**Society of Industrial and Office
REALTORS^®^**![](media/image1.png){width="1.03125in"
height="0.9888888888888889in"}

700 11th St., NW, Suite 510

Washington, DC 20001-4511

Phone: 202-737-1150

Fax: 202-737-8796

www.sior.com

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]{.underline} Contact: James T. Pastore

Pastore Communications Group

> 202-546-6451

[pastore@ix.netcom.com](mailto:rhammond@mail.sior.com)

######## Commercial Real Estate Brokers become Energy Experts

First SIOR [EnergyStar]{.smallcaps} Course Held in California;

will be Offered Nationwide via the Internet

WASHINGTON, DC, April 25, 2001 \-- The Society of Industrial and Office
[Realtors]{.smallcaps}^®^, the international Society for leading
commercial real estate brokers, has conducted a special educational
course in energy efficiency and conservation for commercial property
brokers. It is the first time an energy conservation course has been
offered for real estate licensing.

The course, held during the recent SIOR 60^th^ Anniversary Spring
Convention in Palm Springs, Calif., is the first in a series of courses
offered for the commercial brokerage community as part of a special
educational alliance formed between the Society and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the EPA's
E[nergyStar]{.smallcaps} ^®^ program.

The 2,700-member Society is adapting the energy curriculum for Internet
remote learning, according to Stephen F. Blau, SIOR, president of the
Society and vice president of GMH Capital Partners, of Newtown Square,
Pa. "SIOR E[nergyStar]{.smallcaps} courses will be presented online to a
nationwide audience beginning later this year through the Society's Web
site, [www.sior.com](http://www.sior.com/)."

The course, which prepares brokers to be "energy experts" for commercial
buildings, was approved for real estate licensing credit in California
and 12 other states, and for credit toward certification as an SIOR (the
Society's coveted professional designation, which stands for
"Specialist, Industrial and Office Real Estate").

"California's rolling blackouts supplied a fitting backdrop for the
Society's first energy-efficiency course, as did the recent hikes in gas
and oil costs," says Mr. Blau. "The Society is committed to arming its
members with the resources they need to protect and create value for
their clients, particularly in the face of an energy crisis like the one
in California."

With the EPA providing technical information, tools, and training, SIOR
professionals learned techniques for enhancing environmental quality and
improving the bottom line

-more-

Page two/**Energy**

of real estate. Specifically, they learned to use Portfolio Manager, an
online benchmarking tool developed by EPA and the U.S. Department of
Energy to rate energy performance in office buildings. They also
examined how to use the EPA's Statement of Energy Performance, which
documents a building's official energy score. This building performance
statement is useful in marketing buildings, identifying upgrade
opportunities investment opportunities.

"In today's energy market, it is imperative for brokers to be able to
recognize how energy efficiency, or the lack of it, affects a property's
value," says Pamela Hinton, executive vice president of the Society. "It
can easily take two to three times the energy costs to run one building
versus a comparable property. By becoming certified as 'energy experts,'
our members enhance their demonstrated expertise as commerial real
estate professionals."

Hinton said a broker's participation in the SIOR
E[nergyStar]{.smallcaps} program can enhance his or her professionalism
by giving brokers the tools to:

-   Improve bargaining power in negotiating deals;

-   More skillfully market and value buildings by accurately determining
    the energy performance of income-producing properties;

-   Burnish the professional's value to high-tech and new economy
    clients by assessing the energy cost of their computer and
    electronic equipment usage;

-   Convincingly position a building as "high performance" based on its
    energy performance and efficiency;

-   Spot deals for opportunistic buyers by identifying a building that
    suffers from low energy performance and by assessing the costs and
    benefits of upgrades;

-   Contribute to a clean environment with lower power plant emissions
    and better air quality;

-   Offer energy consulting services.

The course included:

-   How to benchmark the energy performance of managed properties
    against the Department of Energy's (DOE) database of more than 4,000
    other buildings using Internet-based software developed by the DOE
    and EPA;

-   How to determine the financial viability of energy-efficiency
    projects using the EPA's QuikScope software to allocate the costs
    and benefits of energy-efficiency upgrades between owners and
    tenants;

-   How to encourage clients to implement energy-efficient upgrades, and
    how to apply for the E[nergyStar]{.smallcaps} Label for Buildings on
    behalf of their clients. Much like how fuel efficiency of
    automobiles has become a decisive factor in many people's car-buying
    decision, the Statement of Energy Performance is becoming an
    important component in determining the value of a property.

-more-

Page three/**Energy**

The EPA says that, for buildings operating at average levels of energy
efficiency, financially viable upgrades can result in energy cost
savings of 30 percent. This translates into a six-percent increase in a
building's net operating income (NOI), and a corresponding increase in
the property's value.

The Society is a Washington, DC-based international professional
organization of 2,700 commercial real estate professionals, 2,000 of
whom have earned the coveted SIOR designation, which stands for
"Specialist, Industrial and Office Real Estate."

SIOR designees are "the professional's professionals" in commercial real
estate and form an elite global network of commercial real estate
practitioners. SIORs are top producers who must be recertified every
three years. Recertification assures those who need the services of a
commercial real estate professional that the SIOR has achieved and
maintained excellence in the field. Members must have a minimum of five
years in the industry, complete prescribed educational courses, adhere
to a legally binding code of ethics and demonstrate proficiency by
completing a specified number and dollar volume of transactions.
Individuals who hold the SIOR designation work throughout the United
States, Canada, Mexico and overseas. They represent more than 800
offices in 450 cities around the world.

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