TORRANCE, CA-Environmental due diligence in the CMBS 2.0 environment is different than before, and there are new tools that commercial real estate professionals can use to navigate through the changes.

Those changes were discussed recently during a panel chaired by Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. President Joe Derhake, PE, at a recent Environmental Bankers Association conference in Newport, RI, called “Sailing into the Winds of Change; New Risks and Rewards." Derhake's panel included Cathy McGowen, Wells Fargo; Damian Wach, Eurohypo; and Andrew Perel, Michelman & Robinson, LLP.

One of the new tools available for environmental due diligence is environmental insurance. “Environmental insurance is a tool, when properly used, that can enable us to do deals that in the past were not possible - whether as a mitigant, swap for an environmental indemnity, or merely because the borrower/purchaser is risk adverse,” said Perel. “Working out the details of the insurance policy can be tricky, but putting the right policy in place is important.”