#917: NAIT Research: Clint Undseth on Financial Modelling for Retrofits

Construction of office towers, condominiums and apartment buildings continues to grow, despite projected vacancy rates of 17 percent in the next couple of years.  So why not retrofit existing buildings to accommodate new technologies and processes?

Clint Undseth is the Vice President of Innovation at the construction company Stuart Olson.

CLINT UNDSETH:   And we’ve heard a lot of talk about retrofits.  We’ve heard a lot of talk about new kinds of financial models, how to monetize a new kind of retrofit investment.  There’s all sorts of initiatives going on.  But the fact of the matter remains, the retrofit as an industry segment I think is lagging in many respects as opposed to the investment and the energy you put into new construction.   Today with low capital rate of return on the money markets, I think when you look at it that way, it goes back to velocity of cash.  How are we going to show a better IRR or rate of return for the money, the investors?  We’ve got to demonstrate that by doing a retrofit is good for the bottom line.  So it’s all about economic modeling and proving.  It’s all about financial bottom line results.

Clint Undseth believes meeting society’s expectations for economic and environmental sustainability will depend on a new mindset for collaboration and innovation.

 

 Program Date: 2017-11-28