Dave Bartlett, who leads IBM’s smarter building initiative, is known as the "building whisperer" because he views buildings as living organisms, an approach that can help identify problems and suggest cost-effective ways of making buildings healthier and more energy-efficient. With the success of the high-profile Empire State Building deep energy retrofit that is reportedly saving more on energy than projected, Bartlett sees a hot market for building retrofits over the next several years.
The cost of leased assets like buildings is increasingly the concern of finance chiefs, especially under accounting rules that make such assets more visible on the balance sheet—providing additional retrofit momentum. Those CFOs will push for smarter use of space, while more tenants demand greener work spaces, Bartlett says.
(http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/08/us-ibm-buildings-idUSBRE8470US20120508
More from Author
Drew Ballensky | Jan 14, 2014
D.C. Navy Yard building, site of mass shooting, will be renovated
A remembrance area and a new visitor's entrance will be among the changes when the Navy rebuilds Building 197 of the Washington Navy Yard, where a gunman killed 12 people and then was killed in a shooting spree in September 2013.
Drew Ballensky | Jan 6, 2014
Energy-efficiency retrofits can help reduce healthcare costs
Reducing energy consumption through energy-efficiency retrofits represents an underappreciated way to cut healthcare costs, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Drew Ballensky | Jan 2, 2014
West Hollywood drug den to be remade into boutique hotel
San Vicente Inn, a cluster of century-old historic bungalows, known as a haven for nudists and drug users, in West Hollywood, Calif., will be converted into a boutique hotel.
Drew Ballensky | Dec 27, 2013
U.S. Capitol dome’s cracks to be repaired during $60 million renovation
Rings of scaffolding will start to rise this spring around the cast-iron dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington as part of a $60 million renovation project to repair more than 1,300 cracks.
Drew Ballensky | Dec 16, 2013
Major renovation for historic Northwestern Building in Minneapolis
Minneapolis’s Northwestern Building, originally built in 1914 as a glass factory, is undergoing a major renovation. The 85,000-sf, four-story building is now serves as office space for multiple tenants in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood.
Drew Ballensky | Dec 9, 2013
Bethlehem, Pa., receives preservation award for Bethlehem Steel building renovation
Bethlehem, Pa., is a recipient of a 2013 award by Preservation Pennsylvania for a renovation of the oldest building on the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. site.
Drew Ballensky | Dec 2, 2013
Army Corps of Engineers workers displaced during renovation of federal building in Huntington, W. Va.
A $47.6 million overhaul of the Huntington Federal Building in Huntington, West Virginia, includes altered traffic lanes on adjoining streets and the displacement of some of the more than 500 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees who work in the building.
Drew Ballensky | Nov 25, 2013
Plans for massive redevelopment of Ft. Monmouth in New Jersey likely to be revised
The redevelopment of Fort Monmouth, a former New Jersey army base, is likely to be revised on a building-by-building and parcel-by-parcel basis, officials say.
Drew Ballensky | Nov 18, 2013
Office design trends spurring office building renovations in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Key office design trends such as downsizing of overall space, more open floor plans, and the inclusion of more collaborative workspaces are prompting property owners in Grand Rapids, Mich., to renovate thousands of square feet of office space.
Drew Ballensky | Nov 11, 2013
Reconstruction of historic Salzburg, Austria railroad station took complex planning
Salzburg, Austria’s Central Station remained in operation during reconstruction, a feat that required complex planning.
