Martin Melaver.

What work do you do?

I’m CEO of Melaver, Inc., which is a third-generation, family-owned real-estate company based in Savannah, Ga.

What does your organization do?

We really do a bit of everything in real estate, which I guess is typical for a business with roots in a smallish town. We develop, acquire, renovate, manage, broker, and own commercial and residential properties. And we’re trying to do it all sustainably, which is a mouthful.

What, in a perfect world, would constitute “mission accomplished”?

It’s easy enough to develop, manage, acquire, and rehab sustainably (if you’re committed to the idea), because these are decisions you make on your own dollar. Much more challenging is trying to become a sustainable third-party brokerage firm, because you’re simply putting together buyers and sellers. As a middleman, you really don’t have a lot of control over what happens. In a perfect world, we would have sufficient inventory of sustainable real estate such that our brokers made a nice living simply representing this inventory. That would be cool.

What long and winding road led you to your current position?

I grew up in my family’s grocery business, working my way through pretty much every department, from bagging groceries to produce to meat-cutting to warehouse, etc. My father was pretty damn innovative in how we built that business, and I think I enjoyed being a part of the cutting-edge stuff he was doing. I also enjoyed the simple camaraderie of a people-oriented business, but running a grocery business really wasn’t my thing.

For a while, I was heading for a career as a teacher. I got a Ph.D. in English, and probably would have ended up teaching college somewhere except for a promise to one of my old college roommates to join him on a trip through Africa. We spent two years traversing Africa, from Algiers down to Capetown. The experience changed my life in ways I’m still coming to terms with.

After the trip, I began the journey of trying to create a new family business that would do real estate in a socially responsible fashion. It took about eight years before all the pieces fell into place.

Where were you born? Where do you live now?

I was born in Savannah. I now “commute” between Tel Aviv, Israel, where my wife and kids live, and Georgia, where I work.

What environmental offense has infuriated you the most?

I was in a taxi one day in Chicago, and the driver was listening to one of those “vent radio shows” (calling it talk radio would be overly generous). And the shock jock was saying, “We’re the wealthiest damn country on the planet, and no one’s gonna tell me what I can and can’t do. If I want to drive a car that gets two miles to the gallon, then damn it, it’s my god-given right.”

It’s this mind-set that I find the most infuriating.

Who is your environmental hero?

Paul Hawken came to a small one-day seminar my company sponsored about four years ago when our family was at a crossroads: Should we sell our real-estate holdings and invest in mutual funds that practice socially responsible investing? Or should we somehow try to create a socially responsible real-estate company? Paul’s answer was stunning in its simplicity: Why give over your hard-earned assets to someone else to do your thinking for you and manage as he/she deems appropriate, when you can do the things you feel most passionate about? It was a pivotal moment for me personally and for our company.

My other environmental hero is Ray Anderson, who sits on our board. Ray, to my mind, is a true mensch: humble about his own remarkable accomplishments, entirely forthcoming about his pre-environmental tendencies as a self-described “plunderer,” tireless in guiding others along the path he is committed to, and generous with his time in mentoring others.

What’s your environmental vice?

OK, if you promise my kids won’t see this, I enjoy a very good cigar now and again.

What are you reading these days?

Nature and Madness by Paul Shepard, All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin, and some god-awful, tedious stuff regarding the creation of triple-bottom-line metrics.

What’s your favorite meal?

I live on the coast, so fresh-caught shrimp or crab is right up there. Add a sharp sauvignon blanc, a kick-ass chipotle sauce on some appetizer, and a spinach salad with blueberries and goat cheese, and I’m yours.

What’s your favorite place or ecosystem?

The marshlands and barrier islands along the southeast Georgia coast.

If you could institute by fiat one environmental reform, what would it be?

I’d like to see an energy-usage tax, based on the efficiency of whatever mechanical system is being utilized.

What’s your favorite movie?

I really am a movie junkie. Anything done by Robert Altman, Terry Gilliam, or the Coen brothers. A “classic” favorite for me is The Conversation.

What are you happy about right now?

I love being on the cutting edge of an industry. There really isn’t, to our knowledge, a real-estate company anywhere that has committed to doing everything sustainably. Of course, we wonder whether we’re on the leading edge or bleeding edge, but the thrill is there.

Keeping It Real Estate

Martin Melaver, CEO of Melaver, Inc.

Do you see any of your business policies catching on in the larger real-estate industry?    — Virginia Afentoulis, Oakland, Calif.

You know, I grew up in a household where family members tended to look at a half glass of milk and call it empty. But I’m really upbeat on this issue — maybe Pollyannishly so. We’re quietly involved in pushing a number of sustainable initiatives in our area that do seem to be attracting a lot of attention. The stakes are actually huge. My area accounts for something like 30 percent of the total marshland area on the entire eastern seaboard. How we manage the growth along this coastline is so critical. I do think it helps in terms of credibility that we’re a third-generation family business with deep roots in the community and not some fly-by-night “nutcase.” We’re known for caring deeply about the long-term viability of our community, so that does help.

What does a sustainable real-estate developer actually do? Can you give us some specific distinguishing programs/practices (e.g., recycling, energy, procurement practices, environmental management systems) that your organization undertakes?    — Matthew Donahue, Lowell, Mass.

If you look at U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED guidelines or Urban Land Institute’s smart-growth guidelines, you’ll probably get a fairly comprehensive idea. Basically, it entails selecting where to build and where not to build (no sprawl areas, mostly urban infill); orienting a building so that it takes best advantage of local climatic conditions (angle of the sun, prevailing winds, etc.); creating a building envelope that is energy-efficient; reducing the areas of parking that are impervious pavement; using rain-catchment systems on a roof and cisterns that enable you to reduce reliance on city water sources; etc. And that’s just the development piece. It also means being sensitive to the tenants you want to attract and what their business practices are. It means developing property-management practices that are more eco-friendly (fewer toxins in the building). And it also means using suasion as a friendly weapon to encourage others to develop similarly. But at the end of the day, it really means developing a set of practices that are not only ones that we as a company can live by over the long haul, but also a set of practices that “pull” others along with us: vendors, tenants, customers, and, yes, competitors.

What do you look for in a design team and what firms have you used that you consider influential in your mission?    — Jim Smith, Chicago, Ill.

We wrestle with this question all the time. When we first started out, our approach was to bring everyone else along with us in terms of learning and growing. Something like 30 outside professionals — from lawyers to marketers to architects of various stripes — all became LEED accredited as a result. But not all LEED-accredited professionals are created equally. And we also found that this type of broad-based education meant that our projects were very slow in getting done. So now I think we primarily look for those who share our passion for doing the right thing. BNIM Architects out of Kansas City provides us with a lot of guidance, as does Southface Institute in Atlanta, to name a couple. There are obviously plenty of other very qualified firms. I tend to prefer those who speak rather softly and don’t do a lot of self-promotion, but yet are intensely committed to making a difference. Weird as it might sound, when you are interviewing various firms, you know who gets it and who doesn’t.

How likely is it that the damaged areas of Louisiana and Texas will be rebuilt in an energy-efficient, sustainable manner?    — Joe Mohr, St. Louis, Mo.

Great question. I’m really no expert here since this is not where we have done business to date. But frankly, I’m rather skeptical. Essentially, we’ve put infrastructure down in places we never should have in the first place (in my opinion) and the rather sacrosanct nature of individual property rights in the U.S. probably means that we’ll repeat the same mistakes. I hope I’m wrong.

My sister and I are just starting to enter into real-estate investing. What resources or advice can you share with someone getting into the field (either residential or commercial) who is also interested in practicing sustainability at the same time?    — Dawn Atnip, Harrisonburg, Va.

If you are trying to invest in sustainable real estate as in a Real Estate Investment Trust, forget it. I can already tell you that you care more about how to develop than the publicly traded companies that are looking for your bucks. If you and your sister are thinking of developing yourselves, big, big applause here. You’re putting your own values into play rather than entrusting them to someone else’s vision (to paraphrase Paul Hawken). Advice? Go slowly and gradually. The perfect, as they say, is the enemy of the good. Don’t feel like your first project has got to be a living building (zero footprint). if you want more details. Happy to oblige.

What advice would you give first-time home buyers on useful resources to help make their new home more environmentally friendly?    — Alexa Cole, Washington, D.C.

I’d probably look into some very unsexy things like ducts that might not be insulated properly, plumbing lines that are not properly sealed, or old fixtures that might be converted to low-flow (shower heads, faucets, etc.). Windows would probably be next. It’s a great question, but so much of your particular strategy is based on two things: what is the micro-climate where you live, and what are your particular goals — what matters to you (energy reduction? indoor-air quality? water-use reduction?). This sounds complicated, but it’s really not rocket science by any means.

Is there a nationwide roster of environmentally responsible developers like you?    — Cindi deCapiteau, Heathsville, Va.

It’s a very, very short list at the moment. I believe that Jason McLennan is coming out with a book this fall (publishing house is his own, Ecotone) that highlights some of the key players in the field. I haven’t seen it yet, but Jason has a good sense of what’s happening out there. Another avenue may be to look to those cities such as Austin, Portland, Atlanta, etc., with residential programs that they are promoting locally with their respective Home Builders Association.

Do you think that the real-estate market properly values green buildings?    — Cliff Majersik, Washington, D.C.

No, but I do think this is going to change, particularly in the aftermath of Katrina. The issue of value has two components: risk and reward. Financial institutions and insurance companies need to be educated and convinced that so-called green buildings — because of the way they are built and their reduced use of resources — really carry a lower risk. Similarly, the market needs to be educated that with this reduced risk comes greater market demand (and hence reward). It will take time, but I think it will happen.

Why have local governments not insisted on developers reusing previously developed land as opposed to always targeting pristine or wooded land?    — Bob Breslin, Allston, Mass.

There are probably political interests interfering here, if I had to take a 30,000-foot view. If developers had to pay the true cost of sprawl development (rather than have all taxpayers pick up this burden), perhaps the landscape would change.

Has your business worked with poor communities to help bridge the economic divide in planning land-use?    — Jared Webb, Rocky Mount, Va.

We’re working on that right now, but the short answer is, regrettably, no. We’ve embarked on a few projects that marry the best practices of the Urban Land Institute with the U.S. Green Building Council, which means mixed-use, sustainable urban infill development with about 20 percent of the residential component devoted to affordable housing. But that’s still on the drawing board (Atlanta) and even at that, is a long cry from what we really would like to evolve into.

In your experience, does demand for sustainable real estate outstrip supply?    — Brad Kahn, Seattle, Wash.

I think the evidence is more anecdotal than anything. But yes, I do think users/purchasers are indeed willing to pay a premium for sustainable development. Having said that, so few developers have gone this route that the true market demand for this new product is still uncertain. This shouldn’t surprise us. If you asked the average person on the street when Sony Walkman first appeared whether demand for this new-to-the-world product outstripped supply, he or she would probably look at you rather puzzled, never having seen such a beast before.

You mentioned that you “commute” between Georgia and Israel. Considering your beliefs on sustainability, do you make up in any way for the energy consumed by the commute?    — Susanne Bornschlegl, Nuremberg, Germany

I do get a lot of flak from my colleagues about the degree to which I’m wreaking havoc with our overall environmental footprint (not to mention economic cost). We have purchased green tags to offset all energy costs, but that really is sidestepping the issue. I’m looking into VoIP now to reduce some of the commuting, but to be frank, nothing really substitutes for face-to-face meetings. I need to see the person across from me to get a feel for whether we have a long-term partner or not. I will stop commuting in about a year and a half.