Green HOA practices make an eco-friendly community that lets families live in harmony with nature. How do you go about building an eco-friendly HOA? In this guide, we’ll go over a few green initiatives for HOA that can hopefully get your community started going green.
5 Tips for a Green HOA
Every HOA board wants its HOA to be forward-thinking and attractive to many of its residents. Going green is one great way to do it.
It will be wise for your HOA to consider what policies it has about “green” initiatives. For your annual planning, consider how those policies can either be created or improved from prior years.
There’s constant conversation about climate change and public interest in reducing waste. It can be wise for your HOA to take a critical look at its current practices. From this, see what it can potentially improve upon in future years.
If your HOA is in the process of creating or updating its green policies, then it is important to review and understand the information below:
1. Reduce Your HOA Paper Use
When planning the board meetings that your HOA has, look at the printed materials you plan to use. There should be a conversation about whether packets of paper that range from fifty to one-hundred pages are absolutely necessary for the success of the meeting.
If the answer is no, it may be possible to reduce the packet to a summary of eight pages. Then, have the rest of the information available electronically. Ideally, this will enable your board members to be able to review the information before the meeting and be better prepared for the meeting.
These efforts will save a great deal of time and money that could be applied to other areas of the green HOA budget.
Hold Shorter Meetings for a Green HOA
In addition to reducing the amount of paper used, each HOA board meeting should have a brief discussion about areas the community can improve upon its green efforts.
If the HOA takes about five to ten minutes of the meeting to raise these issues, it will be possible to make substantial improvements that could benefit not only the community but the environment as well.
2. Start an Energy Reduction and Recycling Plan
Start implementing a green HOA approach to managing your community. That way, your residents will be able to assist you in making the world a better place.
HOAs should invest in clearly labeled recycling bins and signage encouraging residents to save electricity. Make sure that these messages are visible in homes and in public areas of the community.
Your green HOA can also elect to use vendors that have a similar green philosophy that will be more appealing to your residents. If your residents see a strong example from your HOA about green practices, it will absolutely make a positive contribution to your community. In time, your green HOA could make a positive impact on issues concerning the environment.
3. Make Sure Your HOA Management Company Follows Existing Green HOA Policies
The management company for your HOA should also be committed to green sustainable communities. They should already have green objectives in place in many of the communities that they manage.
The management company should be using electronic correspondence whenever possible along with encouraging electronic payments and invoicing to reduce waste.
By selecting a management company that has a green mindset, your green HOA will be presenting a unified front to your residents. That commitment will absolutely be seen in a favorable light due to the increased concern on a global level that is stemming from severe environmental issues.
4. Control Your HOA Energy Consumption
One of the most important things that your green HOA can do is to complete a regular energy consumption audit. On many energy bills, it is possible to see current and historical energy usage.
With this information, it will be simple to see patterns of use and how those patterns can be modified. Once you review the prior energy statements of the community, it will be beneficial to create an energy consumption plan.
Your Green HOA Energy Plan
This plan needs to outline strategic goals and realistic milestones that can be met both in the short and long-term. Announce it to your residents in email blasts or newsletters. They show that your HOA is making substantial efforts to make a positive contribution to the environment.
Your HOA should be periodically auditing the power companies it is working with. This is so that you can see if there are other providers that provide a better service that is also environmentally conscious.
Green Practices for an Eco-Friendly HOA
In addition to speaking with energy providers, your HOA should look at outdoor lights. Check to see whether making them solar powered makes sense for your community. Then, consider what the cost would be to convert them to solar-powered technology.
For inside lights, your HOA should try to convert switches to timers to prevent excessive use of light when it is not required. If your HOA has electronic equipment that is required throughout the community, consider putting them into a power-saving mode.
For example, a computer monitory usually uses about eight percent of the energy that a computer uses. By turning the computer monitor off, it can reduce the amount of energy used in offices when work is not required within the community.
Check whether the lights in the pool are energy efficient. Verify how often the HVAC filters are changed in the community center. Check the overall age of the system, as well.
By creating a periodic audit with these objectives in mind, it will be possible to get your energy usage down. This can not only help the environment, but it could also potentially save a great deal of capital for your HOA budget.
5. Have a Strategy for Resident Education and Involvement
One of the best initiatives that an HOA can start is resident education and involvement in the community’s green objectives. Hold events to educate residents about current discoveries or recommendations for green practices. With this knowledge, residents can attempt to make positive changes.
Residents will likely make efforts to reduce energy usage in their individual households.
Have volunteers lead recycling drives or energy-saving objectives, as well. This way, residents will have a stronger sense of community. They can take pride in their efforts to improve the quality of life in their community while helping the environment.
If there are younger children in your neighborhood, organize a day just for them. Have a community education day to educate their parents or friends about green practices. This could be a great way to encourage leadership and confidence in the community’s youth.
During each HOA meeting, there should be time to brainstorm about monthly events. Focus on events with a green focus to further develop the green strategy of your HOA.
How An Elite HOA Management Company Can Help You Go Green
Going green for an HOA is not an easy change. It takes some planning and a good measure of financial management. Fortunately, there are HOA management companies that can ease your transition towards being a green HOA. Call us today at (855) 238-8488 or email us at help@emspm.com. Let us know how we can help.
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