Day 1 --- 6/10/10

Class started! I arrived a bit late...as usual traffic was brutal.

Major topics discussed include:
- Sustainability (underground warehouse facility - Subtropolis - and LEED platinum Bldg - BOA Tower in NY)
- Adaptive reuse of old structures and unused office space
- Educational trends - the growth and impact of online learning,
- Employment trends - the points of sale to employers... what do employers seek???

We kicked off the class with a video about an underground warehouse facility called Subtropolis. This structure is about 800k s.f of underground warehouse structure converted from an old mining facility. This facility incorporates low lease rates without compromising on low energy costs and constant air and humidity levels.

Some of the benefits of Subtropolis mentioned include:

-Low lease rates — 30-50% less than above ground facilities
-Low utility costs — 50-70% savings in total energy costs
-Constant temperature and humidity levels — protect your products and make your employees more productive
-Maximum flexibility — for expansion and seasonal surges
-On-site services — management, maintenance and 24/7 security so you can run your business, not your building
-Sustainability — you're more sustainable without the upfront costs

We also discussed the trends in adaptive reuse of existing structures. We mainly focused on:
- the market rationale for adaptive reuse,
- social impact of such approach to revitalizing particularly abandoned structures - especially impact on local governments

The next topic of discusssion was educational trends. We mainly discussed:

- online learning and its growth as an alternative to traditional educational methods;
- potential adaptive reuse concerns for existing physical facilities especially in higher learning centers.