Few people wake up excited about roof maintenance. But if you own or manage a commercial building, you know how critical it is—the roof is the unsung hero we would all like to take for granted, keeping water, pests, and chaos at bay. As soon as you get signs that it is not doing its job, you are likely already too overdue on maintenance—and that can mean high-ticket repairs for...

In our last blog, we explored embodied carbon and how profoundly the early understanding and coordination around carbon goals can improve project outcomes across the board. Contemplating the right issues early—about life cycle assessments (LCAs), Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), or carbon intensity benchmarks—can uncover risks before they have an impact. This discussi...

*Understanding the Financial, Regulatory, and Strategic Impacts Beyond Sustainability The Carbon Blind Spot in Real Estate Commercial real estate has long prioritized energy efficiency, but most conversations have focused on operational carbon—emissions from lighting, heating, and cooling buildings over time. What’s often overlooked is embodied carbon: the greenhouse gas emissi...

Whether you’re acquiring, leasing, or inheriting a building, you’re taking on a big and exciting, yet often-daunting responsibility. It can be an overwhelming experience to be critically observing and staying on top of its condition, compliance, and ongoing operations. As a firm of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) consultants, we advise many new and seasoned bu...

*Blog is updated from its original August 2023 and subsequent April 2024 publishing to provide expanded and revised details. The direct relationship between increasing levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and the increase in frequency and severity of weather-related stressors is well documented. Over the last decade, tremendous efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions h...

Nestled away in Altadena, California, was the Guinness World Record holder for the largest bunny collection in the world called the Bunny Museum. The 7,000-square-foot museum housed over 45,000 bunny-themed artifacts; was an embodiment of the creativity and passion of its two founders, Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski; and was a sanctuary of folk art, history and pop culture d...

Thirty-five years ago today, on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast of California/San Francisco Bay area. Caused by a slip along the San Andreas Fault, the quake lasted 10–15 seconds and measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale. The quake killed 63 people throughout northern California, injured 3,757, caused $6 billion in...

As we move towards a zero-carbon future, on-site photovoltaic energy production will play an increasingly important role in achieving this goal. You may be considering installing photovoltaic panels (or “solar”) on your property for a myriad of reasons. Municipalities in several cities and states, such as the State of California, Denver, Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, New York Ci...

Recently we have written about Energize Denver—the city’s bold steps to address global climate change with regulations and programs that prioritize equity while enhancing energy in commercial buildings. It’s not just Denver—the state of Colorado also has a program designed to optimize energy efficiency and decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the building sector. This sta...

*Blog is updated from its original August 2023 publishing to provide expanded details on penalties for non-compliance. The direct relationship between increasing levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and the increase in frequency and severity of weather-related stressors is well documented. Over the last decade, tremendous efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have be...

These days, there is a mounting urgency for real estate owners and property managers to consider and comply with new levels of safety for balconies. And in California specifically, if they haven’t gotten the ball rolling on evaluation, then now is the time. In Marx Okubo’s experience with condition assessment work, we often find multifamily residential and commercial buildings...

Our charge at Marx Okubo is always to stay on top of current technical expertise, trends, and requirements. We’d like to share the following with our clients to raise awareness and keep them up to date on the latest developments in the industry. There is a new edition of the ASTM standard for PCAs that was published at the beginning of this year. We want to make sure property o...

In an era where carbon emissions reduction and energy efficiency are paramount concerns for building owners, operators, and occupants, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) energy audits have emerged as a vital tool in achieving sustainability goals. These audits provide a structured approach to assessing and improving energy eff...

It’s Fire Prevention Week! As AEC consultants, we know that fires are all too common these days. Because fire protection/life safety issues affect entire complex building systems, our teams are astute at managing the coordination of many moving parts, using concepts from fire protection engineering and fire protection/life safety science to assure systems work together to provi...

The landscape of building regulations is rapidly changing, and it’s critical to be aware and prepared for the future. While codes and regulations have long shaped our industry, a new wave of measures is demanding immediate attention. Recent years have seen a shift towards prioritizing carbon emissions reduction and other sustainable practices in building design, construction, a...

The direct relationship between increasing levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and the increase in frequency and severity of weather-related stressors is well documented. Over the last decade, tremendous efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have been made across the energy production, transportation, industrial, and agriculture sectors in the US resulting in a net-...