Special Financing for Green Improvements
Mayor Gavin Newsom recently announced a new green financing program for energy-efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation and other environmental improvements to San Francisco residential and commercial buildings.
The new program would allow home and building owners to fund environmental improvements, with the financing attached to the property and paid back through a special line item on the property tax bill over the life of the improvements.
The first enabling piece of legislation to establish this program was just introduced at the Board of Supervisors by Supervisor Eric Mar, with support from the Mayor’s Office, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Controller’s Office of Public Finance and the Department of the Environment. If passed, the accessible and low-cost loan program would be available to finance privately owned energy efficiency, renewable energy and water conservation improvements. The loan is attached to the property, rather than the individual, and is paid back through property taxes over the life of the loan. The loans are similar to the recently enacted GoSolarSF solar energy incentive program and are designed to promote energy-efficiency, cut greenhouse gas emissions and create more work for green professionals.
In other green housing news, Build It Green has begun the public hearing process for its GreenPoint Rating Program for existing multifamily homes. The Berkeley nonprofit is California’s primary resource for residential green rating systems and already has programs for new single-family homes, new multifamily homes and, most recently, existing single-family homes.
The organization recently held a series of stakeholder meetings throughout California in an attempt to find out what owners are looking for in an existing multifamily GreenPoint rating program. Some of those stakeholders recently attended the first public meeting in San Francisco to make sure that real property owners’ concerns are taken into account early in the planning stages. The current timeline calls for a pilot program this fall, with a first draft of the system for public comment in early 2010 and a final draft around May. Build It Green organizers expect an existing multifamily rating program to be in place by next summer. For more on Build It Green and it’s multifamily rating program, check out page 26.
Also, several green conferences are coming to San Francisco this month. West Coast Green, the premier conference on green building innovation, will take place October 1 through 3 at Fort Mason. The three-day conference covers many aspects of green building, with an emphasis on the latest and greatest, both on the market and in research and development. A special attraction this year is an integrative show garden, which will be suspended from a bamboo structure over the Bay and connect the two piers of Fort Mason. Also, the new “Conversations with Leaders” sessions will allow for in-depth conversations with green business leaders and will be ongoing throughout the conference. Check out www.westcoastgreen.com for more information.
Finally, Sustainable Building Series: Retrofits will take place October 21 and 22 in San Francisco with four preconference workshops on October 20. The conference will address the costs, savings, finance, investment and informational needs for the industry. Over 20 educational sessions and 10 case studies will be presented. Some of the topics to be covered in detail include: understanding the available rewards that can be secured through green lending programs; taking advantage of cost savings available to energy retrofits; realizing how you can enhance portfolio returns with investment in green retrofits; and finding the best way to finance retrofits. For more information, check out www.sustainable buildingseries.com.
Get Your Votes In
The deadline to nominate your business, client or service provider for a 2009 Trophy Award is October 15. The Trophy Awards will honor the best of San Francisco’s rental housing community on November 19, 2009, at The Palace Hotel.
Nominate your favorite firms, employees and properties for any of the following Trophy Award categories: Independent Owner, Property Management Firm, General Manager, Resident Manager, Green Building, Assistant Manager, Residential Amenities, Leasing Consultant, Repositioned Property, Administrative Professional, New Development, Maintenance Manager, Industry Partner and Maintenance Technician.
Nominate online at www.sfaa.org. For more information about the 2009 Trophy Awards, contact Vanessa Khaleel at 415-255-2288 x16 or vanessa@sfaa.org.
Cooling the Embers
With San Francisco’s annual “Indian Summer” comes many requests from tenants for barbeques on their decks or porches. California Fire Codes 308.3.1 and G308.3.1.1, which were adopted by the state in 2007 and by various cities
and counties in 2008 and 2009, restrict the use of open-flame and propane grills. CFC 308.3.1 states that all open-flame cooking devices (including charcoal & propane grills) may not be operated on combustible balconies or within ten feet of a combustible construction. The two exceptions are for single and two-family dwellings (duplexes), and buildings that have installed automatic sprinkler systems throughout, including balconies and decks.
CFC G308.3.1.1 further restricts the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (usually propane) grills by prohibiting containers with a capacity greater than 2.5 pounds. The only exception is for single- and two-family dwellings. In addition, propane containers with a capacity larger than one pound cannot be transported through enclosed common area stairs, hallways or elevators. They must be transported into the unit through an exterior stairway.
Expanded Business Education Campaign on “Red Flags” Rule
Federal Trade Commission staff has announced that it will double its efforts to educate small businesses and other entities about compliance with the “Red Flags” Rule and will ease compliance by providing additional resources and guidance to clarify what businesses must do to comply. To give creditors and financial institutions more time to review these resources, and develop and implement written Identity Theft Prevention Programs, the FTC will further delay enforcement of the rule until November 1, 2009. It was supposed to begin in August 2009.
The Red Flags Rule is an anti-fraud regulation, requiring “creditors” and “financial institutions” (including rental property owners and managers) to implement programs to identify, detect and respond to the warning signs, or “red flags,” that could indicate identity theft. The financial regulatory agencies, including the FTC, developed the rule, which was mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.
High-End Rentals Still Heading Downward
Renters are showing resistance to paying a premium to rent an apartment in a high-end market, according to a recently released study from RealFacts. Of course, rents were in decline in nearly every major market in the second quarter of 2009, but the markets that were hit the hardest this quarter were high-end markets, such as those found in California. The Bay Area, usually ranked as the most expensive place to live in the country, was hit particularly hard.
The San José MSA posted the greatest decline for the current quarter at 3.8%,
followed by San Francisco at 2.7%. The RealFacts survey demonstrates the effects of higher than average unemployment statistics in California. According to numbers recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, California’s unemployment now stands at 11.9%, compared to the national average of 9.4%.
It seems today’s renters are bargain hunting. Many renters have been forced out of high markets due to a lack of employment opportunities or sufficient income. In some cases, these renters decide to move to a location where housing is less expensive and where they can rent the same quality apartment unit for less money.