Geof Syphers: Changing the World One Green Building at a Time

This week's post is inspired by a collection of essays put together by James Freedman. He is a writer, an intellectual, as well as a law professor and university president. His experiences as head of Dartmouth college and University of Iowa have led to his strong belief that a liberal education is the "'surest instrument yet devised for developing those civilizing qualities of mind and character that enable men and women to lead satisfying lives and to make significant contributions to a democratic society'". In "Liberal Education and the Public Interest" he works with the notion that "the modern university presidency [has] power to advocate for societal good" and that with this ability he/she should take "principled positions on issues of morality...to inspire our students to change the world." Here at the University of Southern California there is given an Honorary Degree. It can be for many different types of societal contributors and therefore it has different types of awards. Whoever is awarded with the USC Honorary Degree speaks at the May Commencement and therefore should be relevant to current issues. Freedman argues that an award of this nature should be given to someone of true inspiration and legitimacy. As such I would like to draw attention to someone in real estate development that is not only a success, but a catalyst for change within the industry. A man who embodies the characteristics of the USC Trojan Family, more specifically Tommy Trojan's five attributes: faithful, scholarly, skillful, courageous, and ambitious. I nominate Geof Syphers for the USC doctoral degree of Humane Letters.

The world of real estate is forever adapting. Currently the issue of global warming has brought about real concerns over the lack of smart development. It will be crucial that over the coming years a trend toward green building (sustainable development) continues. Geof Syphers is aiding the development community on their journey towards a greener planet. He has traveled the world to study sustainable projects, teaches courses in green building project management and speaks at conferences on the subject. KEMA made Syphers director of their Green Building department and he is currently Chief Sustainability Officer of Codding Enterprises, a real estate, property management, and construction company in Northern California that specializes in shopping mall developments. Codding is involved in one of the largest green projects in Northern California; Sonoma Mountain Village (pictured to the right) will be a "high-density community with 1,900 housing units and 750,000 sf of commercial space including a significant retail core surrounding a town square. The estimated $1-billion endeavor would utilize the latest principles of sustainability, green technology and new urbanism and take approximately 10- to 15 years to build out."

This project represents the future of all real estate development and it is essential that it is such. Syphers's contribution to the Sonoma Mountain Village will help to bring an overall understanding of applicable green practices which are innovative as well as practical. His vast knowledge of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) will create a balance between form and function. He brings to the table a new perspective on old development practices which help him to relate the old with the new sustainable building processes. Syphers has contributed to a growing desire to aid the environment with his acquired skills. As a representative of the Trojan Family he contains all of Tommy's characteristics: he has taught others about the things he has learned, he was courageous to support green building during a time when green building it was (and still is) a costly alternative and his ambitious task to change the world. In changing his own development ideals he has set an example that will be a catalyst for change all over California, the United States, and eventually the World.

Keeping the Balance and Saving Some Green: Land Owners Receive Big Tax Breaks for Protecting Property

The earth’s surface area is 196,949,970 square miles of which about three-fourths is water (about 148,000,000) which only leaves about 48,000,000 square miles of land mass. Such large numbers can be deceiving, but what is important to take away here is the fact that there is limited land with a growing demand. As represented by the picture to the right rows of identical cookie-cutter housing developments are popping up everywhere along the California coast. In the United States large pieces of land are being developed. Specifically in the west, rural parts of California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and Colorado have become highly desirable pieces of real estate. At the same time, the amount of people moving to these regions has greatly increased. For instance, the U.S. Census Bureau, Colorado's population increased nearly 50% from 1999-2000 alone while the entire United State's population grew 13% in comparison. The overall population has increased because of similar situations to that of Colorado. Many western states face the same dilemma of rapid growth. And so begins the struggle: save the land, protect the greenery, or make some green and subdivide.

In an attempt to counteract the allure of high profits from subdividing and selling pieces of beautiful terrain, a recent trend in conservation practices has led to major tax incentives. According to an article in The Economist from February 3^rd, 2007, “Conservation in Colorado: Mountains for the Centuries,” “several rural conservation organizations work collectively and in accord with state legislatures to create income-tax credit in exchange for a conservation easement on their property.” This easement maintains the private ownership of the property while permanently prohibiting certain types of development such as the subdivision of land. Some incentives offer an income-tax credit of 50% of the fair market value of the easement up to a whopping maximum of $375,000. If that does not already appeal to the property owner then there are many other options as the credits are abnormally flexible. The article goes on to explain that the income-tax credits sometimes may “have limited appeal for the Colorado ranchers and farmers who have little income for the state to tax.” If that is the case they are able to sell the income-tax break for 85 cents on the dollar, with all of this made possible by the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts.

Property owners must love these tax breaks because the program seems to be working. Research by the Land Trust Alliance, has concluded that the total acreage protected in the west to have increased by 44% (shown by the pie chart above to the left). More specifically, Colorado's percentage of protected land went from just under 350,000 acres in 2000 to almost one million by the end of 2005. However, issues have arisen concerning the tracking of the conserved land and more importantly the large tax revenue decrease. But with few critics this is quite successful at accomplishing a balance between profit and politics in a world where global warming has become quite a concern. By giving the people of Colorado an opportunity to profit from conservation these organizations have created a win-win situation. With the recent boom in housing across the country it is now important that regulations like these are put in place to preserve the scenery that originally attracted people to this beautiful area (like that of the countryside pictured above to the right).

Protected property will keep Colorado and its surrounding states (at least for now) from losing that allure of beauty and tranquility. According to the U.S. Census Bureau predictions of growth the United States will have an overall increase in population of about 49% from 2000-2050. As the increasing conservation of land leads to less real estate, it will contribute to rising property value. As this continues the supply for such unique properties decreases and the demand increases. If such drastic tax-incentives are adopted elsewhere in the country we could see quite a change in the way developers and private property owners alike look at sprawling acreage.