#90 Total Real Estate Retrofits, RE Valuations, Tenant Education, & More w/ Chris Gray (RENU Communities)

Today we are joined by Chris Gray, the CTO of RENU Communities. 

At it's simplest form, they are a PE Fund that is doing total retrofits on real estate to make it a sustainable building. 

The more interesting aspects of what they are doing are, 

1. they have an in-house set of experts that are able to help them integrate engineering knowledge with the financial modeling of the projects 
2. they take a very high-quality approach to how they manage the retrofits so that it doesn't impact tenant life
3. they engage with their tenants to help them understand the benefits of the newly installed upgrades 

In the end, Chris also had some interesting insights to share on the IRA bill which directly contributes to the bottom line of real estate owners. So if you own real estate, you might want to check that out as well.

Enjoy today's episode! Peace out! 🌎

Topics: 

• 3:42 Intro to Chris
• 5:40 Seeing how buildings worked led him to an interest in sustainability
• 8:55 Utilities and their incentives around energy efficiency
• 10:26 40% of Emissions are from buildings
• 12:03 Why energy efficiency is now becoming mainstream
• 14:55 Their process
• 28:31 Lifetime Savings
• 33:07 Increased rent for green buildings
• 35:50 Design & Energy Efficiency / Form Factor
• 39:21  How they engage with and educate their tenants
• 41:52 Personal health and green buildings
• 43:57 Green buildings and insurance
• 49:07 The IRA - Some thoughts
• 52:17 Incentives contribute directly contributions to RE Owner's bottom line
• 54:33 Outlook on the green building space

Links: 

• Connect with Chris:
• RENU Communities Website:
• Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners: https://www.next-wavepartners.com/
• Join the Slack Channel:  https://cleantechies.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-pd2drz6d-N~9nURU5JlyMXv2ZiO5bAQ#/shared-invite/email
• Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clean-techies/ 
• HMU on Twitter: @silasmahner

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We are proud to continue working with NextWave as our official show sponsor for this podcast. NextWave and all of its staff are highly motivated to advance the ClimateTech revolution and are constantly innovating ways that they can help affect that transition. From experts in the talent space to ESG experts, NextWave is taking on Climate and Social responsibility head-on and helping companies build great cultures that not only make the world a better place but also increase workplace satisfaction. Reach out to NextWave Partners today to learn more about how we might partner with you today.