Green Landscaping Isn’t Limiting Multifamily Sustainable Practices To The Indoors

The perfect time to leave a truly green mark on an apartment’s landscape is during the renovation. Property rehabilitation can not only upgrade the look and feel inside but improve out-of-date landscapes with a more modern – and sensible – look that's environmentally pleasing. Previous perceptions that green landscapes are boring and costly are being trumped by easier and less costly applications. Sustainable landscapes are more feasible for apartment operators to realize utility efficiencies and lower maintenance costs while shedding those 1980's hedgerows (or the “gas station look,” as one sustainability specialist stated). Water consumption is being reduced by a combination of native plants and improvements in landscape irrigation technology, as well as a shift from large, leaky water features that were the splash 20 years ago. In many cases, properties can qualify for low-interest loans to pay for some or all of the irrigation upgrades. “You’re driving down those irrigation costs and reducing overall expenditures,” says Mary Nitschke, Vice President of Sustainability for RealPage. “That’s a big bang for scoring with benchmarking.” Nitschke, who works with expense management customers on eco-projects to conserve resources, is a featured speaker on the webcast, “5 Go-to Strategies to Lower Utility Costs,” that airs in October. Nitschke, Vice President of Product Success Management Amye Baker and Director of Energy Management Bob Ricobene will provide an overview of the latest utility management tools that help conserve resources and increase NOI. Nitschke has seen an uptick in sustainable outdoor practices like upgrading to irrigation systems that allow watering flexibility for plant type, topography and runoff, and existing moisture conditions. Big benefits are lower water consumption and bills that typically come out of the operator’s pocket, and incentives for improvement l...