Media Coverage
Source: Daily Journal
Media Coverage
05.18.12
Houston partner Laura Hannusch and San Francisco associate Paul Levin, both with Pillsbury’s real estate group, were quoted in an article on controversial energy regulations being weighed by the California Energy Commission. Those rules would require commercial real estate owners to disclose a building’s energy use when entering into sales, leases or finance contracts on the property.
"I think it’s an additional burden that’s probably more of a burden on small property owners that aren’t set up for distribution of the information or [don’t] even know that it’s required," Hannusch said. "Sometimes all these little things add up. It’s not necessarily one item that makes people not want to build commercial property, but it could be a totality of all restrictions and requirements.”
Levin said the energy benchmarking rules "are the first step along a general scale." He said a handful of cities across the country have begun requiring similar energy reporting audits in property deals.
"This is more a bill about disclosure," he said. "As we go forward, there could be more regulation about actual performance. That angle may not be welcomed by the building industry."