustainable goals.
Any final thoughts?
Studley's decision to create a Sustainable Real Estate Practice comes after years of working on sustainable real estate assignments for both interior and base-building LEED projects. Tenants today must be armed with LEED accredited real estate professionals in the earliest stages of their projects to ensure an efficient and successful LEED certification process.
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