Everyone can’t be in the business of saving the planet. But every business can easily make a difference by making sure that the supplies they purchase don’t come at a big cost to the environment. For all Real Assets tenants, we now have added incentive to choose green supplies: the Smart Spaces TARP (Tenant Appreciation & Rewards Program)!

Simply by being a part of the Real Assets family, you can take advantage of great discounts from these great local businesses.  Call the following vendors and tell them that you would like to order using your Smart Spaces rewards account.  With us all pooled together we’ve negotiated big business bulk pricing which you will automatically receive when you use the Smart Spaces account.

XPedx: Smart savings on recycled-content paper products, including:

• Harbor100: 100% recycled-content paper made nearby in Gray’s Harbor, WA!
  Retail cost = $56.40/carton. Smart Spaces cost = $48.90/carton.
  That’s a savings of 13%, which pays for delivery to your doorstep. Plus, if you order $150 or more, delivery is free!
• Mohawk 100% recycled-content color laser paper – fantastic for presentations!
  Retail cost = $89.52/carton, Smart Spaces cost = $81.92/carton
  Save nearly 10% off of this reliably high-quality paper.
• Preservation 100% recycled content plain envelopes
  Retail cost = $72.45/carton, Smart Spaces = $58.45!
  WOW! That’s almost 20% off!

Keep in mind delivery is available inexpensively (beats lugging reams up the stairs).  With a few reams delivery is free!

Coastwide: Offering 15-25% discounts on a wide variety of cleaning products, soaps, recycled-content paper towels and other paper products. On their Smart Spaces, Tenant Rewards order form, you’ll find everything from environmentally-friendly glass cleaner to luxurious foaming soap.  Contact Adam Simon or the kind folks at Coastwide for an order form – you won’t be disappointed!

This is just the beginning of our Appreciation and Rewards program. We’re working hard to secure even more great savings for Smart Spaces tenants. If you are a Smart Spaces retail tenant interested in offering discounts through this program, please call Adam Simon at 206-686-6362.

Interested in learning more about environmentally friendly purchasing? There is a wealth of information out there for you. Here are a few resource for you to get started:

• Check out the Seattle Climate Partnership for a great list of resources for all business sectors who are looking to green-up their purchasing. Whether you run a retail store, an industrial warehouse, or even a hotel, this website has several handy tips for you to know what to look out for and where you can look to purchase environmentally friendly products.
• The City’s Keep Seattle Clean page has plenty of resources for you to peruse if you’re looking for ways you can help.
• Need help beyond what you can read online? Give the great folks at the Resource Venture a call. This City-supported program offers lots of support to businesses in Seattle who want to cut down on their waste and save some cash while they do it!

1617 Boylston, 1800 Mile Hill, 6th @ Lander, Des Moines Professional Center, Green Tips, Northlake Commons/Bridge Way, Pine@Boylston

When the winter temperatures dip low, heating systems kick into overdrive to keep our spaces comfortable and warm. But if you’re not careful, kicking your heat on can really kick up your energy bills during the winter season. Here are some simple tips for setting your digital thermostat for optimal success:

• Set a daily schedule that suits your use. Most digital thermostats have the capability to set a temperature schedule for each day of the week. So not matter what your schedule is, you can prepare your space best for how you use it.
• Put your program on “hold” when you’ll be gone for a longer period of time. Whether it’s for a holiday or an extended period of time, make sure to keep your temperature low and consistent while you are not using your space. This will not only save a ton of energy, but will save you from unnecessary expenses!
• Set your temperature to a comfortable level, but don’t overdo it! Unless your office is home to tropical plants and animals, you most likely don’t need your thermostat set in the mid-70′s! Consider dropping your thermostat down a couple of degrees and see how you feel. It can save you some cash, and save energy.

Interested in learning more? You can read about programmable thermostats on the Energy Star website if you’re interested – there are some tips and helpful hints there.

Don’t have a digital thermostat in your commercial space? Contact Real Assets as soon as possible and we can get you set up!

Des Moines Professional Center, Green Tips

Welcome to the first edition of Smart Space’s “Green Tips!” Each month, we’ll be sending along a helpful tip or two that will help you save some cash as well as make a positive impact on our planet. These tips are created specifically for you as commercial tenants, and we hope that they’ll prove to be useful! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us and we’ll be glad to help you out.

And now for this month’s tip…

Use Kill-A-Watt to Find Energy Savings Potential

It’s tough to know exactly what you can do to lower your energy use at your business if you can’t identify the energy-sucking culprits!  The good news is there’s an incredibly handy tool you can use to learn how much energy each electronic item you have in your office uses. Get yourself a Kill-A-Watt (or borrow Real Asset’s if you’d like!) and then follow the three easy steps below:

1. Pick several appliances to monitor. We’d recommend the things that are used the most in your space – computers, monitors, refrigerators, freezers, etc.
2. Monitor each appliance for a couple of days so you can get a sense of it’s average usage.
3. Determine the big energy culprits, and see if there are ways to cut down on the energy they use. Computers and monitors should be turned all the way off at the end of the work day and over the weekends. Upgrading to an Energy Star refrigerator or freezer can save a ton of energy (and money!) over time. And switching to energy efficient light bulbs in fixtures can drastically improve efficiency.

Each business’ energy use will be different, but this one little tool can help each of us figure out where our energy culprits are so we can improve our overall efficiency.

Interested to see how the Kill-A-Watt works? Check out this handy video from the Alternative Energy Store. Simple as pie!

Green Tips

Green tips will soon be a new added feature to this blog! Stay Tuned…

Green Tips