SUSTAINABILITY: ONUS ON THE OWNER

September 28, 2011 | 8:00 am ET Staff Reporter

This week?s Sustainability Summit moderator, Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer's Warren Snowdon, whom we snapped here with CBRE's Ben Rojahn, says it is incumbent on commercial property owners to recognize the value of going green. The higher costs pay off in the long run. (A penny spent on going green is a penny earned.) Warren noted SilverLanding, an M. David Properties' project now under way, as one of the few local industrial developments with green aspirations. Prospective tenants are initially put off by the added up-front costs, but there's payback with building efficiency, Warren tells us.

After the Big Show, we snapped Sustainability Summit panelists Cousins Properties' David Edwards; Bissell's Alicia Bickett; and Wells Fargo?s Curt Radkin. Curt says at the bank?s 900k SF multitenant home base uptown, all tenants are encouraged to go LEED certified. ?People looked at us like we were smoking dope,? Curt says. But the payoff is in reduced cost over time, he says. Alicia agrees. She's in charge of Bissell's interior construction. Some of her tenant requirements are under 10k SF. ?What sustainability means is an environment where people want to stay a long time,? Alicia says.