11th Annual CitiesAlive Green Roof and Wall Conference - October 23rd and 24th

BOMA San Francisco Members:

Consider attending the CitiesAlive Green Roof and Wall Conference in San Francisco this October for the and explore the many links between the roofs and walls of cities and the role they play in creating urban resilience.

You’ll meet the professionals and policymakers who have designed and are implementing the greenest building code in North America, and discuss San Francisco's progressive stormwater ordinance which is driving the design and implementation of green walls and rooftops across the region.  

Note that BOMA San Francisco members reviewed the San Francisco Stormwater Management Ordinance in 2010. 

At the industry trade show, discover the newest green roof and wall products and services in this rapidly expanding marketplace. The CitiesAlive exhibition hall features a product presentation stage with new project developments and the integration of technologies to promote aspects of urban resilience related to food, energy and water.  Click here to download a free trade show pass.

There will be over 100 expert speakers at the CitiesAlive conference. Don’t miss a dynamic panel discussion about the Transbay Transit Center development featuring Adam Greenspan (PWP Landscape Architecture), Brian Ballerini, (Arup) and Randolph J. Volenec (Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects) on Wednesday October 23rd at 5 pm.

Thursday morning Oct 24th, Eric Corey Freed (organicARCHITECT) shares his unique approach to developing living, regenerative buildings, and conducts an interactive panel and workshop on developing and supporting the role of the design profession in community resiliency planning, featuring Peter Busby (Perkins+Will), Christine Webber (DIRTT), Jeff Joslin, director of current planning at the San Francisco Planning Department and other thought leaders.

Registration Information

Register online at or call 416-971-4494 x 228.

GRHC is an approved education provider for LA CES, GBCI, AIA CES, BOMI, CNLA, APLD, AICP, CCA and RCI. Earn up to 16 CEU’s at CitiesAlive.

Congestion Pricing Update - BOMA Members Meet with SFCTA Executive Director Tilly Chang

BOMA San Francisco Members:

BOMA San Francisco Government Affairs Policy Advisory Committee (GAPAC) members met with Tilly Chang, Executive Director for Planning for the San Francisco County Transportation Authority recently for an update on the issue of congestion pricing.

Please click here to review Tilly's presentation to the GAPAC.

BOMA San Francisco opposes congestion pricing as it will damage the San Francisco economy.  Indeed, a recent article published in the San Francisco Examiner authored by BOMA San Francisco Executive Vice President Marc Intermaggio and BOMA San Francisco President Steven Ring detail the association's position on the issue.

Nevertheless, our members are an intrepid lot, willing to work with the City and County of San Francisco on issues that pertain to the commercial real estate industry.  Tilly kindly listened to our concerns as the BOMA San Francisco Advocacy staff and members reiterated the need for BOMA members to be at the table for any future discussion of congestion pricing models in San Francisco, whatever their form.

Thank you to Tilly Chang and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority for their outreach and for working with BOMA San Francisco members.

Energy Department Launches Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines Project

The Energy Department announced recently the Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines project to improve the quality and consistency of commercial building workforce training and certification programs for five key energy-related jobs: Energy Auditor, Commissioning Professional, Building/Stationary Engineer, Facility Manager, and Energy Manager. These voluntary workforce guidelines will support the Better Buildings Initiative goal of making commercial buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next 10 years, while helping businesses and communities save money by saving energy and creating new clean energy jobs across the country.

Improving the energy and operational performance of commercial buildings requires highly-skilled and qualified workers, particularly as building technologies become more advanced. The Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines will support the development of high-quality training and certification programs built upon a clear set of industry-developed guidelines—to the benefit of workers, employers, building owners, and policymakers.

The Energy Department has enlisted the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) to convene industry subject matter experts to develop the Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines. NIBS will establish a Commercial Workforce Credentialing Council (CWCC) comprised of private and public sector industry stakeholders to support this effort moving forward.

The guidelines will include an industry-validated Job Task Analysis (JTA) for each occupation, certification schemes (blueprints), and learning objectives. The Energy Department and the General Services Administration will recognize assessment-based certificate and competency-based certification programs that successfully implement the guidelines and achieve third-party accreditation.

To learn more about the Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines project, please visit buildings.energy.gov/workforce. Sign up here for the project webinar scheduled for October 17th.

BOMA International Advocacy Update - Lease Accounting Standards

Lease Accounting Standards Update

The comment period on the latest lease accounting exposure draft released by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) ended on Friday, September 13.

BOMA International, along with 22 other organizations, submitted comments on the May exposure draft issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board proposing changes to the current lease accounting standard. The coalition is primarily concerned that the draft leasing standard will make financial reporting more complex; impose substantial costs on businesses; fail to provide any benefits for investors; and drive economic activity, rather than reflect it. Among other things, the May exposure draft adopts a “dual-track” approach, which requires real estate lessors and lessees to recognize rental income on their balance sheets on a straight-line basis. In addition, lessees would be required to recognize assets and liabilities related to their leases (other than certain short-term leases) on their balance sheets. 

The final rule could be decided sometime next year, but implementation most likely would not take place until 2017.

BOMA China 2013 Conference

Marc Intermaggio, BOMA SF EVP at left and Steven Ring, BOMA SF President at right with BOMA China representatives.

Shanghai at night.

Click here to view more pictures on our Facebook page.

BOMA San Francisco Members:

BOMA International Chair Rich Greninger, President Henry Chamberlain and BOMA San Francisco leaders were part of a BOMA delegation participating in BOMA China's first annual conference.

The conference, led by BOMA China President Dominic Lau, was a great success with 200 attendees. One of the highlights was the unveiling of the Mandarin translation of BOMA's Guide to Developing a Standard Operating Procedure Manual. Other BOMA publications, including the Preventive Maintenance Guidebook, also will be translated into Mandarin in the near future as BOMA China continues its focus on managing real estate assets and utilizing best practices.

Buildings at Risk Seminar in San Francisco

BOMA San Francisco Members:

Registration is now open for California's premiere Earthquake Building event: Buildings at Risk Seminar.  Please make sure to register now to reserve your spot.  Summit attendees will receive presentation notes, breakfast, lunch, snack breaks, and a late afternoon reception. Attendees are also eligible to receive 1 professional development credit (PDH) for each hour of attendance, up to a maximum of 6 PDHs.

Registration is simple: just click online and select whether you’re registering as an individual or part of a group (and receive a special rate)

San Francisco: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at the Delancey Street Foundation

Registration questions? Please contact Wayne Low at walow@degenkolb.com (San Francisco) for assistance.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors Approves Alternative to Air Replenishment System for Firefighters

BOMA San Francisco Members:

With regard to the almost decade old requirement to install Air Replenishment Systems (ARS) in new high rise buildings, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently voted to unanimously support the San Francisco Fire Department to allow buildings between 75 and 120 feet to install a firefighter service elevator instead of an ARS.  Installing a fire service elevator is a valuable and practical option for firefighters.

BOMA San Francisco members commend the San Francisco Fire Department for their leadership on this issue.  The Department's decision was based on the most effective way to save the lives of those who may reside in a high rise building and the firefighters.  Also, new technologies and advancements in firefighter protection have made the ARS obsolete. 

Background

The City adopted an ordinance in 2004 that requires developers of new high rise buildings to install a patented piping system to supply firefighters fresh air all the way up a building to avoid them having to carry heavy air tanks up dozens of stairs. It is a high pressure air delivery system that was created by Air Rescue Systems, a company that convinced the Board of Supervisors at the time that it was a necessary requirement in every new high rise building built in the City.

UPDATE: BOMA San Francisco's 2013 Emergency Preparedness Seminar on September 11, 2013

Seminar Speakers 

San Francisco Fire Chief, Joanne Hayes-White

Please click here for more pictures on our Facebook page.

BOMA San Francisco Members and Partners:

BOMA San Francisco's Emergency Preparedness Committee members held a well-attended Emergency Preparedness Seminar on September 11, 2013 at the Port Commission Hearing Room at the Ferry Building.  Indeed, we ran out of chairs!  This information-packed emergency preparedness seminar was produced for property and facilities managers, tenants, building security staff, and public sector emergency responders.

Click here if you cannot view the promotional video

BOMA San Francisco Emergency Preparedness Committee Member Volunteers

Attendees learned:

• Lessons from BOMA San Francisco's July 2013 Fire Drills at Post Montgomery Center including: 1) incident management and 2) communication with relevant stakeholders, i.e., the Post Montgomery Center, Cushman & Wakefield Property Management Team, security team members, engineering staff, and the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD); 
• Strategies for working with emergency responders; 
• Acquired resources to help them be better educated and prepared for such emergencies.

Speakers:

Jackson Talbot, Director of Security at the Pyramid Center, Cushman & Wakefield and BOMA San Francisco Emergency Preparedness Committee Chair;
Jose Guevara, Property Manager, Post Montgomery Center, Cushman & Wakefield Property Management Team;
Lee Yurman, Security and Fire Safety Director at Post Montgomery Center, ABM
Ed Perinoni, Chief Engineer, Able Engineering Services
Liz Henderson, Property Manager, CAC Real Estate Management at 88 Kearny
Rod Collings, General Manager, CAC Real Estate Management at 275 Battery Street
San Francisco Fire Department Representatives, Assistant Deputy Chief Jose Velo & Battalion Chief Kirk Richardson

Ryan Rusler, Executive Account Manager, Har-Bro Restoration 

Lou Cuneo, Director, Facilities Management at American Academy of Ophthalmology

The BOMA San Francisco Emergency Preparedness Committee's 2013 Annual Emergency Preparedness Seminar was generously sponsored by (in alphabetical order):

San Francisco's Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety Collaborative Space - The Epicenter

Earthquake Safety Implementation Program

  

245 Third Street, San Francisco

This summer the CAPSS (Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety) Implementation Program, ESIP, turned a storefront on Third Street into a collaborative space centered around earthquake policy, innovation and education.

The CAPSS team had an opening party recently where many friends and supporters - over 250 people -  attended. They are excited to continue this brand new community space and will continue to hold seminars and workshops and serve as a public meeting space.

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Commercial High Efficiency Toilet & Urinal Rebates Available

BOMA San Francisco Members:

The BOMA San Francisco Energy & Environment Committee members heard from San Francisco Public Utilities Commission representatives recently regarding rebates available to commercial property owners to help them conserve water.

The first step to conserving water and saving money on water and wastewater bills is making sure you have efficient plumbing fixtures. Replacing older, high water use toilets and urinals with high-efficiency models is one of the best ways to save water.

Commercial High-Efficiency Toilets 

High-Efficiency Toilets (HETs) are defined as fixtures that flush at 20 percent below the 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) U.S. maximum or less, equating to a maximum of 1.28 gpf. The HET category includes dual-flush toilets which have two separate flush volume options. By the year 2014, high-efficiency toilets will be the standard. We offer rebates for only 1.28 gpf and lower models on our approved list and no longer rebates 1.6 gpf toilets.

Eligibility - FILLABLE REBATE PACKAGE BELOW

San Francisco commercial businesses are eligible for cash rebates of up to $125 per tank style toilet and up to $300 per flushometer valve toilet when they replace their high-flow toilets (3.5 gpf or more) with High-Efficiency Toilet (HET) models that are 1.28 gpf or less. We no longer provide rebates for 1.6 gpf toilets.

For complete program rules, please download the Commercial HET Rebate Package below and review the application before purchasing.

Limited Funding Available

Funding is limited and rebates are available on a first come, first served basis. Toilets must be installed and rebate applications must be postmarked within 60 days of the purchase date. We reserve the right to inspect the installations. It generally takes up to 12 weeks for processing after all applicant requirements have been met.

Only Water Conservation Program-approved toilets qualify for rebates. To obtain a current list of qualifying models and their rebate amounts, please download the List of Qualifying High-Efficiency Toilets (HETs) below.

For questions or guidance on rebate application procedures, call (415) 551-4730 or e-mailwaterconservation@sfwater.org.

Commercial High-Efficiency Toilet Rebate Package
List of Qualifying Commercial High-Efficiency Toilets
List of Qualifying Flushometer High-Efficiency Toilets

Commercial High-Efficiency Urinal Rebates

San Francisco commercial businesses are eligible for cash rebates of up to $300 per urinal when they replace their high-flow urinals (1.5 gpf or more) with High-Efficiency Urinal (HEU) models that are 0.5 gpf or less. For complete program rules, please download the Commercial HEU Rebate Package below and review the application before purchasing.

Download the Commercial High-Efficiency Urinal Rebate Package below and complete the application, tracking sheet, W-9 and return with original itemized receipts that indicate toilet(s) cost, original UPC bar code labels and copy of current water bill to the mailing address listed on the form. An on-site inspection may be required to receive approval. The name and address you provide on the rebate application must match the name and address you provide on your W-9 form. If you apply for more than one rebate in a calendar year, you must use the same name and address on each rebate application and this information must match your W-9.

Funding is limited and rebates are available on a first come, first served basis. Urinals must be installed and rebate application must be postmarked within 60 days of the purchase date. We reserve the right to inspect the installations. It generally takes up to 12 weeks for processing after all applicant requirements have been met.

Only WaterSense labeled flushing urinals and waterless urinals from the Water Conservation Program-approved commercial urinals list qualify for rebates. To obtain a current list of qualifying models, please download the List of Qualifying High-Efficiency Urinals (HEUs) below.

High-Efficiency Urinal Rebate Package
List of Qualifying High-Efficiency Urinals