Two ex-Massey Knakal brokers have found new careers in the green building industry. Ken Hillman left Massey Knakal recently to become the director of business development for GreenStreet Corp., a green construction and consulting firm with offices in the Tri-State area.
Hillman said green construction is fast becoming part of the future of real estate because more buildings are seeking LEED certification, and building codes are in the process of adopting green standards.
In Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s state of the city address last month, he talked about working with the City Council to develop “the nation’s first law to require existing private sector buildings to improve their energy efficiency.” He also discussed creating jobs in green construction. Both were part of his plan to reduce the city’s carbon footprint 30 percent by 2017.
Reducing a building’s carbon footprint may sound nice to landlords, but what can really convince them to go green, especially in this economic climate, is how much money they can save by doing so, according to Ted Houvouras.
Houvouras left Massey Knakal in November to become the metro New York managing director of the Management Group (TMG), a company that installs temperature regulation systems in hotels, hospitals, universities and other buildings. TMG recently installed the system in the Soho Grand hotel.
The system automatically adjusts a room’s temperature if it’s occupied. During the winter, if a hotel room is sitting empty, as many in New York City are these days, the heating temperature is automatically lowered.
“We save building owners up to 43 percent on their energy expenses,” Houvouras said. “Owners are extremely conscious of cutting costs right now.”