IHM News, Volume 22, Winter 2005

IHMnews Volume 22, Winter 2005

INSTITUTE OF HOUSING MANAGEMENT

Canadian Publications Mail Agreement # 40739009

E N H A N C I N G T H E K N OW L E D G E A N D S K I L L S O F P RO PE R T Y M A N AG E M E N T P RO F E S S I O N A L S

Energy Awareness, Conservation and Efficiency

Inside President’s Message ..............................................................2 Energy Awareness, Conservation and Efficiency.....................3 Member Profiles: Mary Garbes, A.I.H.M. ..........................................................5 Zeljka Budjinsky, A.I.H.M. ......................................................6 New Members and Graduates...............................................7 President’s Commentary........................................................7 IHM Board of Directors..........................................................8

President’s Message

Smooth Ride A smooth ride is often not the course our jobs or career path tend to take in property management.

Greg Grange, B.A., F.I.H.M.

Sometimes routine challenges encourage us to succeed. We need them in pursuing our professional goals and they are excessively offered by virtue of our industry.

Setbacks give us the strength and courage to achieve great things and be successful in attaining high job satisfaction. Professional life without any obstacles would cripple us.

Enthusiasm is definitely one of the fundamentals of success which can ensure your ideas or projects have a far greater chance of being implemented.

Property managers can be compared to great sales people who have learned and practiced their skills to market ideas by demonstrating enthusiasm anywhere and at anytime.

I recently read an article about successful marketing in the Canadian real estate industry and would like to share with you five marketing tips from the top salespeople: • Delete “yes, but” from your vocabulary. Use of “yes, but” is a negative word pattern that can be disheartening, emotionally devastating, and, a result, quashes any enthusiasm.

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• When you have a good idea start with encouraging words and ask a positive question like, “that’s great. How did you come up with this idea?”

• Don’t be the ice person! When promoting your idea be warm and enthusiastic.

• Don’t take yourself too seriously! Loosen the collar and relax.

• Be in the room – not just physically but mentally!

And above all, smile! Your smile is perhaps the most obvious sign you can give that you are passionate about your ideas.

We all have to market our ideas to our team, colleagues, and our customers/tenants.

A smile sets the emotional stage which is mirrored by our audience.

Enthusiasm is your driving force in achieving your goals.

Be passionate and demonstrate it!

Kindest regards, Greg Grange, B.A., F.I.H.M. President

IHM News

Feature

Energy Awareness, Conservation and Efficiency Submitted by Janice Campbell, Business Officer, WECHC

Hey, that sounds like a great idea, it’s pragmatic and logical, it has a certain business savvy self-importance and it will probably save us a “bundle”. Yes, I’m all for that … saving energy; lowering the bills; helping the planet. I’ll work on the committee and help to bring energy efficiency and “green” solutions to our corporation, but … where do I start?

Good question. Common question.

You just have to read the papers, browse the Internet, listen to a current events broadcast or pay your own energy bills to be face to face with the latest “issue of the day” for homeowners, renters and housing providers in our communities. Utility costs have been going steadily up, and the forecast advises, that this “true cost of utilities” is here to stay in Ontario. Our challenge, as responsible property owners and property managers is to best control what we can and to mitigate the negative effects this new reality has or will have on our business.

Which leads us back to our question …

Where do you start? You MUST start somewhere, but with all of the possible options and all of the possible pitfalls … it can be overwhelming.

At Windsor-Essex County Housing Corporation (WECHC) we were presented the task of striking a committee to develop a corporate energy efficiency plan to be presented back to Senior Management Team (SMT) and the Board, complete with project costs and initial savings targets as well as a comprehensive analysis of short, mid and Winter 2005

long term benefits – both financial and environmental. This seems, on the surface, like something one might be able to put together in a lunch time or two, just by merging corporate accounting information with “cut and paste” bits from the seemingly endless quantity of energy efficiency and con-

servation material posted on the World Wide Web. However, one would be wrong.

Before the Energy Management Committee (EMC) agreed to accept the challenge, we negotiated some research time from the SMT – asking for a month to bring our-

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Feature

selves up to speed on the emerging field of professional energy management. We wanted to get a clear understanding of the tools, knowledge and techniques we’d need to know to undertake such a challenge. We wanted to evaluate “what we don’t know” … “what we can realistically learn in a reasonable amount of time” and “if it was in our best interest to try and achieve these goals ourselves”? We did our research, realistically assessed our in house expertise and potential. We calculated the funding needs and likelihood of support “from the top” that would be essential if we were to make our efforts successful and long lasting and before the month was through we were convinced that it would be a good idea to implement an energy plan … and were almost convinced that we should do it ourselves.

we decided to let our federal tax dollars WORK for us and got in touch with Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency and signed up with their Energy Innovators Initiative (EII) Retrofit Assistance Program available at www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca .

We worked with the NR Can Program Officer, organizing the utility consumption and cost data that we’ve been collecting over the past few years and decided on a “baseline” of 2003. The program offers an excellent series of templates to follow – depending upon which energy initiatives you wish to implement. They show you how to plan, perform and document building energy audits which help you to determine your building loads and energy sources.

Two central considerations that encouraged us to think about taking this path were: first, we felt that it was important to keep the knowledge and expertise that we would no doubt acquire along the journey of the project within the corporation – to attain cost effective, reliable data and to develop a base corporate plan, from which, sustained growth and continual improvement could be both controlled and managed. Second, the commitment by the CEO, SMT and Board was clear, certain and demonstrated to the EMC by making available the financial and staffing resources necessary to give the project the opportunity for success.

At WECHC we decided a mix of many quick, some mid range and only a few longer term payback initiatives would be best to start with – keeping the capital costs low and the likelihood of real energy savings probable. All of the reading on energy conservation for existing buildings suggests that retrofit lighting and water saving initiatives are good projects to start with – so we went with that. We did our research, performed our tests and then prepared and submitted a Retrofit Assistance Proposal that changed all the lighting (suite and common area) and put in water saving devices, such as low flow showerheads, faucet aerators and some low flow toilets, as well we changed over a few make-up air units and domestic hot water systems. Our proposal considered 12 buildings (all of our big high rises, the 2 story walks ups and the mid-size multi-residential buildings) for a total of 1,746 units. Overall, with a capital cost of 1.2M and projected annual savings of 400K – representing a GJ reduction/savings of 19K – the project had a reasonable payback – under 3 years and was eligible for financial assistance at the NR Can EII rate of $7.50 per GJ of energy savings or about $143K.

So we got started. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, unless it was absolutely necessary,

With the NR Can program, you have a time restriction of 1 year to fully complete

We investigated a variety of “turn-key” energy efficiency plans and spoke with experts offering tried and true solutions – some with guaranteed results. Strangely, these communications served to build our selfconfidence. It seemed the more we considered, the more we were leading ourselves to believe that if we researched comprehensively, planned soundly and with focus, then executed our plan efficiently, we had a very good chance of not blowing it.

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the project and you are obligated to monitor and report on your actual savings and consumption reductions as they compare to your projections. We’re pleased to report that we are currently “on target” at about half way through our implementations and have experienced great success so far – with improvements being supported by building operations staff as well as being understood and well accepted by tenants (80-90% approval ratings, per our post implementation tenant surveys).

As property managers and building owners, there are many helpful resources available if you are considering making energy changes – most recently, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation put out an excellent Energy and Water Efficiency in Multi-Unit Residential Building Guide (available at www.cmhc.ca ) that is very specific to housing providers and filled with practical and proven savings initiatives. As you know, the Internet is a seemingly endless source of information on the topic of energy saving measures for multi residential properties – but don’t forget to also look closer to home, as many local utility providers are looking for “partnerships” in their communities to work towards their own energy conservation or awareness goals.

Anyway, whatever your method, however you get there … our overall message is that, although it may seem like a very BIG undertaking, a viable and successful energy management plan for your corporation is within reach and whether you do it yourself or use a professional, energy conservation and savings is a good idea and one that will only become more wise, and more important, the higher the cost of energy soars.

Will your corporation be able to manage its energy demands? … now that’s a good question.

Janice Campbell, Business Officer, WECHC Energy Management Committee Member.

IHM News

Member Profiles

Mary Garbes, AIHM I love working with people and I love to learn Submitted by: Mary Garbes, A.I.H.M., MEG Consulting

My husband Paul is an Engineering Technician and we met as students in London at Fanshawe College. Since Paul was from North Africa, he wasn’t interested in an arctic climate so we settled on a married life in Toronto and I began my work in social housing. Five years later our son Kristopher completed our family and careers and raising Kris became our mission. Kris currently is a youth worker in the corrections field and he loves his job!

From Community Relations Worker to Chief Executive Officer to Social Housing Administration Consultant who would have thought? From an isolated northern community to a big city to a progressive regional government environment who would have thought? As a CRW for up to 2,000 households within Ontario Housing Corporation communities, I learned a lot.

As a property manager, a rent supplement coordinator, a housing manager and a housing programs administrator, I learned a lot.

Born and raised in London, Ontario, the eldest of five girls who all attended the same elementary and secondary schools, I was fortunate to have the security of a loving family that had a strong commitment to our community. To this day, my sisters and I torment our families with the school cheers from Princess Elizabeth Public School and G. A. Wheable Secondary School. My father was a very caring man who was involved with many community groups and my mother is still a multi-tasker who successfully handled the demands of family as well as a career outside the home.

It apparently came as no surprise to many that I would end up working in a social service area. After high school graduation, I worked in administration with an insurance company and I was extremely bored. During 1967 I had the opportunity to work at the ‘Sermons from Science’ Christian Pavillion at the world’s fair in Montreal and life only got better. People are so interesting and meeting people from around the world was Winter 2005

the best. This experience led me to accept an opportunity to go to Canada’s eastern Arctic, where I obtained exciting work in the Engineering Department of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Small communities give opportunity for being totally involved and isolated communities encourage innovative ideas. Those were two great years! I remember my decision to come ‘south’ again to acquire more credentials to hopefully be more effective in northern housing development.

Never would I have thought that I wouldn’t return. (See IHM News, volume 19, Spring 2004) Realized dreams are not always as originally planned; but fortunately my summer job experiences with CMHC and the provincial revenue departments all contributed to the rounded knowledge that I would need in my career after Fanshawe College, where I majored in Property Management and Tenant Relations.

Thirty-four years in the social housing field has been thrilling and challenging. Each year there has been a budget to defend and one to develop….buildings to maintain to ensure pride of residents….community agencies and tenants to partner with to ensure that needs are identified and services are available….reports to write and reports to read….staff to hire and staff to retire….performance reviews and paying our dues. What an exciting world! I love it…it’s all about the people and working together.

IHM is a great catalyst for encouraging and assisting people to ‘Be the Best’ they can be; and if I had to name a main desire in my life it would be exactly that aim for others and myself.

I have been blessed with many friends and mentors along my journey. (Some of these folks don’t even know that their example gave me encouragement and motivation.)

You may be one of these people…. I thank you!!

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Member Profiles

Zeljka Budjinsky, AIHM A real balancing act to achieve your financial goals Submitted by: Zeljka Budjinski, A.I.H.M.

ager at Williams and McDaniel, responsible for the entire residential portfolio of 23 buildings. This promotion added new dimension to the learning curve; there was so much more to do with these broadened horizons. All the knowledge that has been continuously gathered would be used to add the professional touch to daily operations.

Some Property Managers start with the books to learn the ropes. Not this one.

Zeljka Budjinski’s career with Williams and McDaniel Property Management began when she landed a job as a Building Manager at Pinegrove Apartments in Waterloo in 1993. This position is commonly referred to as ‘Superintendent’. However, at Williams and McDaniel, in order to encourage growth and development, the employees are given the opportunity to manage their buildings, hence the title Building Managers. Zeljka took full advantage of this scenario to learn the business from scratch. Not only did she assume the responsibility for the cleanliness and basic maintenance of “her” building, she recognized the influence her position could have on the overall impression of the building within the community.

After adding her special flare for four years and experiencing the rewarding sense of making Pinegrove Apartments the best it could be, it was time to move on to a new challenge. Zeljka joined the home office staff of Williams and McDaniel Property Management in 1997 to begin exploring life from a Property Manager’s perspective.

In this new environment, Zeljka realized her skills would need upgrading if she were to be successful. Communication and business courses were first on the list since English was her second language. It didn’t take this dynamo long to get on the right track.

During the next two years, Zeljka had studied hard and earned her accreditation with

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With all the changes in rent controls and government legislation, the landlord industry is becoming more competitive all the time. The goal of a successful Property Manager is to increase revenue while decreasing expenses which in turn adds value to the assets. Zeljka’s education and handson experience has proven vital in making decisions that produce good results. “It is a real balancing act to achieve your financial goals while maintaining an exceptional level of customer service. But that is what I aim for every day.”

the Institute of Housing Management. The Members of this certification “pledge to observe the Institute’s Code of Professionalism and Ethical Business Practices”. Zeljka continues to attend conferences and seminars on a regular basis.

After much more learning, hard work and dedication, in 2002 her career took an amazing upturn. With office re-organization Zeljka became the sole Property Man-

Zeljka is proud of her accomplishments and assigns a great deal of her success to Williams and McDaniel. “This has been an awesome, amazing journey for me.

Williams and McDaniel supported me in my efforts towards advancement and sponsored my education. Now I am in a position to contribute to the success of the company by influencing so many aspects of the business. I really look forward to going to work everyday in a terrific work environment.

Our home office staff members are all team players providing much valued support.”

IHM News

IHM News

New Members & Graduates New Candidate Members: Arlene Apnar Jacqueline Cooper Sandra Humphries Violetta Kocalev Vladimir Rozenfield New Accredited Members: Alexander Voronin New Corporate Members: Ian Bannon Anemki Mountain Corporation

President’s Commentary Shakespeare once wrote, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”

But… is it really necessary?

COURSE COMPLETIONS Building Maintenance for Property Managers: Jonathan Fischtein Lisa Hunter Marianna Molodkova Property & Building Administration: Julie Graham Robert Hutton Ken Meikle Bruce Millar Fernanda Oliveira Betty Speer Human Relations for Property Managers: Brian Chard Stan Hansen Jackie Quinn Michael Rotman Dave Sulpher Strategic and Financial Management for Managers: Phillip Kendall Debbie Gibson Cathe Hoszowksi Lee Ann St. Jacques

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Many years ago I all but removed ‘but’ from my vocabulary. The use of ‘but’ is more often than ‘not’, associated with negativity and unproductive differences of opinion.

‘But’ is a very small word, tiny, seems harmless, but in fact it isn’t !

This small conjunctional word is the most commonly used word to refute or to devalue the position of others and, as a result, can elevate conflict. ‘But’ is the most frequently used word to link a positive statement, which is usually followed by a negative statement. Such secondary statements completely reject any positive statement or belief put forward due to our “but’itude.”

On a number of occasions, I have witnessed dialogue between parties continu-

ally using ‘but’, which elevated a conflict situation to a very uncomfortable level and lead sometimes to an adversarial ending.

There are alternatives to use of other conjunctions such as: despite that, however (my favorite), although, yet, nevertheless, and all the same. Raise questions and move to problem solving by encouraging constructive debate.

For those ‘but’ users make a conscious effort to use alternatives in your vocabulary and you will avoid unnecessary and frustrating delays in problem solving.

And above all don’t get labelled a ‘but person’ !

Greg Grange, B.A., F.I.H.M. President

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2005

Mark Your Calendars Now!

The 2005 IHM Annual Educational Conference will be held at the Holiday Inn, Hidden Valley in Huntsville, Ont. from April 27th to April 29th, 2005.

A full program brochure and registration information is included with this mailing. Don’t delay - send in your registration today! Early bird pricing is in effect only until March 31st, 2005.

The exciting line up of session topics will include: • What’s Your Conflict Style?

• Who’s Responsible for Health and Safety in the Workplace?

• Property Management Best Practices: Sharing Our Experience

• Beyond the TPA

• Terrific Tips from Toastmasters

• Customer Service? What a Laugh!

• Relationship Terrorism: The Power of Control

• The Art of Preventative Maintenance

And... as always a multitude of social and networking opportunities will be incorporated into the program.

• Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal... Let’s Talk

Do You Like to Write?

If you would be interested in submitting articles or feature stories on new or interesting housing developments, please contact our newsletter editor c/o ihm@taylorenterprises.com.

Articles should be between 500-1200 words and should be on topics of interest to Property Managers.

Publications Mail Agreement # 40739009 - Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to the Circulation Department – 2175 Sheppard Ave. East Suite #310, Toronto, Ont. M2J 1W8

2004 Board of Directors PRESIDENT

TREASURER

Greg Grange, B.A., F.I.H.M. Mgr., Housing Division City of Kingston 216 Ontario Street Kingston, ON K7L 2Z3 Tel: (613) 546-4291 ext. 1265 Fax: (613) 546-3004 E-mail: ggrange@city.kingston.on.ca

William J. Corrigan, A.I.H.M. Chair: Finance Committee Williams and McDaniel 66 Macdonell Street, Suite #301 Guelph, ON N1H 2Z6 Tel: (705) 788-7690 Fax: (705) 788-0928 E-mail: billco@cogeco.ca

VICE-PRESIDENT

DIRECTORS

Mary Pinto, A.I.H.M. Regional Municipality of Waterloo Planning, Housing & Community Services 150 Frederick Street, 8th Floor Kitchener, ON N2G 4J3 Tel: (519) 575-4789 Fax: (519) 743-6527 E-mail: pimary@region.waterloo.on.ca

Lee Campbell, A.I.H.M. Chair: Conference Committee Kingston Frontenac Housing Corporation Manager, The Social Housing Registry 471 Counter Street, Suite 100 Kingston, ON K7M 8S8 E-mail: lcampbell@cityofkingston.ca Tel: (613) 546-5591 Fax: (613) 546-9375

SECRETARY Deborah Filice, A.I.H.M. The Regional Municipality of Halton 690 Dorval Drive, 7th Floor Oakville, ON L6K 3X9 Tel: (905) 825-6000 Ext. 4414 Fax: (905) 849-3568 E-mail: filiced@region.halton.on.ca

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Joan Cranmer, F.I.H.M. Chair: Education Committee Lam Nova Co-Op 5955 Glen Erin Drive, Unit 79 Mississauga, ON L5M 5N9 E-mail: dcranmer@cogeco.ca Tel: (905) 821-7622 Fax: (905) 821-1432

James Mellor, A.I.H.M. Director Windsor-Essex County Housing Corporation 945 McDougall Street P.O. Box 1330 Windsor, ON N9A 6R3 Tel: (519) 776-4631 Ext. 14 Fax: (519) 776-5510 E-mail: jmellor@wechc.com Vicki Pocock, A.I.H.M. Chair: Communications/Newsletter Windsor-Essex County Housing Corporation Glengarry Office 415 University Ave. E. Windsor, ON N9A 2Z3 Tel: (519) 254-1681 Ext. 217 Fax: (519) 258-7700 E-mail: vpocock@wechc.com Harry Popiluk, F.I.H.M. Chair: Marketing/Membership Committees Victoria Park Community Homes 155 Queen Street North Hamilton, ON L8R 2V7 Tel: (905) 527-0221 Ext.15 Fax: (905) 527-3181 E-mail: hpopiluk@vpch.com

CANDIDATE REPRESENTATIVE Lynn Alexander Candidate Representative Property Manager The Regional Municipality of Durham Social Services Dept. – Housing Services Division 2 Simcoe St. South, 2nd Floor Oshawa, ON L1H 8C1 Tel: (905) 434-5011 Fax: (905) 434-1943 E-mail: Lynn.alexander@region.durham.on.ca

ADMINISTRATORS: Lynn Morrovat Ext. 254 (Administrative Co-ordinator) Nancy Trinh Ext. 229 (Administrative Assistant) IHM Office 2175 Sheppard Ave. East, Suite #310 Toronto, ON M2J 1W8 Tel: (416) 493-7382 Fax: (416) 491-1670 Email: ihm@taylorenterprises.com

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