`1“We are a sustainability pioneer and leader in Milwaukee, and we were so pleased that our existing building project scored at the top of the Three Green Globes® rating scale,” says Anne White, development executive assistant at Wangard Partners. “Now, our Green Globes EB certification is helping us refinance the project through HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development).”
White has a long history helping buildings receive third-party sustainability certifications nationwide, and she found the Green Globes process to be comprehensive and quick. “I really enjoyed learning the ins and outs of the rating system and what it was like to work with the assessor,” White says. “Also, Green Globes requires about two weeks’ effort, versus a sixor eight-month process. When you are under a timeframe to refinance, that makes a world of difference.”
“Because of the way Green Globes operates, we were able to… complete the calculations on actual building performance.”
Avenir was built in 2015 and the mixed-use project contains 104 residential units above ground-floor retail and underground parking. Below its green roof, Avenir houses multiple environmentally friendly attributes:
- An underground stormwater cistern that holds rainwater and stormwater runoff.
- Close proximity to necessary services like medical needs, restaurants and shopping with alternate transportation and zip cars to attain a walk score of 93.
- Very little landscaping to conserve water.
- A sustainability policy with nine different goals to increase efficiency and productivity.
- Data from twelve months of electric and natural gas use tracked as an aggregate sum by the local utility provider for the retail, residential and common areas.
Establishing the Standard
To receive their Three Green Globes award, White completed an online questionnaire and uploaded Avenir’s information for the Assessor to review. “We have open and transparent operations at Wangard and I submitted every measure we implemented,” White recalls. “Because of the way Green Globes operates, we were able to do the work internally to describe our systems and procedures and complete the calculations on actual building performance.”
Then, White and Avenir’s Director of Maintenance Operations went on the walkthrough with the Green Globes Assessor, so he could obtain answers to outstanding questions and personally verify every item was in place. “Our assessor was great,” White says. “He was very knowledgeable and easy to work with.”
As part of receiving its award, the assessor sent the team a final report that included recommendations. “It was a good evaluation of the property that brought to light improvements we can include in our new multifamily developments, such as specifying bathroom fixtures that 1.28 gallon flush and including another chase in the building for recycling so tenants don’t have to carry recycling down to the garage,” White explains.
On a regular basis, Avenir’s staff communicates with residents about energy conservation, recycling, waste reduction, and the disposal of hazardous chemicals to keep the property operating in a sustainable manner.
“People are looking for green developments these days – it’s the industry standard now,” White notes. “They want to live in places that are efficient, have a low impact on the environment, are safe and healthy, and the Avenir offers them all these features.”
