[phaster]

saw another t boone pickens wind advertisement the other day, and thought that his proposal for wind power is a literally a 10 billion dollar example of the "Triple bottom line" link

just wondering if anyone else ever heard of the concept, and if ya did ya it a viable idea (the actual concept of looking at the triple bottom line, that is) or do ya think the tripple bottom line is just another feel good business idea?????

Personally I've known about the triple bottom line concept for a few years now, don't remember where I heard about it first, might have been some liberal talk show pod cast or one of the various periodicals I subscribe to, but when I thought about it, it made sense to me...

Anyway spent part of this sunday afternoon posting a page on my own web site, about my own example of what I consider one of my own triple bottom line investments. remodeling

I first shared my thoughts about this on another part of this site which dealt with efficiency and conservation in particular the remodeling thread... figure my example might inspire others to try and follow or beat my achievement of a 60% over all reduction of natural gas, electricity and water useage in a rental investment property, and get people to think of their own novel ways to follow the triple bottom line credo.

[MrBill]

It looks like a really nice rental unit. Whenever we renovated properties to turn them into rental units we pretty much did exactly what you did. We aimed for good tenents, but not luxury apartments. Again we chose very neutral color schemes very similar to yours. White appliances. Just good, clean apartments that appealed to the average renter. If hypthetically a low, medium, high end apartment were going for say $500, $750 and $1000 per month, we would much sooner have two bedroom, two bathroom apartments for around $750-850 than pay for all the ammenities needed for a $1000 apartment. Nice work.

[phaster]

Just added and cleaned up the text on my remodeling page about my real world example of being able to cut energy and water consumption in the 60% range, in a rental property by paying attention to details.

I've got a bunch of spreadsheet I plan eventually to add that page that calculate little details such as:
a) like given the specification of a light buld, what it would cost to operate per hour over the lifetime of the bulb.
b) calculations for various things like what it cost to maintain different types of landscaping (i'm in california and water is one of my other concerns, so that is why I changed the landscaping to something more pragmatic).
etc., etc., etc.

Since everyone lives in some kind of home, I figure info like ways to calculate efficency thus conserving energy and water would be really helpful to people concerned with the subject.

Actually since this is the economic and finance section, have any thoughts on the "triple bottom line" link
And any examples ya know of a business or NGO that uses the "triple bottom line" philosophy that works or a counter example of business or NGO that tried to follow the "triple bottom line" philosophy and went down in flames.

It looks like a really nice rental unit. Whenever we renovated properties to turn them into rental units we pretty much did exactly what you did. We aimed for good tenents, but not luxury apartments. Again we chose very neutral color schemes very similar to yours. White appliances. Just good, clean apartments that appealed to the average renter. If hypthetically a low, medium, high end apartment were going for say $500, $750 and $1000 per month, we would much sooner have two bedroom, two bathroom apartments for around $750-850 than pay for all the ammenities needed for a $1000 apartment. Nice work.

[Iaato]

That's a thoughtful remodel, Phaster. And thanks for the link on the triple bottom-line. Although I am leary of all things corporate these days, the idea of specifically adding environmental and social natural capital to bottom-line accounting in business and in personal life is a great idea. We have had renters in our nicely finished built-out basement for almost a year now, and the synergies of having people who you enjoy and can relate to as renters are great. We charge them less than a full rate, with the understanding that they'll feed the cat or blow the snow when we're gone if they're around. With two households living together, we can share equipment and have back-ups. Transportation can be shared somewhat with two cars, adding flexibility and efficiency. They contribute to the neighborhood in various ways--he's a great photographer, and they're willing to housesit. And so on.

[phaster]

Glad ya appreciate the thought that went into the remodel.

What I actually find so hopeful about peak are my basic calculations that show its possible to have groups of people save lots of energy and water (without really changing their behavior) when building contains lots of energy saving device from the onset.

I'm pretty sure with some social modification (i.e. MSM warnings about saving water and power), the tenants in the building would be more aware of the problem and try and do their part to conserve power (which I'd estimate would drop power and water consumption by another 20%, which is what I've read has been the historical response in past to calls for conservation). So overall I'd estimate the drop in power and water consumption in that building would be around 70% overall (WRT the pre-remodel state of the building).

So anyone else here ever try and calculate their home energy savings?

BTW I kinda think what a waste of money the tax rebate was (there is no long term payback, just more consumption). What I'd like to see is something like

Eco-Friendly Stimulus




one last thing, thought I'd share an image I modified from different elements on the web including this site, and just added on my web page that tries to capture all the technical elements of the peak oil thesis (figure this crowd might appreciate this info)

That's a thoughtful remodel, Phaster. And thanks for the link on the triple bottom-line. Although I am leary of all things corporate these days, the idea of specifically adding environmental and social natural capital to bottom-line accounting in business and in personal life is a great idea. We have had renters in our nicely finished built-out basement for almost a year now, and the synergies of having people who you enjoy and can relate to as renters are great. We charge them less than a full rate, with the understanding that they'll feed the cat or blow the snow when we're gone if they're around. With two households living together, we can share equipment and have back-ups. Transportation can be shared somewhat with two cars, adding flexibility and efficiency. They contribute to the neighborhood in various ways--he's a great photographer, and they're willing to housesit. And so on.