Solving the Split Incentive Problem – Reframing Investment in Energy Efficiency, for Building Owners & Tenants

In rental properties, there is a common obstacle to investment in energy efficiency. If the owner invests in efficient HVAC equipment, the tenant receives the benefit of lower utility bills. This reduces the financial incentive for building owners to make these upgrades. Seen more broadly, the “split incentive” exists whenever the responsibility for a proposed improvement is held separately from its benefits. Since rapid implementation of energy efficiency is critical to addressing the climate crisis, the split incentive is an obstacle that endangers our collective future. Luckily, there are numerous solutions to the problem. This program will present concepts for reframing how we think about the split incentive as well as practical tools, including: commercial and residential lease language; organizational changes; staff incentives, policy proposals in other cities; and marketing, cultural, and informational solutions.

Click Here to View List of Attendees

SPEAKER

Aaron Michels, Director of Operations, Energy Resources Group, Inc. – Aaron Michels is the Operations Director at Energy Resources Group, Inc. (ERG), and is responsible for ERG’s tools used in utility, HVAC loads, and ventilation analysis. He works primarily on energy efficiency in buildings; projects from controls retro-commissioning to energy master planning. Aaron has approached earth-friendly living from many different angles. He started in energy efficiency in high school, counting lightbulbs in school districts for his father’s energy consultancy. After receiving his bachelor’s in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a focus on habitat conservation and international ecotourism, he then moved on to explore educational media production (documentary video and online), ecovillage development, biofuels, sustainable agriculture, organics recycling (composting), and permaculture. Returning full circle to St. Louis, he rejoined Energy Resources Group in 2013 and since then has been working with building owners to improve the energy efficiency and resiliency of their buildings. In his spare time, Aaron Michels leads a community garden, schemes about community co-ownership, and promotes and consults on intentional communities in St. Louis.

PANELISTS 

• Kevin Bryant, Executive Founder, Developer & President, Kingsway Development – Kevin Bryant is the Executive Founder, Developer & President of Kingsway Development LLC and CEO of Conversion Global Marketing. Kevin is making his mark by establishing and nurturing critical business relationships with some of the St. Louis area’s most prolific companies and individuals, “redeveloping our communities is more than brick and mortar, it’s people and dreams.” While serving as the leading Community and Building Developer in the Kingsway/Central West End corridor of St. Louis, Missouri, Kevin has retained Master Development rights for 207 acres of the Kingsway District and is overseeing the multi-million-dollar business and community development project in St. Louis’ Central West End. As an accomplished communications professional with expertise in strategic planning and project management, Kevin is also responsible for the financing, construction, marketing and sales of this real estate. Driving economic development in the district through a core focus on revitalizing vacant/underutilized properties, working with the Collective Work Foundation (CWF); and negotiating tax credit programs in partnership with the St. Louis Development Corporation.
• Jon Nichols, Director of Sustainability, Antheus Capital & Mac Development  – Jonathan Nichols is the Director of Sustainability for Mac Properties. At Mac, he works to find creative ways to reduce the impact of multifamily buildings on the environment while ensuring those buildings are resilient to climate change. On his slate of projects are building electrification, envelope improvements, and on-site renewable energy, as well as many others. Prior to joining Mac, Jon was a research professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and currently retains adjunct status there. While at Columbia, he studied the global carbon cycle, and the complex relationship among wetlands, plant life, and the atmosphere. He also worked to understand the impact of sea level rise on urban wetlands in New York City and environs, providing advice to State and Municipal agencies to mitigate those impacts. Cities and buildings—like wetlands—are complex, interconnected systems. If we hope to improve how they function, we need to understand how their the components work together, and how the individual changes we make to impact the whole.
  
• Tristan Walker, Principal, Heritage Properties St. Louis – Tristan Walker is a principal at Heritage Properties, a property management, construction, and real estate firm doing business primarily in St. Louis City. He serves on the Board of Managers at DeSales Community Development helping oversee ongoing property management of their portfolio of properties. Exposure to the historic building stock of St. Louis has yielded experience in preserving and upgrading this irreplaceable architectural treasure to last another hundred years. In addition to architectural preservation and urbanism, Tristan has a long standing involvement in sustainable design, agriculture, and land management.