Expert Portal - Zintro.com

There is a new web page designed to meet the needs of both experts and those who need experts, it is called www.zintro.com. The site is in the beta testing stage, but fills a much needed void. Searching for an expert through normal search engines is very time consuming, searching though zintro is relatively easy. As for the experts this is a great way to increase your client relationship list. Check it out. If you want to go directly to my part of this site go here: http://www.zintro.com/expert/Nick_Patz. And if you would prefer to read what the media has to say about zintro.com in a more complete kind of way follow this link: http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2009/09/29/zintros-pay-by-the-call-service-connects-investors-others-with-industry-experts/

Cost of Phase I ESAs

OMG!! I was online this morning doing some Google searching and found an ad for a nationwide firm that sells Phase I ESAs for $1500 anywhere in the US. I have to tell you that it is very dangerous to get such a product. I have been involved in the Phase I industry since 1984 when the Superfund Amendment Reauthorization Act passed congress and spawned the industry. I was a member of the original ASTM committee that wrote the 1993 guidance document. You cannot produce a good Phase I report for $1500. If we use a strip mall as an average property, it will take a good, experienced consultant about 20-24 hours to produce the report. There will be one hour of senior review, and then the production and outside services come to about $250 for each report. If you pay $1500 you are either getting a consultant to conduct the Phase I who is extremely desperate or not qualified. A good Phase I takes a perceptive, experienced individual who can find environmental problems at a site, if they exist. It is designed to give the purchaser protection under the CERCLA innocent landowner defense, and that is a weighty obligation to surrender to a substandard provider. Beware of what you order and your purpose for ordering. EDR came out with a recent survey that reported the average price of Phase Is in the US is now $2530, which is probably adequate. This price has come down over the last year due to economic conditions. Paying too much less than this may cause you problems that you had not considered. A Phase I is much more than something you use to check a box for a loan document.

Commercial Foreclosure Woes

Commercial real estate foreclosures are going up and experts say they will continue to increase for the next two to three years. Banks face difficult times in foreclosing on commercial and industrial properties, because if they are not careful they could end up owning contamination that would cost more to clean up than the value of the property. Sure there are ways to stay out of that liability loop even during foreclosure, but the banks have to be very careful to make sure that they do everything according to CERCLA guidelines to retain that liability protections.

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.