Advanced Sustainable Real Estate (formerly Case Studies)

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Advanced Sustainable

Real Estate

SRED 6720 

 

Jesse M. Keenan, M.Sc., Ph.D., J.D., LL.M.

Associate Professor of Real Estate

School of Architecture

Tulane University

Spring 2021

 

Introduction

This course explores advanced topics and case studies in the applied science and economics of producing, investing in, and managing sustainable real estate. The recurring theme of people, place and profit is redefined within the context of user demand, asset management, building operations, and financial acumen. Students trace a narrative of process that begins with market analysis and conceptual design and ends with de-commissioning and recycling. Throughout the course, the central subjectivities and applications of sustainability will be challenged in order to critically evaluate aspects of social, financial, and environmental sustainability. In particular, the course seeks to understand the extent to which empirical science can inform risk-adjusted investment decisions. The course includes a systematic review of various rating systems, environmental technologies, project alternatives, project delivery models, and commissioning standards, and as well as the supporting risk management systems and contracting provisions defining contemporary industry practice. Students will move from asset-specific evaluations within the boundaries of a site to understand how portfolios of assets are managed across various scales and geographies. The intent of the course is to further the division between the greening and browning of real estate assets in order to impose higher standards in design, construction and management. In this sense, the future will be defined by a world in which all real estate is low-impact, sustainable, and possesses a designed adaptive capacity to accommodate future user demand and environmental performance. This course is intended for graduate students in the Sustainable Real Estate program.

Format

This course is taught through weekly lectures. Lectures are held on Zoom on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:10 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. (central time).

Central Objectives

  • Develop critical perspectives on the application of sustainability frameworks in commercial enterprise and public investments.
  • Develop multi-scalar facility of language and process associated with:
    • technical measurements for physical science, ecology and building science
    • design strategies and operations management
    • economic utilities and value realization
  • Develop and evaluate business cases with a sensitivity to the metrics and trade-offs that define marketable risk-adjust returns, as well as high quality, low-impact buildings.

Weekly Themes

  • Theories, Practices and Management of Sustainability
  • Sustainability Science: Energy, Water, Air, Materials and Land
  • Sustainability Indicators and Green Ratings Systems
  • Sustainable Investment and Asset Management
  • Energy Efficiency and Retrofit Economics
  • Solar and Renewable Energy Development
  • Integrated Design Management and Project Delivery
  • Environmental Regulation of Real Estate and Brownfields
  • Green Transactions and Leasing
  • Healthy Buildings and Post-Occupancy Management
  • Climate Change and Real Estate
  • Green Bonds and Capital Markets

Required Textbooks

  • Pearce, A.R. & Ahn, Y.H. (2018). Sustainable Buildings and Infrastructure: Paths to the Future. 2nd New York, NY.: Routledge.

Required Case Study Course Packet

Student Evaluation

Students will be evaluated and graded based on either of the following models:

  • 50% Case Performance and Memoranda
  • 25% Sustainable Real Estate Project Presentation
  • 25% Final Exam

The following are key dates for student evaluation:

  • Monday, April 19th: Delivery of Case Study Memorandum and Presentation Slides
  • Wednesday, April 21st: Sustainable Real Estate Project Presentations
  • Monday, April 26th: Sustainable Real Estate Project Presentations
  • Wednesday, April 28th: Sustainable Real Estate Project Presentations
  • Thursday, May 6th: Release of Final Exam
  • Tuesday, May 11th: Final Exam is Due

The Sustainable Real Estate Project Presentation is an opportunity for each individual student to research a particular project that they believe is demonstrative of sustainable principles and practices. To complete this task, each student must: (i) select a single U.S. or international project; (ii) draft a one (1) page memorandum discussing model utilized for project financing and the sustainable metrics associated with the performance of the asset; and, (iii) prepare slides and execute a concise ten (10) to fifteen (15) minute presentation on the case study. Students are encouraged to select projects that reflect their particular interests or emerging expertise. The presentations should include substantive facts and figures from the memorandum and should include relevant pictures, drawings, diagrams and other visual materials. Students are encouraged to communicate the basic economics of the project and to connect those economics with the sustainable features of the selected case study. In a seminar format, the class will collectively debate the merits of the each case presentation. In the seminar, students will provide feedback either from the perspective of a potential equity investor, lender or asset owner.

Classroom participation is based on intellectual contributions made throughout the course that demonstrate an active internalization of the course literature and the topics covered in the lectures. The intent of the course is to learn substantive knowledge and to develop analytical and professional writing skills. Throughout the course, formal case studies are utilized as a means to simulate professional analysis. Students should spend time preparing formal memoranda in response to each case study, as applicable. Some of the case study memorandum will be required to be submitted, while others will be useful for supporting on-the-spot critical analysis of the underlying fact pattern presented in the case. Case studies memoranda will be required for those case studies marked with a (†) in the Course Schedule below. For those cases that do not have formal questions for the reader, please prepare a two (2) page memorandum that summarizes the salient fact pattern of the case. All memorandum should be uploaded as a single .PDF to Canvas as an Assignment by 11:59 p.m. (CT) on the day before the scheduled class. If applicable, an Excel spreadsheet (with separate tabs for each answer) may be uploaded as a separate file. Students will be required to purchase cases directly from Harvard Business Review, as a packet.

The Final Exam is an open-book examinations that is intended to be completed outside of the classroom. Student evaluation will be carried out in accordance with all relevant university and Tulane School of Architecture’s grading policies and protocols. All deliverables are due on the specified date. The method of submission is an upload of a single .PDF file on Canvas as an Assignment by 11:59 p.m. (CT) on the due date. An Excel spreadsheet (with separate tabs for each answer) may be uploaded as a separate file. Late deliverables will not be accepted, but for those circumstances, such as illness, that are documented and delivered in an acceptable format to myself and the applicable degree program office. Students are expected to maintain compliance with all university and school policies relating to academic honesty, attendance, classroom decorum and other such policies that may be applicable to their participation in the class as members of the university community.

This syllabus provides a set of supplemental readings and resources that will provide more than an adequate amount of information for students to independently study sustainable real estate transactions, development, and management. It is critical that students stay up-to-date with the reading. Students are expected to complete the reading assigned for each class. In addition to the reading in the course textbook, students should read the required academic, technical and policy literature assigned for each class. In order to maximize the value of the course, it is critical that students designate time each week to reading and to abstracting the literature. Students should pay close attention not only to the chapter number but also the pages assigned within each chapter. This is important because not all pages within a chapter are assigned for any given day’s reading assignment. Reading assignments marked with an asterisk (*) are optional.

Course Schedule

  1. Wednesday, January 20th: Global Change and Sustainability
  2. Monday, January 25th: Sustainability in Real Estate Management; Case Study (Diamond Developers: Measuring Sustainability)
  3. Wednesday, January 27th: Sustainability Science: Energy and Environment
  4. Monday, February 1st: Sustainability Science: Water and Air
  5. Wednesday, February 3rd: Sustainability Science: Land and Site Planning
  6. Monday, February 8th: Sustainability Science: Building Construction and Materials
  7. Wednesday, February 10th: Green Ratings Systems
  8. Monday, February 15th: No Class
  9. Wednesday, February 17th: Case Study (Genzyme Center (A)†, (B)† and (C))
  10. Monday, February 22nd: Sustainable Investment and Asset Management
  11. Wednesday, February 24th: Case Study (Edward Lundberg and the Rockville Building: Energy Efficiency Finance in Commercial Real Estate†)
  12. Monday, March 1st: Case Studies (Reawakening the World’s Most Famous Office Building: Economics Behind a Groundbreaking Energy Efficiency Retrofit; New Orleans Hospitality†)
  13. Wednesday, March 3rd: Modeling Environmental Impact Analysis I: Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) and Applications of Probability
  14. Monday, March 8th: Modeling Environmental Impact Analysis II: Case Study (Financial and Environmental Impact Analysis of Sustainable Retrofitting†[1])
  15. Wednesday, March 10th: No Class
  16. Monday, March 15th: Renewable Energy Project Finance
  17. Wednesday, March 17th: Project Delivery and Management
  18. Monday, March 22nd: Integrated Design Management; Case Study (Arup: Building the Water Cube)
  19. Wednesday, March 24th: Case Study (Reedy Fork Elementary School†[2])
  20. Monday, March 29th: Environmental Regulation and Brownfields Financing
  21. Wednesday, March 31st: Green Transactions: Leasing and Contracting
  22. Monday, April 5th: Healthy Buildings and Post-Occupancy Management; Case Study (A Tower for the People: 425 Park Avenue)
  23. Wednesday, April 7th: Resilience and Adaptation of Buildings
  24. Monday, April 12th: Climate Change Science
  25. Wednesday, April 14th: Climate Change and Real Estate Economics
  26. Monday, April 19th: Green Bonds and Capital Markets; Case Study (Fannie Mae Single Family Green Bond Purchase†)
  27. Wednesday, April 21st: Sustainable Real Estate Presentations
  28. Monday, April 26th: Sustainable Real Estate Presentations
  29. Wednesday, April 28th: Sustainable Real Estate Presentations
  30. Monday, May 3rd: Final Review Session
  31. Thursday, May 6th: Release of Final Exam
  32. Tuesday, May 11th: Final Exam is Due

Supplemental Resources

Appointments

Office Hours are on Zoom on Fridays by appointment: jkeenan@tulane.edu. Upon scheduling an appointment, please ensure to make note of your time zone.

Syllabus

Please see the Files Section for the most up-to-date Syllabus, including reading and case assignments.

 

[1] Note: Given the difficulty, it is recommended that you start working on this case on Monday, March 1st. A preliminary draft of the case is due in accordance with the dates and times memorialized in this syllabus; however, the final memorandum is due on Monday, March 15th by 11:59 p.m.

[2] Prepare an investment analysis for the “modeled” pre-occupancy performance of the energy (Alternative 5) and water (harvesting) sustainability strategies. Please also prepare a gross estimate of post-occupancy savings in year 1.

 

 

Course Summary:

Course Summary
Date Details Due