Real Estate Wire/Green Trends News Wire

By Mike Bonts Sustainability has long been a pressing issue on the minds of many socially conscious consumers and business owners alike, and for good reason – the planet’s ecosystem depends on it. For vital industries like construction and manufacturing, the need to recognize and act upon the vast importance of sustainability is not only a sensible business decision but also a duty to the natural world. The circular economy is an effective process adopted by many in an effort to improve overall sustainability, and for immensely popular and critically important materials like steel, it may even be a necessity in maximizing resources and minimizing carbon footprints. How exactly does this make a difference in terms of the future of sustainable production, and why should you be concerned? Whether or not you happen to be in the industry yourself, it is important to understand what exactly is being done to reduce the negative impact of manufacturing and construction on the environment, as y...

By Bill Donahue At first, it seemed as though nothing could go wrong.  Dockless shared electric scooters began showing up on the streets of the world’s cities in 2017, and the vanguard — techies, baristas, twentysomething daredevils — hopped on and rode, confident that they were tilting against two looming threats, urban congestion and climate change.  The future of scootering seemed so bright that the valuation of the largest manufacturer, Bird, went from $300 million in March, 2018, to $2 billion three months later, an astronomical leap, even by Silicon Valley standards. But Bird’s earliest scooters were so flimsy that, in one 2018 study, their average life span on the streets of Louisville, Kentucky, was just 28.8 days. (Bird disputes the study’s findings pointing to an investor presentation from 2022 claiming that the “half-life” of its earliest scooters was three to four months.) Reports of scooter battery fires and brake failures across scooter brands began hitting the n...

WASHINGTON – Regulation imposed by all levels of government accounts for an average of 40.6 percent of multifamily development costs, according to new research released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC). “The U.S. is facing a serious housing affordability crisis, in part, because of this overly burdensome regulatory environment,” said Doug Bibby, NMHC President. “We need to do all we can to lower the cost of housing, and that should start with eliminating duplicative and unnecessary regulations. Those extra costs make many projects financially unviable given that housing providers are already dealing with sky-high land, materials and labor costs.” ”This study clearly shows how burdensome regulations are exacerbating the nation’s housing affordability crisis and that officials at all levels of government need to make it a priority to reduce excessive regulatory costs to allow developers and builders to boost housing ...

  WASHINGTON —  New findings from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) show that the rate of year-over-year single-family construction growth in small and large metro urban, suburban and rural regional submarkets slowed in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same time period as last year, with notable deceleration in large suburban markets.  In contrast, multifamily growth in large population centers has rebounded from negative growth rates and posted sharp gains during the same time period. “As the year has progressed, we have seen signs of an increasing slowdown in the single-family market,” said NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter, a home builder and developer from Savannah, Ga. “Ongoing building material production bottlenecks have delayed or stalled home building projects, construction labor shortages are running near an all-time high of 400,000 workers and more recently the rapid runup in mortgage rates have all combined...

By Nancy Beecher ORLANDO -- Don't wait to enter Florida Realtors® annual Environmental Award program, or you may be green with ENVY when the winner is chosen. Popularly known as the "ENVY" award, the honor goes to a development that best preserves Florida's natural quality of life. The award may be given in two categories: one for residential development and one for commercial development. The most recent winner, Summit East Technology Park, a 117-acre commercial development in Tallahassee, was honored with Florida Realtors' 24th ENVY Award. Designed in harmony with Florida's natural resources, the project was recognized for demonstrating green building practices. Summit East Technology Park is located at the crossroads of Highway 90 and Interstate 10, two major traffic corridors in eastern Leon County, Fla.  The project's founder, Rick Kearney, was committed to building an ecologically friendly and "green" community, but he also wanted to creat...

By Mike Bonts JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The North Florida Green Chamber of Commerce announced its inaugural Green Drinks Summer Series beginning Thursday, June 16 at the Cobalt Moon Center and next door at Sliders Bar and Grill in Neptune Beach. “We are excited to launch this series in an informal summertime get-together for anyone interested in environmental issues and sustainability to connect in a fun and casual setting,” said Green Chamber Executive Director Christina Kelcourse Esq, CFP, CRPC. “We have a great topic and venue.” Following a presentation on Biomimicry at 4 p.m. at the Cobalt Moon Center, the event moves next door at 5 p.m. to Sliders Bar and Grill, Jacksonville’s first Ocean Friendly Restaurant, for the Green Drinks social. The Green Drinks Summer Series is scheduled for June 16, July 21, and August 25. Series topics will include using Biomimicry to create sustainable products, to design new business practices and using Biomimicry and Bio-utilization to clean up waste. In...

By Mike Bonts As the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) celebrates National Homeownership Month in June, builders are urging lawmakers to implement policies that will help address housing affordability, calling for a resolution on supply chain disruptions and the ending of Canadian lumber tariffs. Building materials prices are up 19.2% year-over-year and have risen 35.6% since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, tariffs on Canadian lumber shipments into the U.S. and production bottlenecks have fueled lumber price volatility which has added more than $18,600 to the price of a new home since last August. “The supply chain crisis and lumber tariffs in the housing industry are putting the American Dream of homeownership out of reach for families,” said NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter, a home builder and developer from Savannah, Ga. “Home builders need access to reasonably priced l...

ATLANTA - Georgia's sustainable building community at Southface's main campus on Thursday, June 23, for 2022 Summer Solstice Celebration. For more than 40 years, Southface Institute, a nonprofit 501(C)3 organization, has been a leader in the research, design and implementation of a regenerative economy, one that gives back more than it uses.  Southface works in collaboration with a network of partner nonprofits, businesses, government agencies, universities and technical experts to implement sustainable, high-performance and scalable solutions in homes, workplaces and communities Meet the new president, James Marlow, and enjoy food, drinks, prizes, entertainment, inspiration, and networking opportunities where you can truly shine. Founded by Dennis Creech and Jeff Tiller, Southface began as an all-volunteer organization promoting solar energy production around a celebration called Sun Day, May 3, 1978.  A small band of committed environmentalists continued to work together af...

By Irina Anghel and Eamon Farhat There’s never been a more dreamy way to have your coffee delivered than a sailboat across the Atlantic. A small number of specialty roasters in Europe are now offering beans that have been sailed — rather than shipped via fossil-fuel burning vessels — from South America. While they’re a rare luxury compared with standard bags of supermarket coffee, these wind-blown beans may inspire some imaginative ideas for finding and stamping out carbon emissions from your everyday life. Schooners like this one are being used to ship cargo with lower emissions. Source: Shipped by Sail Here’s a glimpse of the journey: Roasters buy the beans directly from growers in countries like Colombia before they’re stored in a warehouse and loaded onto a sailboat — destined for ports like Le Havre, France or Penzance, England. The crossing typically takes six weeks. The beans are then couriered to specialty roasters before ending up in espressos served in coffee shops or at home...