Castro Valley Apartment Community Goes Green

May 21, 2014 – Ealier this month Creekside Terrace, a 52-unit apartment community located in Castro Valley, became the first market rate apartment building in Alameda County to achieve certification from the Bay Area Green Business Program. The Bay Area Green Business Program is a California government program that assists local businesses to operate in an environmentally friendly manner.

The Green Business Program requires property owners to comply with 140 required and optional environmental measures that are classified within six categories (General; Waste; Energy; Water; Pollution; and Wastewater). Some requirements are easy, such as beginning a recycling program or replacing all incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent or LED bulbs. Other requirements are more challenging such as switching to all environmentally friendly cleaning products or creating an Environmental Policy Statement.

Built in 1973 by owner/operator Felson Companies, Creekside Terrace had to make many changes to the property and to its management operation to become more environmentally friendly. “We’ve wanted to make our properties more sustainable and the Green Business Program created a catalyst for environmental change by providing us with an ‘environmental roadmap’ that was easy to follow,” said Blake Felson, the Project Manager at Felson Companies who led the efforts.

Part of the certification required engaging with residents to encourage conservation. Community Manager Carla Faires has been very impressed with the positive response from her residents; “I’ve had to request additional recycling and composting bins as more and more residents are participating in the cause. It has really caught on within our community!”

After making physical and operational changes, the property was audited by the Castro Valley Sanitary District, Pacific Gas & Electric, East Bay Municipal District, StopWaste.org, and the Alameda County Green Business Program. “Felson Companies has broken new ground in achieving Green Business certification for Creekside Terrace. We’ve had several non-profit housing organizations complete the Green Business certification, but Felson Companies is the first market rate management company in Alameda County to certify one of their properties. We hope that other market rate firms will follow their lead,” said Pamela Evans, Alameda County Green Business Coordinator.

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Felson Companies, Inc. is a privately held real estate investment company that specializes in the management of multi-family properties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since its founding in 1948, the firm’s principals and employees have shared a strong commitment to the local communities in which they serve. For more information, visit http://www.felson.com.

More information about the Bay Area Green Business Program can be found at http://www.greenbiz.ca.gov.

Green Business Certificate