While an EE retrofit project may seem an unlikely candidate to benefit from publicity, during a time of great change and upheaval the most powerful force will be public support and interest.
From the time that the first GSHR Yeti retrofit is in the planning stages, after a building is acquired, the press, the public sector and, ultimately, the public will be encouraged join in the process and view the progress – ideally building towards a string of successful, showcase “triple-wins”.
Outside the Box & Public Engagement
Amazing outcomes are possible when the public imagination is enflamed. Many of the greatest positive steps forward in the sustainable energy transition have come about due to a product or technological innovation having captured the contemporary zeitgeist.
High-Performance Retrofits: A Sensual Solution To Satisfy Your Limbic System
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While commercial office buildings languish and spiral downward in a "doom loop", the opportunity for office to residential conversions - coupled with EE retrofits, is an idea that is building momentum.
The beauty of a necessary overhaul of MEP and internal structures opens the door for a cost effective efficiency upgrade, partially financed by the necessary conversion construction needed to bring it up to residential code. A GSHR retrofit plus conversion could be a top performing category in the years to come.
Office Adaptive Reuse Study
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The Looming Conversion Retrofit Landscape
“We are in the early phases of this doom loop,” Van Nieuwerburgh said, noting his calculations suggest that property values have further to fall. The professor pointed to data indicating that office usage, lease revenues, and the number of new leases being signed remain well below pre-pandemic levels. Vacancy rates have also surged to their highest level in about four decades, he noted. “We haven’t seen a crash like this since at least the early 1980s,” he said, adding that lower-quality offices could drop in value by as much as 45% over time, and the overall office sector is set to suffer a $500 billion decline in value. Washington, D.C., last year approved a 20-year tax abatement for eligible commercial projects that convert to housing. New York City wants 20,000 new office-to-apartment conversions over the next decade, according to the mayor’s office. “
– Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, real estate and finance professor at Columbia Business School
