IREM NY teams up with EPA and NYC to host two webinars

The Greater New York Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management, in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency and the City of New York, will host two webinars for both commercial and multifamily property managers. The webinars will be conducted by Aly Quarforth, program manager of Energy Star. Hilary Beber, policy analyst of the New York City mayor's office of long term planning and sustainability, will answer all questions specific to New York City's regulations. Webinar attendees will learn how to use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to benchmark the energy performance of their respective properties. "We know that environmental leadership adds value to both the bottom line and to reputation. For decades, IREM has been at the forefront of property management. Now we are taking the lead in educating NYC property managers so they can easily and readily be prepared to meet the legislative requirements as set forth by the city. These webinars allow us to provide the necessary instruction and information conveniently and at no charge to property managers," said IREM webinar coordinator Jennifer Jones, CPM. Multifamily Benchmarking with EPA's Portfolio Manager will be held on Thursday, June 10, at 1 p.m. Commercial Real Estate Benchmarking with EPA's Portfolio Manager will be held on Thursday, June 17, 1 p.m. New laws passed in New York City as part of the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan require public and private buildings in NYC to track energy consumption using EPA's Portfolio Manager. Residential buildings must benchmark annually starting May 1, 2011 and performance metrics reported by the owner to the city will be published by the city on a publicly available online database starting in 2013. The residential session will be taught in context with NYC legislation. Presenters will cover topics such as creating a user account; identifying data requirements; managing and sharing information; establishing an energy use intensity indicator; benefits of improved energy performance and additional tools and resources. On the commercial side, private buildings more than 50,000 s/f will be required to benchmark annually starting May 1, 2011 and performance metrics reported by the owner to the City will be published by the City on a publicly available online database starting in 2012. Participants in the commercial session will learn how to use EPA's energy performance rating system within Portfolio Manager to benchmark the energy performance of office space; they will learn how to collect and input relevant energy consumption data and how to interpret the Energy Performance Rating used to compare energy performance against a national building stock and within their own portfolio and how top performers can apply for the prestigious ENERGY STAR label. Both webinars are being offered at no charge and are open to the public. Pre-registration is required. Visit https://energystar.webex.com for more information or to pre-register.