ENERGIZING

REAL ESTATE

38 MARCH 2016

LESSONS FOR LEADERS

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs can either be oppressive or energizing. It depends on what approach current

leaders use to develop the next generation, which sometimes includes allowing them to create something new for their futures.

Th ere is a funny thing about change, though. It’s hard. Ryan Anderson witnessed the cycle of change, aversion, acceptance and growth many times in his family’s group of businesses. He learned from that experience to ask “why” before changing things in order to understand pains and priorities.

It also helped that his father and mentors helped Anderson determine where he fi t in the business world by reminding him of the “experiments” he used to perform to make improvements to the family’s portfolio of commercial real estate. What evolved was a business model in which real estate owners, vendors and the end users can collaborate to improve the effi ciency and sustainability of each building. In 2011, Anderson founded his own creation, Belay Energy.

“We can walk into a brand new building and fi nd up to 20-30% reductions in utility and operational costs,” Anderson says. “Our goal is to identify cost reduction opportunities and implement effi cient products and sustainable practices to realize them.”

Changing a light bulb is more complex than you think, according to Anderson. Too bright light bulbs can impact the health and pro-ductivity of employees and increase sick days. Poorly lit rooms can increase the potential for injuries. Some bulbs have extended warranties and rebates. Th e spacing and number of bulbs are also important for energy savings and employee productivity.

Anderson has learned that everyone from

lenders, architects and general contractors to product manufacturers, service vendors, inspectors and end users need to be part of the assessment and conversation to determine priorities. Often the conversation only starts when there is a serious cost issue to solve.

“We had a client whose insurance carrier was dropping coverage because the facil-ity’s existing high-pressure steam boiler was deemed too high a risk,” Anderson says. “Th e bid to replace it was $700,000. We brought in

mechanical, electrical and insurance special-ists as well as the state boiler inspector and came up with an alternative solution that cost less than $300,000 and also saved the owner $10,000 a year in operational savings and $9,000 in rebates.”

Th e owner was happy, the vendor was paid, and the new system was safer and more effi cient.

For a system of 21 senior care facilities, Belay Energy’s assessment and collaboration with facility owners, managers and main-tenance determined the need for a lighting retrofi t and water effi ciency upgrade including toilets, faucets and showerheads. Th e overall health system savings was a 14% reduction in utility fees in one year. Th ey are now consider-ing numerous other opportunities identifi ed by Belay during the initial assessment.

Anderson has to convince potential clients that change goes beyond changing light bulbs and replacing boiler systems and toilets to a mindset of long-term sustainability over short-term cost savings and reactive fi xes. Being diligent and making small incremental changes often compounds into considerable savings long-term.

Beyond his more high-minded goals of en-vironmental impact and the comfort of people who live and work in properties, Anderson knows that change comes down to money. His business model shifts to accommodate it.

“In an economic downturn, companies want to save money, so we focus on utility and operational cost reductions. When business is good, we focus on due diligence for new real estate acquisitions to help owners get the most return on their investments,” Anderson says. “In reality, we aren’t actually adding to their expense, but reallocating or repurposing what they already spend.”

LESSONS IN SUSTAINABLE CHANGEBE OPEN to mentorship to determine new opportunities or ways of operating.

BRING THE right people to the table and analyze all the pains and priorities.

DEVELOP A phased plan of solving problems that repurposes existing resources.

MAKE SURE that measures are built in to demonstrate benefi ts and savings long-term.

Belay Energy looks for the little things that bring big, sustainable change

and savings. BY JOHN P. PALEN

Ryan Anderson

0316_MBS_Book.indb 38 2/5/2016 3:41:48 PM

ENERGIZING

REAL ESTATE

JOHN P. PALEN is CEO of Allied Executives (jppalen@alliedexecutives.com) and works with CEOs, business owners and executive leaders on leadership development and business performance improvement through peer groups, coaching and educational workshops. alliedexecutives.com

As a new generation moves into leader-ship, Anderson hopes the taste for change is more acceptable. Just maybe, the focus will shift to best practices in the real estate industry that still bring profits, but also a cleaner world.

BELAY ENERGYHEADQUARTERS: MinneapolisINCEPTION: June 2011LEADERSHIP: Ryan Lee AndersonEMPLOYEES: 1 (2016 proj. 7); 12 independent contractorsREVENUE: UndisclosedDESCRIPTION: Strategists and implementers of utility efficiencies and environmental impact improvements in commercial real estate, designed to reduce costs and improve how people perform. WEB: belayenergy.com

BIZ BRIEFING

SU

BM

ITT

ED

PH

OTO

Ryan Anderson

www.ariampls.comPhoto by Yantes Photo

0316_MBS_Book.indb 39 2/5/2016 3:41:50 PM