NEW YORK and TORONTO, March 30, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FirstService Corporation (TSX:FSV) (TSX:FSV.PR.U) (Nasdaq:FSRV) ("FirstService") today announced the official launch of FS Energy, LLC, an energy management company that is leading environmental change by improving energy efficiency and lowering operating costs across FirstService's extensive property management portfolio. FS Energy is initially concentrating on the 450 high rise buildings the company manages in New York City.
FS Energy was conceived by FirstService, one of the largest managers of residential and commercial property in the world with more than 2.2 billion square feet under management. FS Energy's unique database – over two years in development – tracks historical energy consumption and costs, enabling benchmarking and the creation and implementation of customized energy reduction plans. These comprehensive plans provide immediate and long-term dollar savings, often without significant cash outlays, and are always designed to benefit the property owners by reducing operating costs and increasing property value.
Buildings constitute 40% of energy use, 72% of electricity consumption and 38% of all carbon emissions in the U.S. "The extensive scale and geographic distribution of our portfolio puts us in a unique position to significantly reduce these numbers," explains D. Scott Patterson, President and COO of FirstService. "In addition to fulfilling our social responsibility to safeguard the environment, FS Energy aims to reduce energy costs and consumption by 25% in our New York City residential properties by 2013." The result would be more than $30 million in savings for these clients and a reduction of carbon emissions by 111,000 metric tons, which is equivalent to taking 110 buildings offline or over 21,600 cars off the road.
Leading the management team at FS Energy is David Kuperberg, founder and CEO of FirstService's New York City residential management affiliate, Cooper Square Realty. Kuperberg has spearheaded the success of FS Energy since its creation. "Energy costs comprise up to 30% of an average building's operating expenses in New York City and will only continue to rise," Kuperberg says. "FS Energy is striving to change that trend and is committed to making recommendations in the best interest of its clients without taking a vendor-centric approach to products or services."
The launch commences with the issuance of Energy Report Cards to the hundreds of properties managed by Cooper Square Realty in New York City. The Energy Report Cards are a product of FS Energy's proprietary benchmarking database, which contains historical energy usage, cost and typology information on more than 450 buildings. Benchmarking a building against this robust portfolio not only enables quick assessment of its energy efficiency based on comparative data of other buildings, but more importantly reveals solutions that are most cost-effective and appropriate for that building.
FS Energy's Report Cards are provided free of charge to help boards and owners determine which efficiency measures would be most beneficial to implement. Report Cards also include a Building Energy Rating Guide (BERG), which is an overall score from one through ten that simply states a building's efficiency relative to other properties being tracked in the database. "Significant additional benefits from this initiative include a reduction of greenhouse gases, a healthier living environment, increased property values and lower monthly carrying costs," Kuperberg explains.
FS Energy is currently conducting more than two dozen energy efficiency projects across New York City ranging from oil to gas conversions and boiler replacements to lighting efficiency projects and the installation of co-generation systems.
Building on FS Energy's success during its New York City pilot, FirstService will soon be expanding its services to Chicago and South Florida.
"Given our size and influence, we at FirstService have an incredible opportunity to support significant environmental change and increase the asset value of our properties. We look forward to continuing to build the capabilities and reach of FS Energy to positively impact our clients' properties." Patterson concludes.
For more information about FS Energy, please visit www.FSEnergyServices.com.
ABOUT FIRSTSERVICE
FirstService Corporation is a global diversified leader in the rapidly growing real estate services sector, providing services in commercial real estate, residential property management and property services. Industry-leading service platforms include Colliers International, the third largest global player in commercial real estate services; FirstService Residential Management, the largest manager of residential communities in North America; and TFC, North America's largest provider of property services through franchise and contractor networks.
FirstService generates more than US$2 billion in annualized revenues and over 20,000 employees worldwide. More information about FirstService is available at www.firstservice.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements included in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of FirstService, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions, which will, among other things, impact demand for the FirstService's services, service industry conditions and capacity; the ability of FirstService to implement its business strategy, including FirstService's ability to acquire suitable acquisition candidates on acceptable terms and successfully integrate newly acquired businesses with its existing businesses; changes in or the failure to comply with government regulations (especially safety and environmental laws and regulations); and other factors which are described in FirstService's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian regulatory authorities.