Environmentally Aware Community Associations

The word “environment” is a scientific term referring to all living and non-living things on earth. The earth has many cycles that keep things in balance, but it also changes over time as a result of natural occurrences. With over 6 billion people on earth, our activities are also changing this environment. Unfortunately, we may be causing changes that are harmful to the future of earth. These changes are already being seen in such things as global warming, depletion of the ozone-layer, pollution of our air and oceans and the loss of many natural resources.

Many people today are concerned about these issues and are actively involved in trying to resolve the problems and save the earth from potentially disastrous events. To this end, many cities across the nation (and the world) are supporting recycling efforts, education measures, and such efforts as alternate energy sources. Some cities offer recycling programs for glass, plastics, paper and green waste. People are also engaged in efforts to reduce energy consumption and conserve resources such as water.

Residents of community associations share in these concerns and many have already or may want to become involved in efforts to recycle and conserve natural resources. Residents may want their community/complex to become a part of this “green” movement. Association boards may turn to their community manager for suggestions on how to get started.

Community Manager’s Role

The community manager can provide some suggestions about how to get started on such matters, but it is up to the board and residents to make the final decisions about what might work for their property.

First Steps

The first thing the board should do is research the issues and find out what initiatives they might be interested in pursuing. Such information should be shared with all residents, and their feedback would be important in determining in what ways the community might want to engage in conservation efforts.
The board members should ask interested residents to form an exploratory committee. This committee could take a look at other associations involved in efforts to be more “green”. They could see what has worked, what has failed and how to adapt conservation measures to fit their particular community. The committee should also investigate cost factors involved in recycling efforts. All of this can then be shared with the board and, in turn, with residents via a newsletter or the community website. The association should invite knowledgeable residents to share their ideas. Armed with good information, the association is ready to begin.

Take Action

Boards can disseminate information on solar panels. Residents need to know the guidelines and approval procedures, if the board has the authority to permit or disallow solar panels in the community. Since owners pay for the panels, there is no cost to the association. Owners who choose solar energy will have an initial cost that may be offset by tax incentives and a reduction in their electricity bills.
The association may decide to initiate some recycling/conservation efforts. Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 75% of our waste is recyclable, recycling would obviously be something to start with. Recycling can keep valuable products such as aluminum and paper out of our landfills.
Provide educational information to residents so that they will more readily take part in the community recycling efforts.
Plan what will be recycled, how to begin and how to maintain the recycling project. A “Green” committee could work on this.
Determine costs to the association for recycling bins or trash bins. Decide on a vendor for pick-up service. Provide such information to residents. The majority of the community must support the efforts in order to be successful.
Establish a start date. Be sure to label bins with instructions.
Conservation efforts may focus on something like water. Water is a resource that needs to be conserved. Using less will result in lower water bills for the association and it will help conserve this valuable resource. What are some ways to achieve this? One easy action is to irrigate lawns and beds in the early morning, even before the sun rises. Watering at mid-day when it is hot, results in more evaporation and less saturation of the soil/ground cover.
A relatively new but very popular trend in landscaping is called xeriscaping. This is landscaping that uses water-wise designs and plants. Properly created, xeriscaping creates a pleasing landscape that reduces water consumption and maintenance. This is easiest to implement on new landscaping, but established landscapes can be modified or re-done to achieve the xeriscape benefits. An association might want to begin in a few carefully selected common areas. The advice of professionals (or even the expertise of residents) is usually needed to properly develop a xeriscape program. Again, while saving water, the association will also see lower water bills and healthier, native plants.
Another simple conservation effort could be to reduce use of electricity by using Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) or Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) in common area lighting. Changing one bulb could save $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb, and these bulbs give off less heat than the incandescent type (70% less with CFLs, 90% less with LEDs). Using these bulbs is beneficial to the earth and saves money.
Associations could also easily turn their green waste into mulch to be used in their xeriscape or regular landscaped areas.

Conclusion:

Associations wishing to get involved in measures to protect the environment have many options. They may decide to begin with a few simple and inexpensive measures. Later, they may move on to other more challenging projects.

A community manager should become familiar with some of these new earth-friendly measures to be able to properly advise and support an association’s efforts to become “green”. Many new community associations are being built using earth-friendly technologies and eco-saving landscaping. Older complexes can also do their part to protect our environment, and a community manager should be a part of these efforts. Conservation and protecting the environment are important issues facing our world today. The community manager should assist associations in exploring options and help them to pursue the implementation of various eco-friendly measures.

Susan Nichols-Afuso,
PCAM®, AMS®, CMCA®
Account Executive
Certified Management, Inc.
Honolulu, Hawaii