LBA Realty Finds Attitudes About Solar Energy Are Improving

In just the past few years, ESG directors are seeing a changing—and more optimistic—attitude from owners about working sustainability deals.

Michelle German, director of ESG & sustainability, LBA Realty/LBA Logistics, addressed this attraction on Thursday during ULI’s Spring Conference in San Diego during “A Renewable Energy Strategy for Real Estate” session.

German estimates that she focuses on solar energy for about 30 percent of her job as a sustainability director. “But that could increase because it’s creating the best results,” she said.

She approached a client a few years ago and it was lukewarm at best about working an agreement given the required legal fees and other complexities.

“But now the mood in general is changing,” German said. “So, we went back to them and right now it’s looking promising.”

LBA Realty has multiple deals in place today with clients in Maryland and New Jersey. Through them, it is earning hundreds of thousands of dollars on 5-, 10- and 20-year leases from roof rents.

This roof rent revenue is based on location and project. German said LBA Realty’s agreements in Maryland have been particularly fruitful. “That’s some real value you can create,” she said.

Using Solar for Battery Storage, EVs

Another trend is coupling solar power with battery storage and EV charging stations, two applications that German said she’s following closely.

At its Park Place facility in Irvine, Calif., LBA Realty operates a 1.3-megawatt unit that is the largest in the country. 

“Many of the incentives for battery storage have dried up lately,” she said, “because it’s been tough to make a business case for doing this, but it could come back. And when it does, we’re in position to take advantage of this.”

She said using solar for EV charging stations is something that could be regenerated soon.

Embodied Carbon Tough to Measure

Some developers are finding solar panel implementation problematic when it comes to measuring embodied carbon given that China uses coal to produce many of the panels’ elements.

Embodied carbon is the sum of greenhouse gas emissions released during the following life-cycle stages: raw material extraction, transportation, manufacturing, construction, maintenance, renovation, and end-of-life for a product or system. 

Embodied carbon is reported as global warming potential (GWP) and is measured relative to the impact of one molecule of carbon dioxide, usually over a 100-year time-frame.