Commercial Real Estate Problems

The world of banking has been in a difficult place, through their own making, for quite some time now. The president has thrown a lot of taxpayer money at the banks to solve the problem. All that stimulus does not seem to have kick started the economy. Of course, all of this bad news developed because of a mad rush to make as many home loans as possible, and making them easier and easier to get - before the BUST that is. That was the residential market. The commercial market is always a few months behind.

I was reading in a real estate magazine the other day that banks are now holding more than $34 billion in non performing commercial and industrial property loans. I have not seen anything in the press about the massive mess potential of this latest real estate debacle. Maybe it is to come, and maybe I am seeing problems that just aren't there. After all, I am just an environmental consultant.

Closing Mines

There has been a lot of talk lately about closing old mines. It is apparently a big safety issue and States throughout the west have initiated the process. Recently we bumped into a very nice technology that is terrific for closing mines in a safe and effective way. It would also allow for reopening the mine with minimal effort if whatever the mine was originally being used for becomes economically viable again.

We have an arrangement with a materials firm that has invented a structural polyurethane foam, that is non-toxic. It is an expandable foam that when set is the approximate consistency of a board. The material is relatively cheap. It can easily, quickly, and relatively cheaply fill the mine cavity to prevent any entry. Yet it allows for reopening with minimal effort, in the precise location of the original tunnels. This structural foam obviously has a myriad of uses beyond that of mine closures, but that does seem to be the flavor of the day.

How Expensive is Green?

I was just about to write a blog on how much more it costs to build a "green" structure than a typical-construction structure. Then I ran into a blog by Barry Katz at http://www.greenworks.typepad.com/
Check it out - he does a great job.

As the World Greens

It amazes me how quickly this country has turned from a majority of the people not believing that the world is warming to most everybody jumping on the green bandwagon. As my company is starting to concentrate on bringing recycling technologies and green building products to market we are finding so many interesting new products available, and a lot of interest in placing them in the market place. As a simple product, the jatropha berry bares a biodiesel from very little processing. In the Philippines there is a project where one million hectares of land is being converted to production of jatropha berries. This land will provide over 500 million gallons of biofuel every year. This is only a small step in quelling our need for fossil fuels, but it could be an important one. More new ideas later.

Green Building Products

Recently I ran into a fairly old technology that was perfected. Which, I guess, makes it a new technology. It is the simple building block. It was formerly made out of cement. This one is made out of cement and recycled polystyrene (you know those white disposable cups that are used a lot for office coffee). The ration is 15% cement to 85% polystyrene. You can imagine how light these blocks are, of course making construction time quite a bit quicker. It is also noteworthy that these blocks have a higher "R" value, and they are cheaper per square foot of wall than common cement blocks. So they are cheaper, construction is more rapid, and they save energy - now that is a good combination of factors that will make the inventors very successful. The company is risking its IPO even in these economic times, because "the product is good for the world". Right now an associate is in the Middle East gathering interest - and there is a lot of interest being gathered. There is also considerable interest in the US. Fully automated manufacturing plants will be sprouting up all of the country in the next year or so. Our future is becoming greener all the time. Isn't that nice?

Finally A Change

No matter one's political philosophy I think that all must admit that it was definitely time for a change in US leadership. To get a fresh and invigorated new beginning was important for all of us. Even I feel a little bit better now. The technologies so desperately needed to move forward a practical national agenda to promote renewable energies and avoid the environmental apocalypse are available. Our company has been active in promoting these technologies in various corners of the world. There is interest everywhere - except the United States where there seems to be a fear of stepping forward before someone else has tested them out. Now that is an odd way for Americans to act, wouldn't you agree? Hopefully, with a new national vitality our ability to risk success will re-emerge.

Strange Actions In Environmental Consulting

I was speaking with a client the other day. He had recently become the victim of what often happens in a down real estate economy. An environmental consultant conducted a Phase I for a client of his. The Phase I made recommendations. A larger than necessary Phase II was conducted, but was not well designed, so another Phase II was recommended. The consultant got a regulator involved and the work became mandatory. Then the regulator required a health risk assessment and 7 monitoring wells. The owner of the Property is now out almost $100,000 with closure no where in site. The Property is a marina in the Sacramento River delta. There is a loss of water from the delta to the island, meaning the continuing spills from boats refueling at the docks migrates to the soil and the non-usable groundwater. It is likely that a well worded Phase I could have solved the problem and saved the owner about $97,500. But the owner is still spending, because he will be monitoring this groundwater for a long time. Every time the country gets into these economic situations, consultants start bleeding their clients. It is how the environmental consulting industry got such a bad reputation in the early 90s, and it was deserved. So this is just a word to the wise, if you pay a consultant to have a Phase I conducted these days and recommendations are made for further work, make absolutely sure that those recommendations are necessary. If you have an issue like this and want to call me, I will give you an hour of my time for free - no matter where you are (888 875-4468). My industry does not need to further sully its reputation.