32. Sustainability, Real Estate and Pasta

Technology for greener buildings keeps evolving. From waste reduction, to sustainable materials, from water efficiency and consumption to energy usage and generation, from travel to and from buildings, to smart building automation…Dream a technology, and chances are it already exists.But many times, the public at large is either unaware of the latest developments in sustainability in Real Estate, or unable to get funding for sustainability projects.This is where Anna Maria Kowalik comes into place. A true people’s person, Italian descendant and first generation american, she knows that Real Estate, like many other industries, is a relationships based industry.Anna Maria Kowalik is a Sr VP - Director of Business Development at Inland Green Capital LLC (“IGC”), an environmental finance and investment company that provides capital for Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) project initiatives nationwide. She is responsible for the business development of PACE initiatives through the marketing, education and implementation of this next generation sustainability financing option. Ms. Kowalik possesses almost 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate and property management industries, including with a former Inland REIT where she last oversaw a portfolio of over 30 retail properties consisting of 3.4 million square feet with more than 500 tenants, and budgets close to a quarter billion dollars. Anna and I talked about sustainability and technology in Real Estate, family, relationships, food, Italy and the US, recipes… you name it.She is an amazing professional, but most importantly, a wonderful person to have a conversation with, someone who clearly understands how to build lasting relationships.I hope you can enjoy this episode as much as I did!