The Pulse of Tomorrow’s Business Buildings: Energy & Wellness Sustainability, Global Climate Change & Flood Insurance & the Growth of Urban Populations

Stuart Brodsky, clinical professor of sustainable real estate at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate, addressed the group on “Sustainable Real Estate.” He covered a number of relevant and timely issues – the continuation of LEED energy building evaluations; the new focus on wellness criteria for buildings as they affect health and wellbeing of commercial real estate providers and customers; flood insurance issues relevant to increasing climate events; and the future of sustainability and energy usage and requirements particularly for cities as more and more of the world’s urban population continues to grow. He also announced that the NYU Schack Institute introduced its first graduating baccalaureate class this year.

The NYC group hosted a full house of nine members and six guests from several market sectors: Michael Zeldes from HUB International; Michael Keilman and Aaron Stelzer from JCRA; Doug Rabin from Lincoln Land Services; and Henri Kessler and Nelson Lee from Marcus & Millichap.

This month’s meeting kicked off the new Member Spotlight feature, in which one member each month will have the opportunity to take 10 to 15 minutes to highlight how their business stands out from their competitors; identify areas for new business opportunities that fellow RPN members can point them toward; and request how they want to be introduced to prospects. Scott Bloom of Bloom Real Estate took the floor to tell his story of how he proactively and responsibly attracts new business through relationship building, persistence and nearly 24/7 hard work. He spoke about his commitment to community work, and his love and mutual involvement in sports of all kinds as conversation starters, and his consistent use of “swag” to stand out. He’s known to have a constant supply of candy, pens, post-its, etc., as well as free tickets for any and all major sports events. All are successful conversation starters with new prospects as well as current clients. Next month, NYC member Tom Gilman of Gillman Architects will take the floor to spotlight his corporate architectural design business.