Visión, pasión y creatiVidad - Inmobiliare

panel de discusiónJaneiro HenleyEcomagination is GE´ssustainability solutionfor all its businesslines: from energy andwater consumptionmeasurement, to solarcells in industrialbuildings.of the most sustainable firms worldwide.”ProLogis was one of the first ones in the realestate business to make a commitment to reducingcarbon footprint. “We have begun to build sustainableconstructions according to internationalstandards and that have obtained certain certifications.We abide LEED regulations, especially inNorth America: Mexico, and Canada, as well asPRIM Norm for England, and CASBI for Asia.”Luis GutiérrezOut of the total ProLogis portfolio, morethan 30 million square feet -around 3 and a halfmillion square meters- have been developed accordingto sustainability standards.Luis Gutiérrez mentions that they reducetheir carbon footprint by implementingnatural lighting in their developments, and onthe other hand, by applying a high refractionmembrane, they carry out preservation measuresthrough landscape gardening, watercollection and recycling of different products.“In subjects such as solar and wind energies,we have just announced a $2,400 million dollarfund, where we are renting the roofs fromour buildings in the United States and othercountries, in order to place solar cells andto be able to substitute the electrical supplywith solar energy.”Carbon footprint -according to PrologisGeneral Director- can also be reduced by replacingautomobile transportation by the useof railroads, so in this regard, the company isbuilding intermodal stations.The GE Capital Real EstateCaseSustainability for a company like GE is shelteredunder a global initiative called Ecomagination. Thisinvention is applied to all GE products, whetherindustrial, lighting, railway engines, turbines forelectrical energy generation and for aircrafts, inshort, to all their business lines. Definitely -statesRaul Gallegos, General Director GE Capital RealEstate- sustainability is part of their DNA.“The real estate sector is one of the maingenerators of CO 2emissions, almost 40% of thetotal energy consumption comes from real estatedevelopment, and 80% of these emissions comesfrom the operation itself. Therefore, we have allsorts of initiatives worldwide, from energy andwater consumption measurement, to solar cellsin industrial buildings”, says Raul Gallegos.GE Capital Real Estate has grouped sustainabilityplans in four areas, two of which, are moreeasily applicable in Mexico. For instance, theyconsider educating the whole sector is important,so, in this regard, they have organized forums andseminars where attendees may bring ideas forbetter sustainability practices. In fact, the conclusionsdrawn from these events are shared withtheir tenants as well.Second, opportunities are created for theapplication of initiatives that may be rapidlycarried out at a low cost. “When a tenant leavesan industrial building, we take the opportunityto install energy saving lamps. Another one ofthe issues we have also approached, since wehave achieved savings of almost 20% in air conditioningenergy consumption, is switching tomore efficient coolants”, according to Raúl Gallegos,General Director GE Capital Real Estate.Likewise, some measures have been takenregarding shopping centers to improve the developmentof better practices. As an example,mentions Raúl Gallegos, some operational improvementshave been achieved, from closeddoors to prevent air conditioning from escaping,to solar lighting tubes and cells for the centers’external lighting.Hewlett Packard and theirdata centersMany companies feel stressed by having tomanufacture more products and to providemore services; the question is how to do it, butbeing more efficient.This pressure certainly comes from energyconsumption. “It has been said that by the endof 2035 there will be an increase of 50% in energyconsumption all over the world, and thesource where this resource should be generatedwill be solar panels and other initiativesHP portfolio seeks theoptimization of energyuse, measuring andcontrolling the energyconsumption; in its datacenters, they design,implement and assess it.38www.inmobiliare.com