Ready, Set, Green? Property Management Blogs for the Environmentally Conscious
When does it make the most sense for your HOA to go Green?
POSolutions is, and has always been, a firm proponent for environmental responsibility. When you are placed in prime positions of management assistance of over 4,000 units, you dare not waste an opportunity to use your position for good. That’s why we’d like to help you explore the possibilities of your HOA doing the responsible thing, and considering the opportunity to join TEAM GREEN!
The question your HOA should really be entertaining is not “if” or “when” your association should employ environmental conservation methods. The questions for you, and your wonderfully mindful, responsible, and green-minded membership should actually be “how” and “to what extent.” Everyone can have donation bins for a recycling campaign, and secure items like aluminum, glass, and paper products for responsible reuse. Not every HOA can justify providing resources for a community garden, however. Every HOA is going to have differences of opinion regarding all types of potential benevolent causes. But planetary responsibility is something that, like it or not, universally affects us all. The key to successfully getting your membership to agree on what level to which you regulate your community’s environmental footprint is to find common ground, share a spectrum of ideals, and launch a campaign that can truly be successful for everyone.
A large gymnasium in Nashville, TN, conducted an extensive evaluation in 2009 regarding a very interesting possibility. With nearly 20,000 members, working hard over 120+ hours per week, this facility wondered if there would be any benefit to channeling the kinetic energy output of its hardworking membership. This pondering came from hours and hours of watching Nashville’s fittest folks burn calorie after calorie using the very best in static movement equipment. An in-depth, scientifically engineered study was conducted, and some surprising results were uncovered. If properly retrofitted for harnessing the output of human-powered kinetic energy, this single gymnasium could provide ample power reserves. How much power? Enough to power the gym without any outside power source? Indeed. What about the neighboring businesses? No problem. In fact, the gym could have produced enough power to meet and exceed the needs of THE ENTIRE SOUTHSIDE OF NASHVILLE! WOW! Wait, we said “could have.” That must mean the experiment never left the evaluation table. That’s correct. But that’s only because no employee or investor could come up with the $1.2 Billion in upstart and upkeep costs for retrofitting the gym. Oh well. It was a great idea.
Similarly, your HOA might be on board for increasing the trees and shrubbery around common areas, or agreeing to residential additions, in order to keep energy usage low in the summertime. But trying to enforce a policy that says everyone must use only organic foodstuffs might be hard to regulate. Providing or requiring at least one composting commode might be a great place to start. Requiring certain insulation requirements, or offering programmable thermostats could also be helpful in reducing your members heating and cooling costs, and keep your energy footprint low. It’s also not out of the question to require CFL light bulbs for indoor and outdoor common areas. You could invest in solar powered street lights, or make sure no one uses Halogen based lighting for their Lightscaping. Rain sensors can also be a great way to save on your membership’s water usage. You could even initiate a furniture exchange program, or utilize a local member who refinishes furniture to give unwanted furniture a face lift. Who knows, maybe you could even sell it further more efforts to Go Green!
Whether you’re looking to initiate new green codes and regulations, or if you simply want to help your association be more mindful of environmental issues, and how your community can pitch in to help us all, POSolutions can help! Call or contact us today, and see what we can do for you!
