April 2011
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Your Committees at Work

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Here are the latest updates from our monthly committee meetings.  Become an active member and you will learn even more!

Codes & Regulations/Government Affairs

Conference Call:  Join The Task Force and Bring Your Best Ideas

Every October your Codes & Regs Committee designs the BOMA/NY Annual Conference with a keynote speaker and seminar modules that reflect the latest trends or issues that you and your building team deal with as management professionals. Content is always highly rated by attendees, and that’s because we have the best advisors possible—you. All conference offerings are discussed, created and ultimately put together by your BOMA/NY colleagues.

We need your best ideas for this year’s conference and the Annual Conference and Trade Show Task Force is now being assembled. With the Conference taking place October 13, work needs to begin now. If you’d like to participate, contact either Committee Chair Timothy Hogan at thogan@interchurch-center.org, or BOMA/NY’s Director of Legislation, Sylvester Giustino at sylvester@bomany.com or 212-239-3662.

See also Government Round-up and Must Know Info for more news from Codes & Regs.

Preparedness

New Subcommittee Tackles Nature’s Power: The Costliest Weapon We Face

The fatal storms that ripped through the Deep South in mid-April leaving 45 dead and billions in property damage in their wake were just the last in a series of extreme weather events that are constantly making headlines.  A few years ago the Northeast was  pummeled with a record-breaking snow storm that did more than dump several feet of the white stuff throughout the region—it caused $1.2 billion dollars in damage, took a number of lives and closed down operations in major cities, including New York. Last summer two tornadoes tore through the Bronx and Brooklyn, as did a microburst, which can inflict more danger than a tornado, much as a nor’easter can be more damaging and dangerous than a hurricane. And the heartbreaking earthquake and tsunami that destroyed large parts of Japan’s northeastern coastal region in March made it abundantly clear that even in an advanced society that prides itself on planning, the power of Mother Nature is one of the most destructive forces buildings can face.

Bottom line—extreme weather is now a fact of life and the costliest of routine emergency events. The New York area, which for years enjoyed benign weather, is no longer exempt. For several years, BOMA/NY has been actively partnering with Ready New York and the City’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to bring attention to the probability of severe weather events occurring in our area, as well as the programs, preparations and precautions that building managers, tenants and citizens should take. 

At the beginning of this year, our Preparedness Committee took its commitment a step further, forming a Weather Response Subcommittee, chaired by John Brandstetter of HEC/Emergency Response Strategies, which is now studying and gathering information not only on the physical impacts of weather, but the legal and insurance considerations as well.  The group will focus on disseminating information and strategies "for prudent risk management" to "mitigate real estate property damage, and minimizing the risk of personal injury to tenants, visitors and employees." 

Their work will take tangible form as a guide, much like the Preparedness Committee’s previously published and highly successful guides on pandemic flu and high-rise drills. The guide, which is a work in progress, is currently focusing on six sections:

1. All types of weather events (from drought to  heavy rain, floods, blizzards and wind events, to tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and Nor’easters)
2. Warnings
3. Ramifications
4. Preliminary Actions Checklist
5. Operational Response
6. Insurance

Joining John on our  Subcommittee are Anita Ohm, Vice Chair and Alex Timlin of Remlu; Ira Tannenbaum of NYC OEM; Ron Zeccardi of Cogswell Realty Group, and Karla Kudatzky of CBRE; along with additional representatives from OEM and the insurance community.

While a publication date cannot yet be set, BOMAFACTS will continue to bring you updates so that you, too, can be prepared. 

Energy/Sustainability

 Cool Roofs Can Deliver Cold Cash

While many of us know that applying reflective white coatings to our roofs cuts down on heat retention and reduces energy use, how many are actually doing it?

Not enough according to the NYC Cool Roofs program, an initiative created last April by Mayor Bloomberg through NYC Service. (NYC Service is a grass roots program that uses the power of New York’s citizens to develop innovative programs and solutions; 38 such initiatives are now underway.)

Committee Member David Bomke, Executive Director of the NYECC, reported that NYC Service approached his organization and BOMA/NY to drum up participation and help the program meet its 2011 goal—to enroll another 1 million square feet of participants. According to the NYC Cool Roofs program, "for profit" buildings can take advantage of volunteer labor to apply the coating. Cool Roofs will "inspect the roof for safety, determine the best coating product, working with the building owner to ensure the coating won’t void the roof warranty and schedule the coating days." if you use the volunteer force, Cool Roofs is also asking you to supply energy bills so the City can better evaluate the impact of white roofs.

And if you've already replaced your roof with a white membrane or coated it, the City would like to know about it—report your initiative by going to www.nyc.gov/coolroofs.

There are numerous opportunities for corporations to volunteer a workforce to do the coating via a Totally Cool Corporate Day, recommend buildings, sponsor groups and more. It's all part of the City’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 30 percent by the year 2030.