The Green Frontier

What sustainability really means has evolved drastically in the past five years, say Vornado corproate sustainability SVP Suki Paciorek (left) and Related sustainability VP Charlotte Matthews (second from right), whom we snapped last night with EZBuildingEHS CEO Amelia Janisz and GSA Public Buildings Service chief greening officer Eleni Reed. Charlotte started out with Related in '08, making sure all its projects are at least LEED Silver, then got into the company's operations (like procurement for paper and cleaning products). Now, she's working on infrastructure for the 17M SF Hudson Yards and is at the table with City Code drafters, the USGBC, and other regulators mapping what sustainability will look like in the coming years.

Suki similarly was examining Vornado's own operations when she joined in '08. Now, she also works with the REIT's investors as the company brings every building in its 100M SF portfolio up to LEED-EB. (She's at 31M SF now.) To keep each building's retrofit line items from being cut from budgets every year, she had Vornado create a capital fund for her department, cycling properties in and out as needed. For all the efficiency info knocking around in their heads, these women, who were speaking at NYCREW's Women Greening NYC event at Ted Moudis Associates' office, don't go to the extreme away from work. Charlotte says she learned from her vegan stage that "you can't be a proselytizer." However, if you keep the water running while doing the dishes...