“At The Schuster Group we strive to make every development a landmark project which enhances the overall community and contributes to the social fabric of our environment. This is our commitment, not just when it’s easy, but when we excel in our ability to push the envelope, to pioneer new levels, and to teach our neighbors the value of environmental healing.” - Mark R. Schuster |
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| OUR COMMITMENT | ||
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At The Schuster Group, sustainable principles and social equity have been a part of our core philosophy for the past 20 years. Our firm developed Seattle’s first Silver LEED® certified and Built Green™ condominium high-rise, and were the first in the city (and state of Washington) to receive double LEED® Existing Building and Commercial Interior certification on an office building. Our sustainable principles can be summarized through three primary objectives: 1) To reduce and/or eliminate the negative environmental effects of any new building projects which we invest in and develop, 2) To increase the efficiency of buildings’ operations, and 3) To create quality environments for our customers, therefore contributing to the overall social fabric of our environment and civil structure. 1. New Construction - All new construction projects moving forward will seek LEED® or similar certification. The highest viable level of sustainable practices will be incorporated into each project. |
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| 2. Existing Buildings – Existing buildings outnumber new buildings by substantial opportunity to effectuate change. In each existing building we purchase, we will evaluate the need for sustainable building retrofits and complete any necessary changes in order to increase building performance and reduce the building’s overall environmental effects (carbon emissions, water use, etc). When feasible, we will seek sustainable certification for these buildings so that our customers and community will know that we are committed to creating sustainable environments for them to live and work in. 3. Community Enhancement – At The Schuster Group we strive to make every development a landmark project which enhances the overall community and contributes to the social fabric of our environment. This is our commitment, not just when it’s easy, but when we excel in our ability to push the envelope, to pioneer new levels, and to teach our neighbors the value of environmental healing. |
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| BUILDING GREEN | ||
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The built environment is one of the largest consumers of the world’s finite resources. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, in the U.S. alone buildings account for 72% of all electrical consumption, 40% of raw material use, and 38% of the nations carbon emissions. These numbers seem to be ever changing, but the message remains the same, the built environment is the number one contributor to our environmental problems. For us, as a developer, this means changing the way we build and retrofit buildings, but the responsibility for change doesn’t stop there. To truly start reversing the aforementioned effects, it requires participation from the highest levels of our government all the way down to our base of consumers. We must change the way we plan and build communities, as well as the way we choose to live. At The Schuster Group, we work to educate both the government AND our customers to align with the facts and our endeavors to promote healthy environments and reduce/reverse the harmful affects to our environment. |
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| STATISTICS | |||
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• In the U.S. we currently emit 6 Billion tons of Carbon into the atmosphere each year (compared to 1.6B in 1950). Carbon regulates the earth’s temperature….as carbon increases, the earth’s temperature increases. Hence, Carbon emissions are the number one contributor to climate change. |
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• In the United States, we consume more than 50% of the planets available fresh water. |
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• In the United States, we have lost one-third (1/3) of our topsoil since 1950. The world has lost more than 75%. |
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• “If half of all new commercial buildings were built to use 50 percent less energy, it would save over 6 million metric tons of CO2 annually for the life of the buildings – the equivalent of taking more than 1 million cars off the road every year.” |
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Source Hartmann, Thom (Rev. ed. 2004). The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. Three Rivers Press, NY. Deloitte & Charles Lockwood, (2008). The Dollars and Sense of Green Retrofits. October 2008, www.charleslockwood.com |
