While it's common for buildings and associations of any size to have designated committees in place to help boards and management handle aesthetic, social, and other community concerns, environmentally-friendly committees are a more recent trend…though, one that is gaining traction all over the country as environmental consciousness is raised.

Recycling, energy and water conservation, composting, and improving landscaping techniques and methods are just a few of the things green committees may devote themselves to working on, and often there are local and state-sponsored organizations and resources to help them achieve their goals.

Going Green

Two decades ago, no one knew the term “green committee.” Similarly, the case was not made that properly designed landscaping could save money by helping the environment. Change of this kind begins with early adopters. This is also how green committees tend to get their start in HOAs.

“Usually, there’s one person who has a strong ethical reason for doing it, and they’re trying to convince everybody else, who couldn’t care less about the ethics, and just want to make sure that they spend as little money as possible,” says Gennaro Brooks-Church, director of Eco Brooklyn. “We have one champion, and then we have to go in and explain to the rest of the board why we think it’s an intelligent thing to do, from a practical point of view.”

The one change agent enlists the aid of a company like Eco Brooklyn, experts in the industry. Those companies have developed innovative ways of spreading the word. “We’ve been forced to develop a structure and a service and a lot of it is free,” says Brooks-Church. “We don’t charge for going in and directing meetings…unless they want us to do a feasibility study. We fund this service through the paying jobs that we get. We’ve put together our own package and our own support network. An idealistic tenant will come to us, and they don’t really have much knowledge about what can be done. So we have to hand-hold them, and then bring out the big guns and really make a case for it with the board.”

Often, the most difficult part of establishing a green committee is getting the powers that be in the same room, and agreeing on the concept.

“There is often a solution that will satisfy what everybody wants, but the residents may be saying, ‘I want a cool roof or an outside space,’ and then the operators are saying, ‘Well, I don’t want to take care of an outside space,’ and the managers are saying, ‘Ah, it’s going to be too expensive,’” says Ellen Honigstock, director of education development for the Urban Green Council, which is based in New York City. “The cool roof could reduce the heating load on the floor below, and the operator is getting a new roof that’s easy to clean, and the tenants get an amenity that they never had before. Everybody gets what they wanted…but the thing they achieved is not the thing that each of them would have talked about in the first place.”

Making the Case

Once the minds of the board members have been opened, the “green” case is made by making the case for a different kind of green: money. “There are some very compelling financial reasons to do it on a macro level, in terms of heat island effect and the sewage runoff,” explains Brooks-Church.

“When I talk to owners or co-op/condo boards, I reach into my pocket and pull out a wad of bills and I say, ‘This is the green that I’m talking to you about tonight,’” says Andy Padian, who is originally from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and sits on the board at GreenHome NYC. “I hate the use of the word ‘green’ to sell environmental stuff. It drives people nuts.”

This case is easily made by paying close attention to how much an HOA spends on utilities. “If buildings are going to start the work, they have to start at the bottom, and they have to count stuff,” Padian says. “They have to know how much oil they use, and how much electricity they use, and how much water they use. They’re going to find it’s a big deal…and that water is a big deal. Most buildings I go to, their water bill is bigger than their oil bill and gas bill.”

Depending on how old the condo complex is, the real savings come from making wholesale changes within the units. “If you can’t change anything past the door of every co-op or condo unit, you’re not going to get anywhere. You have to get buy-in…let people know that you’re doing a big project, and this big project is going to involve you changing your toilet. If you want to keep your 1920s throne, we’re going to up your fees, because that’s where all the water is. In my own building, they finally changed all the toilets, and our water bill went down 40 percent.”

Bill Vecchione, owner of B&G Landscape Architects in Scotch Plains, sees similar excess. “Most properties are wasting everything,” he says. “One of the problems today is that the contractor builds the building and they don’t look towards the future; they cut back everywhere because they put so much money into the real estate, they’re trying to unload their properties. Condo associations need to know that they need a substantial amount of money to do this sort of landscaping. And a thousand dollars is nothing. You need $50, $80, or $100 thousand. Landscaping means a lot…even in cities. It’s an expensive initial investment, but it’ll still be there 15 years down the road and will never have to be changed.”

A big part of sharing the knowledge comes with training. Training—like landscaping—can involve a front-end investment; but in the end, it’s worth it.

“We teach a class that’s 14 hours long,” says Honigstock. “It’s long enough to be a commitment. I suggest that green committees take a course like this, because then they get the whole picture, and they have some time to talk to each other about strategies in the context of the whole building.”

That’s where the real change happens. “The thing I want to get across is the value of training,” continues Honigstock. “Operators, board committees…people tend to do things the same way for years, but sustainability means a shift in direction. It’s really useful to be able to speak the same language, and learn new practices and technology...communicate across these different constituencies to get things done. So, whether you’re talking about an outdoor space -- or boiler efficiency, or tenant comfort—the same thing applies.”

Step By Step

After the cost analysis is done, the most concrete way to begin making an HOA greener is the most concrete way… literally.

“Taking up the concrete is the first thing that I’d recommend,” says Brooks-Church. “That’s step number one. Step number two is to test the soil for lead and heavy metals. The other thing I advocate quite strongly is green roofs. The two main advantages are in the summertime, the building is much cooler, and the rainwater is absorbed onsite.”

Water runoff is no small thing, especially in more densely-populated areas. “The water runoff issue is becoming more important to people now that there are taxes connected to it, and rebates,” Brooks-Church explains. “We show them that all this water that’s running down into the sewer has financial savings if they were to put it into a rain garden or into a pond, and it’s a wonderful aesthetic improvement, as well. All of a sudden, the building has a water feature and they don’t have to do anything; it’s just there, it’s natural.”

“A view onto a green roof raises the property value by about eight percent,” Brooks-Church. “That’s just amazing. A view onto a park or a green roof will increase the value of the property, and access to a green roof raises the property value by around 13 percent.”

When property values can increase that dramatically and improve overall quality of life while gaining approval from the environment at the same time, what reason does a community board have to ignore it? “You need to know the ethical implications of something like a green roof, and the kind of fuzzy monetary value that that has,” says Brooks-Church. “Ethics do have a monetary value. We need to acknowledge that.”    

Greg Olear is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The New Jersey Cooperator.