Posts by: Joel Nelson

Property management companies are turning to the gamification tools in Yardi Aspire to enhance engagement, focus and motivation.

Making Work Fun

Role of Gamification

Engaging employees and boosting their performance can be challenging, especially with a busy and dispersed workforce. Traditional training methods often fail to keep employees motivated and interested but gamification can increase employee engagement by over 48 percent, according to some reports. That’s why property management companies are turning to the gamification tools in Yardi Aspire […]

Energy

Significant but Understated

Embodied Carbon’s Impact

Most people realize that carbon emissions come from heating, cooling and lighting buildings, houses, roads, bridges and other elements of the built environment. But there’s another significant source of carbon whose environmental implications might be less visible but no less urgent: embodied carbon, which comes from the extraction, manufacturing, transportation, installation and disposal of materials […]

When reading about real estate in publications or online platforms, have you ever wondered why the word “realtor” is often in capitalized letters or marked with a registered trademark symbol?

News

Realtor Reality

Why a Word Matters

When reading about real estate in publications or online platforms, have you ever wondered why the word “realtor” is often in capitalized letters or marked with a registered trademark symbol? Or what the difference is between “REALTOR” and “real estate agent?” Second question first. While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are significant differences. […]

The moon has been orbited, sampled by uncrewed spacecraft, walked and driven on by humans, and proposed as a waystation for interplanetary travel.

News

Moon Mining

How realistic?

The moon has been orbited, sampled by uncrewed spacecraft, walked and driven on by humans, and proposed as a waystation for interplanetary travel. With the Earth facing steady population growth and diminishing resources, its only natural satellite has also been targeted as a potential source of valuable materials. Proposals to secure those resources have been […]

Energy

Energy Forecast

EIA Looks Ahead

Here’s the latest on our periodic reports on research by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a statistical and analytical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy that collects, analyzes and disseminates energy information. Sun is up in forecast EIA’s short-term energy outlook in January projected that solar electric generation will account for 7% of […]

News

Stamp of Approval

Postal Services Adopt Collaborative Model

How are government and private carrier services adapting as online communication and purchasing practices continue to supplant traditional paper mail? According to McKinsey, the global volume ratio of letters to parcels declined from 13:1 in 2005 to 4:1 in 2015 and is expected to reach 1:1 parity by 2025. Total U.S. parcel volume declined 2% […]

Energy

ARPA-E Projects

Energy Tech Innovation Updates

Here’s the latest of our periodic updates on energy conservation technologies being developed under the sponsorship of Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the R&D arm of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Grid goes underground In January, the DOE announced funding for 12 projects designed to develop cost-effective, high-speed and safe undergrounding technologies. The projects […]

Technology

Science Fiction Tech

How Much Came True?

Science fiction literature and movies can be inspirational, provocative or outlandish. But how often does the exotic technology they often depict actually go into development and gain widespread use? Perhaps more often than you might think. Here’s a sampling of latter-day technology that originated, or at least became widely known, from science fiction. Mobile Phones […]

Building codes are regulations that apply to architects, builders, owners and others involved in a structure’s construction and maintenance.

News

What’s New in Construction?

3-Year Update

An article published here almost three years ago explored the state of housing construction, which were reaching the highest prices in 15 years because of rising demand driven by low mortgage interest rates and the spiriling cost of materials such as steel and copper wire. By May 2021, lumber price spikes alone added nearly $12,000 […]

News

Dynamism On Display

See Revamped IM Website

The Yardi Investment Management team has amped up its real estate investment management website to provide new value for all owners, investors and investment managers. The website represents a single repository for information about the Yardi Investment Suite and its elements: investor services, investment accounting, debt management and investment analysis. Readers can view user testimonials […]

News

Rainwater Harvesting

Reap What You Flow

An age-old conservation practice is attracting renewed interest in this era of drought and unpredictable precipitation: rainwater harvesting, the process of capturing, diverting and storing rainwater for later use for residential use, landscaping, fire protection and other purposes. Valued at $890 million in 2021, the global rainwater harvesting system market is projected to top $1.6 […]

News

Artificial Islands

A Real Option?

Land might become more scarce amid rising seas and climate change. Some experts project that portions of cities such as Miami, Bangkok and Venice, Italy, could be largely submerged within a few decades. Can artificial islands built in lagoons, lakes or on the open sea alleviate the effects of climate change – or accelerate them? […]

Technology

Nobel-Level Science

Within Your Reach

Nobel Prizes, especially those awarded in the science categories, are often unfathomably exotic to the average consumer. But Nobel-level tech lies no farther away than the computer on your desk or the smartphone in your hands. As an MIT blog post noted in October, “Regardless of what display you’re using to read this, it is […]

Technology

From Cell to Smart

50 Years of Mobile Phone Progress

Consumers are agog over the Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Razr, Apple iPhone, Google Pixel and other advanced smartphone models. These devices can make calls, send texts, take photos, respond to verbal instructions, provide a games platform, access digital assistants, navigate routes, generate budgets – the list of capabilities gets longer just about every day. Starting in […]

Events

Executive Insights

Yardi IM Briefing

At the recent Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference in San Diego, leaders in real estate investment management exchanged insights into industry challenges, trends and how Yardi solutions make a difference in their business. Participants in the briefing were: The session was moderated by Yardi Investment Management team members Vicki Dodig, director of sales, and Susan Freehauf, […]

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