Green Rating Alliance (GRA) and Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) have signed a memorandum to join forces and improve the sustainability of commercial property portfolios, representatives have said.
The ?Memorandum of Understanding? outlines the companies? intention to share data and resources with the aim of improving their mutually beneficial schemes, paving the way for improvements in construction and refurbishment methods across Europe.
GRA and GRESB?s primary aim is to provide the tools for global real estate investors to reduce the emissions generated by their assets, whilst further targets involve relaying these methods to the wider property market.
Pieter Hendrikse, CEO of CBRE Global Investors EMEA and chairman of GRA, said: ?We are glad that we have found the perfect partner for the Green Rating Alliance with GRESB.? While GRA is focusing on property sustainability performance, GRESB is assessing property funds and companies.
?Both associations will benefit from each other by sharing their knowledge, joint activities and discussions between their members within the international real estate industry. We are looking forward to working together on a day-to-day basis and improving the sustainability performance in all our portfolios.?
Nils Kok, executive director of GRESB, expressed similar sentiments to his new-found partners, saying: ?GRESB and the GRA are both committed to independent evaluation of the sustainability performance of the real estate sector and complement each other.
?GRESB is investor-led, backed by 40 institutional investors and all leading industry bodies and real estate associations focused on the investment portfolio level.
?GRE is a manager-led initiative with the aim of optimising the sustainability performance of individual buildings. This partnership allows us to achieve our common goal of enhancing and protecting value by improving the sustainability performance of the built environment.?
Elsewhere, technology company GE has been extolling the virtues of its sustainability initiatives and commitment to help manage the Middle East?s carbon-footprint at the Arab Forum for Environment & Development in Beirut today.
Written by Ben Parkinson
Ben Parkinson is a copywriter and online content producer for Search Office Space. He is an avid writer and social media marketer, with a penchant for music and literature when he's not documenting the flexible office industry.
He began his interest in professional writing through his work with leading festival news site Virtual Festivals, before taking on a blogger role for online new music publication There Goes The Fear.
In his professional life he has produced online content and corporate literature for a number of colleges, including London Graduate School and Kensington College of Business, before joining the SOS team.
Here?s a pretty jerky victory lap clearly planted by the mortgage lending industry, with the boastful title ?Foreclosure Wave Averted as Doomsayers Defied.? Let?s hear this out for a second.
When banks pulled back on foreclosures two years ago following a government investigation into allegations of faulty practices, market researchers, academics and Wall Street analysts said that a surge of delinquent homes would deluge the U.S. market once lenders resolved the claims and worked through backlog, driving down prices for years to come. RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of property data, warned a year ago of a ?new set of incoming foreclosure waves.? Susan Wachter, professor at the University of Pennsylvania?s Wharton School, said in February that a logjam may be ?unleashed? and destabilize the market.
In fact, the flood failed to materialize, even after the five biggest U.S. mortgage servicers reached a $25 billion settlement with federal and state regulators in February. Instead, the number of properties for sale shrank to the fewest in a decade, prices appreciated at the fastest pace since 2005, and the gradual healing of the housing market helped boost consumer confidence and the economy.
?We don?t have enough homes now to meet the needs of the market,? Paul Jacobson, a Stockton native and real estate broker for 22 years, said as he cruised the city?s northern fringe, where suburbia meets farmland. ?People see a foreclosed home for sale in this area and they?re going to jump on it.?
Missing here is any understanding of who controls the timing of a so-called foreclosure wave. Banks do the foreclosing, after all, and it?s really up to them whether or not to put inventory on the market or to foreclose at all. And in both cases, they haven?t moved forward for very specific reasons. Professor Adam Levitin had a solid response to this article.
First of all, we aren?t seeing a ?foreclosure wave? because mortgage servicers still don?t have the capacity for mass foreclosures above and beyond their current pace. Aside from them not hiring enough specialists, many states responded to the crisis and the foreclosure fraud scandal by passing their own due process laws designed to stop illegal foreclosures. The industry calls these states dirty names, but they happen to be the REASON for the lack of a foreclosure wave.
In addition, as Levitin writes:
Moreover, the banks? plan for several years has been to slowly recognize losses against earnings. If all defaults had been foreclosed at once, the banking system would look a lot less solvent. The game plan has always been to run the clock. Hence all the ?kick the can down the road? mods. As a result, what we?re likely to see is not a foreclosure tsunami, but rather an extended foreclosure high-tide.
Assuming no major hiccups (e.g., interest rates rising), it will still take a few years before foreclosure levels return to historic averages. Unfortunately, that?s when a lot of 2009-2011 HAMP mods will start to have their interest rates rise. Probably not a crisis from that, but certainly not good.
A very good and overlooked point there. HAMP modifications are TEMPORARY. They expire in five years, which means we have the rate recast threat that we saw with adjustable-rate mortgages, not a main driver of the crisis but certainly something that made the crisis worse.
Not to mention the fact that the potential expiration of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act (thanks for catching up, Wall Street Journal!) will make principal reductions and short sales a thing of the past and generate a lot more foreclosures. One of the reasons we haven?t seen a foreclosure wave comes from banks using alternative options like short sales and, in select cases, principal reduction. Incidentally, the endgame in the short sale is that the homeowner loses the home, so while it?s better for the borrower, it?s hard to see the social benefit to saying ?Nyah nyah, there hasn?t been that foreclosure wave, just a lot of forced short sales!?
The point is that any slowing in the foreclosure process, as much as banks whine about it, helps their bottom line and should be seen as deliberate. It?s one of the things propping up the market; the slow absorption of home defaults. ?Foaming the runway,? if you will.
Foreclosure starts remain four times above traditional levels. If Bloomberg considers that extended high level a ?strategy? that is ?paying off? because prices have risen, well, congratulations.
UPDATE: Incidentally, if you don?t believe that banks are holding back inventory and goosing prices, this is from the article, referring to Stockton, California:
There were 6,650 properties with unresolved code violations as of Sept. 30, about two-thirds of which were vacant because the owners walked away and banks hadn?t foreclosed, Lemos said. His team stages night raids to oust squatters from abandoned properties. To give the appearance homes are occupied, they paint dry lawns green.
I have always been a fan of Lidia Bastianich. Her recipes are easy to make Italian food that are good enough to serve to company. I have watched Lidia cook on her show and she really knows how to feed her family. I have been to some of her restaurants in New York City and all I can say is ?Wow?!
When I received her new book, Lidia?s Favorite Recipes, I didn?t know what to cook first. This wonderful collection of 100 recipes are Lidia?s ?go to recipes? adored by her family and friends. Some of Lidia?s favorite recipes have also become my favorite recipes.
Last week, I made? Straw and Hay, which is a colorful pasta dish with crispy peas, prosciutto and creamy sauce. As elegant as it sounds, it only took 30 minutes to make. It was the perfect weeknight meal and I will be making it again and again.
The holidays are coming and I can?t wait to try some of the appetizers. From Fried Mozzarella Skewers to Lobster Salad with Fresh Tomatoes, there is just one good recipe after another. These recipes are for the beginning cook to the most experienced home chef.
Besides all the great recipes in the cookbook, there is also a website where you can get cooking tips, recipes and videos. If you love Italian food, you will need to visit Lidia?s Italy.
Now for the great news. You can win this gorgeous cookbook.
All you have to do is leave a comment. For additional entries:
Leave a separate comment for each entry telling me you follow, pinned, etc. There are 6? possible entries per person!
Please leave your comments by Tuesday, December 4th at 11:59pm EST.? Make sure there is a link to a blog or you leave your email address. A winner will be randomly picked and announced on Wednesday, December 5th.? Sorry, but you can only enter if you have a US mailing address. Good luck everyone!
6 to 8 slices imported prosciutto, cut crosswise into ? inch ribbons
? cup low sodium chicken broth or stock
? cup heavy cream
1 pound fresh fettuccine pasta or ? pound dry egg fettuccine and ? pound dry spinach fettuccine
? cup freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
Trim the roots of the scallions and cut them in half length-wise, then into 3 inch pieces in thin strips.
Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add scallions and cook until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add peas and cook for 3 minutes. Add prosciutto and cook 1 to 2 minutes or until it changes color. Pour in the chicken stock and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce sauce to a simmer and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add the heavy cream and continue to simmer until lightly thickened.
Stir the pasta into the salted water and cook until al dente. Fish the pasta out of the boiling water with a skimmer and add directly to sauce. Cook on high heat until sauce is creamy.
Remove from the heat and toss with cheese. Serve in warm bowls.
3.1.09
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*****For full disclosure, I was given a copy of this cookbook to review and one to give away to a reader. As usual, all opinions are my own.
A human-caused climate change signal emerges from the noisePublic release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anne Stark stark8@llnl.gov 925-422-9799 DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, Calif. -- By comparing simulations from 20 different computer models to satellite observations, Lawrence Livermore climate scientists and colleagues from 16 other organizations have found that tropospheric and stratospheric temperature changes are clearly related to human activities.
The team looked at geographical patterns of atmospheric temperature change over the period of satellite observations. The team's goal of the study was to determine whether previous findings of a "discernible human influence" on tropospheric and stratospheric temperature were sensitive to current uncertainties in climate models and satellite data.
The troposphere is the lowest portion of earth's atmosphere. The stratosphere sits just above the troposphere, between 6 and 30 miles above earth's surface.
The satellite temperature data sets were produced by three different research groups, and rely on measurements of the microwave emissions of oxygen molecules. Each group made different choices in processing these raw measurements, and in accounting for such complex effects as drifts in satellite orbits and in instrument calibrations.
The new climate model simulations analyzed by the team will form the scientific backbone of the upcoming 5th assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is due out in 2014.
In both satellite observations and the computer model simulations of historical climate change, the lower stratosphere cools markedly over the past 33 years. This cooling is primarily a response to the human-caused depletion of stratospheric ozone. The observations and model simulations also show a common pattern of large-scale warming of the lower troposphere, with largest warming over the Arctic, and muted warming (or even cooling) over Antarctica. Tropospheric warming is mainly driven by human-caused increases in well-mixed greenhouse gases.
"It's very unlikely that purely natural causes can explain these distinctive patterns of temperature change," said Laboratory atmospheric scientist Benjamin Santer, who is lead author of the paper appearing in the Nov. 29 online edition of the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "No known mode of natural climate variability can cause sustained, global-scale warming of the troposphere and cooling of the lower stratosphere."
The team analyzed results from climate model simulations with specified historical changes in human and natural external factors, and from simulations with projected 21st century changes in greenhouse gases and anthropogenic aerosols. They also looked at simulations with no changes in external influences on climate, which provide information on the year-to-year and decade-to-decade "noise" of internal climate variability, arising from such natural phenomena as the El Nio/Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.
The team used a standard "climate fingerprint" method to search for the model signal pattern (in response to human influences, the sun and volcanoes) in the satellite observations. The method quantifies the strength of the signal in observations, relative to the strength of the signal in natural climate noise.
###
Other contributors include researchers from Remote Sensing Systems of Santa Rosa; the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Melbourne, Australia; the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis, Victoria, Canada; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton; the University of Colorado, Boulder; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; the U.K. Met. Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, U.K.; the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France; North Carolina State University; the National Climatic Data Center, Asheville; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder; the University of Adelaide, South Australia; the University of Reading, U.K.; and the Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Camp Springs. The paper is Santer's inaugural article as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A human-caused climate change signal emerges from the noisePublic release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anne Stark stark8@llnl.gov 925-422-9799 DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, Calif. -- By comparing simulations from 20 different computer models to satellite observations, Lawrence Livermore climate scientists and colleagues from 16 other organizations have found that tropospheric and stratospheric temperature changes are clearly related to human activities.
The team looked at geographical patterns of atmospheric temperature change over the period of satellite observations. The team's goal of the study was to determine whether previous findings of a "discernible human influence" on tropospheric and stratospheric temperature were sensitive to current uncertainties in climate models and satellite data.
The troposphere is the lowest portion of earth's atmosphere. The stratosphere sits just above the troposphere, between 6 and 30 miles above earth's surface.
The satellite temperature data sets were produced by three different research groups, and rely on measurements of the microwave emissions of oxygen molecules. Each group made different choices in processing these raw measurements, and in accounting for such complex effects as drifts in satellite orbits and in instrument calibrations.
The new climate model simulations analyzed by the team will form the scientific backbone of the upcoming 5th assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is due out in 2014.
In both satellite observations and the computer model simulations of historical climate change, the lower stratosphere cools markedly over the past 33 years. This cooling is primarily a response to the human-caused depletion of stratospheric ozone. The observations and model simulations also show a common pattern of large-scale warming of the lower troposphere, with largest warming over the Arctic, and muted warming (or even cooling) over Antarctica. Tropospheric warming is mainly driven by human-caused increases in well-mixed greenhouse gases.
"It's very unlikely that purely natural causes can explain these distinctive patterns of temperature change," said Laboratory atmospheric scientist Benjamin Santer, who is lead author of the paper appearing in the Nov. 29 online edition of the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "No known mode of natural climate variability can cause sustained, global-scale warming of the troposphere and cooling of the lower stratosphere."
The team analyzed results from climate model simulations with specified historical changes in human and natural external factors, and from simulations with projected 21st century changes in greenhouse gases and anthropogenic aerosols. They also looked at simulations with no changes in external influences on climate, which provide information on the year-to-year and decade-to-decade "noise" of internal climate variability, arising from such natural phenomena as the El Nio/Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.
The team used a standard "climate fingerprint" method to search for the model signal pattern (in response to human influences, the sun and volcanoes) in the satellite observations. The method quantifies the strength of the signal in observations, relative to the strength of the signal in natural climate noise.
###
Other contributors include researchers from Remote Sensing Systems of Santa Rosa; the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Melbourne, Australia; the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis, Victoria, Canada; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton; the University of Colorado, Boulder; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; the U.K. Met. Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, U.K.; the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France; North Carolina State University; the National Climatic Data Center, Asheville; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder; the University of Adelaide, South Australia; the University of Reading, U.K.; and the Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Camp Springs. The paper is Santer's inaugural article as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
You may have received CPR training some time ago, but would you remember the proper technique in an emergency? Would you know what to do in the event of an earthquake or a fire? A new UCLA psychology study shows that people often do not recall things they have seen ? or at least walked by ? hundreds of times.
For the study, 54 people who work in the same building were asked if they knew the location of the fire extinguisher nearest their office. While many of the participants had worked in their offices for years and had passed the bright red extinguishers several times a day, only 13 out of the 54 ? 24 percent ? knew the location.
When asked to find a fire extinguisher, however, everyone was able to do so within a few seconds; most were surprised they had never noticed them. The researchers found no significant differences between men and women, or between older and younger adults.
"Just because we've seen something many times doesn't mean we remember it or even notice it," said Alan Castel, an associate professor of psychology at UCLA and lead author of the study. "If I asked you to draw the front of a dime or the front of a dollar bill from memory, how well could you do that? You might get some elements right. Do you know who the president is? On the dime, is he facing left or right? Does it say 'In God We Trust' on the front of the dollar or the back? Do you know what else it says? You've seen it so many times, but you probably haven't paid much attention to it."
Castel said that not noticing things isn't necessarily bad, particularly when those things are not important in your daily life. "It might be a good thing not to burden your memory with information that is not relevant to you," he said.
But with safety information, such as knowing where fire extinguishers are or what to do in an emergency, being prepared can, of course, be very useful.
"When you're on an airplane, do you know where the life vest is and what to do in the event of an emergency?" Castel asked. "You've been told many times, but how would you respond under stressful conditions, when there could be smoke and people screaming?"
A few months after being asked the location of the nearest fire extinguisher, the study participants were asked again if they knew where the closest one was. All of them knew.
"We don't notice something if we're attending to something else," Castel said. "Fire extinguishers are bright red and very conspicuous, but we're almost blind to them until they become relevant."
What does this tell us about the importance of training, whether for emergencies or something as common as learning a new computer program?
Castel stresses that making errors during training is useful. As with the fire extinguisher exercise, errors ? or simple oversights ? can teach us that we don't know something well and need to pay more attention in order to remember it.
"It's good if errors happen during training and not during an event where you need the information," he said. "That's part of the learning process."
The study is published in the journalAttention, Perception, & Psychophysics.
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University of California - Los Angeles: http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu
Thanks to University of California - Los Angeles for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
I have always been a fan of Lidia Bastianich. Her recipes are easy to make Italian food that are good enough to serve to company. I have watched Lidia cook on her show and she really knows how to feed her family. I have been to some of her restaurants in New York City and all I can say is ?Wow?!
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Public release date: 29-Nov-2012
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