ELM Rolls Out Landscape Platform for Senior Living

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

A new health care model is reshaping senior living as residential communities continue to raise the bar on amenities and innovation that improve the quality of life.

As this property market looks to a future where the population of seniors with incremental health care needs is growing, updating facility landscaping for aesthetics, and health and safety are no longer capital expenditures that can be put on hold.

ELM has identified five ways to prioritize improvements.

  • Update entrances and pedestrian areas for safety and flow
  • Create plant-filled, interactive outdoor spaces to heighten community engagement, support walking and fitness programs, and add curb appeal
  • Identify opportunities to transform underperforming areas into low-maintenance nature or activity spaces for bocce ball, croquet or putting greens.
  • Create a community garden, rooftop top garden, a composting center, or rain garden to create more opportunities for residents to engage over shared activities.
  • Create a tech-enabled, environmentally-friendly, resource-efficient and climate appropriate landscape maintenance program that reduces long-term costs and use practices that conserve water, energy, and soil health, limit waste and protect groundwater.

ELM’s team is experienced in this sector and understands its unique needs. Recently, we performed a complete makeover that included the installation a digitally controlled smart irrigation system, the natural pruning of dozens of shrubs and trees, layers of fresh mulch, splashes of seasonal color, and a refreshed entrance.

Enhancement Manager and project lead, Bobby Papotto, says, “Our connection with nature improves well-being and nowhere is this more important that when it comes to the specific needs of senior living residents, whether the facility is for independent living, assisted living or memory care. To make sure our landscapes support a range of quality of life goals, we look at soil health, plant material, biodiversity and habitat, and incorporate as much nature and natural elements, and safety features into the design and execution as possible.”

Landscaped spaces are an oasis for community engagement and safe socializing, and spending time in a healthy outdoor environment can make all the difference when it comes to choosing a senior community.

To learn more about ways landscaping can create an enhanced sense of community, contact ELM President, Bruce Moore Jr., at 203-316-5433.

 

 

Think Outside the Job: Why ELM’s All-Hands-On-Deck Workplace Means You’re Not Just a Cog in the Machine

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

The best people are fast on their feet, says Bruce Moore Jr., ELM president, and chief culture officer.  “We’re a business of specialists who end up doing a little bit of everything. Including me.”

The whole business of commercial landscaping is shifting and no one knows what’s going to happen in the next ten years. But one thing is certain. Our customer will still be in charge.

For ELM, that customer is the vast commercial real estate industry in Connecticut and Greater NY metro, an economic powerhouse that spans multiple sectors—from retail and industrial to office and multi-family, and the property and facility managers, and owners who call the shots.

“Making sure the properties perform and contribute value is our job,” says Bruce, who leads a diverse team committed to a seamless bucket brigade of seasonal landscape maintenance services and a portfolio of green site infrastructure, irrigation and water management, construction and improvements.

The ability to understand and apply value-added concepts is critical to the success of a commercial landscape team and the concept of creating value has shaped how ELM’s culture works. At the most basic level, it’s about increasing effectiveness of the processes, understanding why quality is so important, and why the flow of work must exceed customer expectations.

“The most important thing we look for when hiring,” says Bruce, “is personality and the ability to work well with others. We can always teach a skill or provide training to ramp up expertise, but we can’t teach compatibility. When success is on the line, the team has to fit.”

7 reasons why ELM is a great place to work:

  • Team Spirit. Henry Ford said “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. And working together is success.” We agree and believe that more ideas, better decision making, fewer mistakes and getting faster results is one of the significant characteristics of ELM’s winning team spirit and the energy behind the company’s high performing teams.
  • Awesome People. Choosing the right people and treating them the way we want them to treat our customers helps the whole company work smoothly. We’re looking for the right skills, the “yes we can” mindset, a willingness to jump in no matter what, and people open to change.
  • Common Purpose. ELM teams share a distinct characteristic of shared purpose, and people who are organization-oriented, know what they are required to do, and willing to work together on SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable, and timely) goals for better productivity are the kind of high-value people who can harness the real potential of what’s possible.
  • Trust & Respect. Mutual respect is critical in companies where members of teams don’t have the same level of authority. At ELM, team members function best when there is mutual trust and where it’s the responsibility of the team leader to lead by example.
  • Innovation. We encourage creative problem-solving, practice constructive criticism, and know that great ideas can come from everyone on our team if we empower people to think differently. From faster ways of doing business to the better use of tools and equipment, ideas—and our ability to execute them—are our secret sauce.
  • Training. We believe that the more we invest, the better our return. ELM supports training, and technical and professional certification programs specific to sustainability, landscape maintenance, irrigation, and snow and ice management. And once we have a well-trained team, we do everything we can to give them a reason to stay: appreciation days, opportunities to grow, and team building time to get to know one another better.
  • Readiness. Working outdoors means weather is a constant companion and being prepared to manage uncertainty is part of the job. From climate events to storm watch, our ‘extreme team’ is not only top notch when it comes to safety and risk management, our winter management specialists are our region’s best. As an ASCA (Accredited Snow Contractors of America) Snow Leadership Award winner, we know that being vigilant and proactive will go a long way to make sure our clients, their properties, and our own great team stays safe when it counts.

ELM is hiring at both locations, Stamford and Monroe, Connecticut, and has open positions for full time and seasonal work.

Contact us for job applications at careers@easternland.com, or go to https://www.facebook.com/EasternLandManagement for job postings.

ELM is a member of NALP (National Association of Landscape Professionals), SIMA (Snow & Ice Management Association), ASCA (Accredited Snow Contractors of America, and the Irrigation Association.

Photo: ELM Team Monroe celebrating 365 days of no accidents.

 

Nature is Transforming Outdoor Work and Conference Space

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

If Covid-19 accelerated an interest in healthier buildings, then landscaping, and its ability to leverage the health benefits of nature, will be front and center in any master plan that defines how we bring people back to work.

Landscaping opportunities that lead to stronger returns are those that respond to sustainability concerns, including automation, green technology, operational and energy efficiency, climate resiliency, resource conservation, and safety.

At ELM, we’re not only on top of these trends, we’re driving them. Here are our top 7:

• Bring nature to work. Incorporate outdoor conference space, green terraces, green roofs and walls, indoor atriums, water features, container plantings, natural light, texture and foliage, for improved air quality and ventilation.

• Create wow factors. Add seasonal color, flowering perennials, foliage texture for curb appeal, and native and adaptive plants to save water and maintenance.

• Dress it up. Prepare beds with fresh mulch, prune trees and shrubs, cull diseased and infested plants, power wash outdoor surfaces, eliminate weeds and unwanted plants.

• Invest in smart technologies. Upgrade irrigation infrastructure to offset water as the fastest growing utility expense. Invest in smart water technology to support and encourage conservation, and improved groundwater and stormwater filtration and management systems to support water quality.

• Renovate hardscape, pathways, paved surfaces, terraces, decks, and outdoor built elements to repair winter wear and tear, improve safety and manage risk.

• Add tenant amenities such as outdoor Wi-Fi, green roofs, LED lighting, outdoor television, dining areas, bocce ball, putting greens or jogging and bike paths.

• Replace underperforming turf with drought tolerant native plants and meadow-style perennials to improve aesthetics; invest in tree cover, rain gardens and bioswales, and permeable surfaces to improve environmental health and water and air quality.

Commercial properties with well-engineered landscapes and green site systems reap savings, financial incentives (tax credits, rebates and stormwater/irrigation credits where applicable), reduced life-cycle and maintenance costs, reduced flood damage, and reduced water bills, while also creating measurable value for property owners and tenants both.

If you’re looking to innovate, meet sustainability and LEED credits, or transform your building’s underperforming outdoor areas into functional conference space, contact Bruce Moore, Jr., president, at ‭(203) 316-5433‬.

Let’s Get Re-Building. Tips to make your post-Covid landscape a healthier space to live, work and play.

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

Making our environment healthier for everyone is likely to be an upside of post-pandemic recovery.

From oxygen-producing street trees to broader walkways and wider spaces, here are ten ways commercial property owners and managers can rehabilitate commercial sites to be more resilient and safer spaces for all.

  1. Widen pedestrian plazas to enable people to spread out.
  2. Construct and protect bicycle paths.
  3. Renovate public gather places, dining terraces, common areas.
  4. Transform underutilized hardscape into landscaped spaces.
  5. Reclaim underperforming landscape areas into broad corridors.
  6. Introduce wide walking trails and sidewalks with lighting, shade trees, and habitat and vector-control buffer zones.
  7. Eliminate redundant landscape infrastructure systems, such as old irrigation grids, and introduce automation and advanced technology to improve cost, eliminate waste and improve resource management.
  8. Optimize amenities as flexible public spaces.
  9. Integrate natural systems, riverbeds, estuaries, habitats, transit areas, medians, and parks at all scales to create a sense of community.
  10. Activate a multi-functional landscape plan that adheres to healthy living/working guidelines and new interaction and safety norms.

Our high-performing teams have been respected members of the integrated landscape design-build and landscape maintenance community for more than 40 years.

Working with general contractors and builders, and directly with building and facility owners and managers to improve project delivery and cost, our full-service framework offers a multitude of ways to get started.

Contact Bruce Moore Jr. at 203-316-5433 or email at bmoorejr@easternland.com.

ELM is licensed and bonded in the States of Connecticut and New York. 

For Landscaping to Add Real Value, Focus on Aesthetics, Functionality and Green.

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

It’s not just beautiful flowers, perfect turf and no weeds. If you want your landscape to significantly increase the value of your commercial property, focus on functionality and experience. In other words, the way the landscape systems and features work and the way your landscape makes people feel.

To calculate landscape’s value, consider the direct economic role it plays in enhancing image; the way it attracts tenants and investment, and can become an integral part of the property’s brand. More importantly, consider that as property owners and managers and industry players value green building, landscape has growing clout as a link between sustainability and marketability, and contributing to making our communities overall healthier places to live, work and play.

The landscape projects that tend to lead to stronger returns are those that strategically improve focal points, tenant amenities and update the landscape’s infrastructure to meet higher standards for operational and energy efficiency, climate resiliency, resource conservation and safety.

Our top six ROI impact list includes:

  • Create wow factors.  Add seasonal color, flowering perennials, foliage texture for curb appeal, and native and adaptive plants to save water and maintenance.
  • Dress it up. Prepare beds with fresh mulch, prune trees and shrubs, cull diseased and infested plants, power wash outdoor surfaces, eliminate weeds and unwanted plants.
  • Invest in technology. Upgrade irrigation infrastructure to offset water as the fastest growing utility expense. Invest in smart water technology to support and encourage conservation, and improved groundwater and stormwater filtration and management systems to support water quality.
  • Renovate hardscape, pathways, paved surfaces, terraces, decks, and outdoor built elements to repair winter wear and tear, improve safety and manage risk.
  • Add tenant amenities such as green roofs, LED lighting, outdoor television, dining areas, bocce ball, putting greens or jogging and bike paths.
  • Replace underperforming turf with drought tolerant native plants and meadow-style perennials to improve aesthetics; invest in tree cover, rain gardens and bioswales, and permeable surfaces to improve environmental health and water and air quality.

Commercial properties with well-engineered green systems reap energy savings, financial incentives (tax credits, rebates and stormwater/irrigation credits where applicable), reduced life-cycle and maintenance costs, reduced flood damage, and reduced water bills, while also creating reate measurable value for property owners and tenants both.

Eastern Land Management is a leader in sustainable landscape solutions, less toxic approaches to plant pest and disease management, and green infrastructure. 

ELM has been connecting the landscape of Greater New York Metro, and Fairfield and New Haven counties, Connecticut to what’s important to businesses for more than 40 years.

Contact Marc Angarano 203.316.5433 to learn more.

Be Prepared, Be Safe, Be Proactive: Cold Weather Tips from the ELM Snow Pros

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

We New Englanders love the beauty of winter. But from Snowmageddon to SNOMG, there’s little to love when hazardous conditions, sub-freezing temps, and personal and property health and safety are at risk.

Our snow pros offer the following guidelines for commercial building tenants, patrons and employees to minimize risk and injury:

  • Snow/ice programs treat parking lots and pathways to improve vehicle and pedestrian safety. Be aware that snow and ice will likely exist in parking lots even when sidewalks have been cleared and deiced.
  • During sub-freezing weather, thawing and refreezing can occur following snow and ice clearing. Assume ice exists and take caution if temps fall below freezing.
  • Don’t assume that what appears to be cleared is slip-free. Black ice can form after snow is cleared and may even be hard to see, making it even more dangerous. Wear appropriate footwear with heavy treads for increased traction. 
  • Be aware of changes in walking surfaces. Many falls are caused when transitioning from non-slippery surfaces to slippery ones. 
  • Step down and not out when getting out of vehicles. Swing both legs out. Place both feet on the ground and use hands for support.
  • Focus on your footing. Watch where you walk. Concentrate on getting from point A to point B safely.
  • Free up your hands. Use a carrying case with a shoulder or cross-body strap for laptops and files.
  • Avoid carrying heavy loads that may compromise your balance.
  • Don’t use your cell phone or otherwise multi-task while walking to or from parking lots or when using stairs.
  • Use handrails on stairways and don’t rush.
  • Walk using short, slow steps.
  • Step down off curbs, not out. Landing on your heel first instead of flat-footed can cause a fall.
  • Use authorized paths. If it’s not cleared of snow, don’t use it. No shortcuts.
  • Report unsafe conditions to a supervisor, maintenance manager, or snow professional immediately.

ELM is a long-standing member of SIMA (Snow & Ice Management Association) and ASCA (Accredited Snow Contractors of America), and actively participates in training and credential programs to advance its professionalism, reliability and expertise in snow, ice and winter management.  

ELM’s founder and CEO Bruce Moore Sr. received the Snow Magazine Leadership Award in 2018 for leading the company’s reputation for continued excellence in winter management.

To learn more about winter services for your commercial property, contact Bruce Moore Jr. at 203-316-5433.

How Innovative Turf Equipment Benefits Your Landscape and Controls Noise

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

Autonomous equipment is a game changer. Eco-friendly and reliable, robotic mowers are delivering impressive results. For property managers keen on reducing noise, robotic mowers are among a class of next gen options designed to provide a less disruptive landscape maintenance experience.

ELM is currently testing autonomous equipment and plans to use on unique, size-constrained areas, such as green roofs, or to simplify tough mowing jobs, such as clearing vegetation from sloped areas. 

As part of ELM’s ‘future ready’ initiative, Husqvarna robotic mowers will become part of a fleet of smart commercial grade equipment that will help us offer new and existing clients increased efficiency, added safety, and the opportunity to deliver complex and less disruptive turf services in a new way. 

Overall, autonomous vehicles are safer, produce fewer emissions than conventional mowing equipment, and offers specific benefits to property owners seeking environmentally-friendly options for green build or LEED credits. 

ELM is applying green technologies to support our clients’ and our own sustainability goals and robotic mowers are an important next step in flexibility, scalability and improved services. 

To learn more about how advanced technologies can make a difference in your landscape management services, contact Bruce Moore Jr. at 203-316-5433.

How ELM Landscape Practices Help Property Owners Qualify for LEED

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Sustainable practices are among the core of ELM’s landscape maintenance services portfolio. For commercial real estate owners and property management companies pursuing LEED or green build credits, this means you have with ELM as your landscape maintenance partner a broad range of expertise to help you improve your environmental footprint and maximize your return on investment.

Here’s how.

Corporate campuses, educational facilities, public spaces, healthcare and hospitality properties are good examples of how landscape maintenance practices, such as stormwater filtration, pollinator habitat, water management, and integrative tree and plant health care can improve ‘green’ metrics and your property’s environmental stewardship.

Initially, LEED, an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to set benchmarks for design, construction and operation.  Over the years, the certification program has expanded to take into consideration the overall energy efficiency of the site, including ways landscape practices, green technologies and the use of alternative fuels can help meet key LEED criteria and site performance goals. 

ELM’s green performance plan addresses:

Irrigation and Stormwater Management: Water efficient landscaping, the use of computerized irrigation and smart technologies, using less thirsty native plants, converting underperforming turf to naturalized perennial meadow plantings, replacing hardscapes with permeable surfaces, and constructing drainage solutions, erosion control mechanisms, and creating landscaped bioswales and retention ponds.

IPM: Integrated pest management, part of an overall plant health care program, focuses on plant and soil health and cultural practices to reduce weeds, prevent invasive species, manage pest damage, encourage beneficial insects, reduce toxicity in the soil and air, and protect water quality in watersheds and riparian zones

Green Roofs: Converting elevated platforms, such as surface areas over underground parking, or building roof areas, to a functional landscaped tenant amenity space is a strategic way to cut down on urban heat island effect, cool air and surface temperatures overall, reduce the use of building air conditioning, and absorb and filter water for less runoff.

Summer is prime outdoor upgrade season in the northeast. For cost-effective ideas to earn LEED credits from landscaping and help you meet your annual corporate sustainability goals, contact Bruce Moore Jr. at 203-316-5433.

Photo: One of our commercial mixed-use property clients pursuing LEED accreditation recently implemented a well-defined drought tolerant planting strategy, using a mix of ornamental grasses, sweet potato vine, annual vinca and sedum on vehicular and pedestrian overpass.  

Are You Caught in a Tug of War Over Summer Landscape Improvements?

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

Part of being a successful property manager is making your property more valuable. 

The good news is that landscape improvements can help you do that. Class A properties, retail and mixed-use can all benefit from landscape upgrades that drive asset value – through better watershed and habitat health, pedestrian access, hardscape repairs – and generate income, either through green credits, or increased occupancy and traffic.

If you are looking to boost your property’s ROI, aesthetics or functionality, consider the following:

1. Safety Value – Maintenance care prevents injury. Improved pedestrian walkways, parking lot surfaces, and structural pruning to improve visibility can all prevent trips, falls, accidents, and mitigate liability and risk. Strategic use of plant material can prevent flooding; drainage improvements can improve the absorption of rainwater and runoff; and tree-covered areas can reduce loitering – while also improving air quality. 

2. Health Value – Landscapes have direct impact on positive well-being. Healthy landscapes start with healthy soil and the reduction or elimination of toxic chemicals. For tenants, employees, guests, or customers, the quality of your property’s landscape influences how people interact with, and feel good about, your business. An attractive outdoor space, with courtyards and well-designed landscaped areas is advantageous to you as an employer and as an asset manager. We recommend investing in a regular plant health care program that creates a healthy baseline for your plants and trees, nourishes your soil and encourages vigorous bloom and vibrant foliage. 

3. Environmental Value – Conservation helps the earth and your wallet. Eco-friendly investments in green technology will improve your landscape’s water use and your cost through controlled irrigation and water audits; more trees contribute to using less heating or cooling energy; rain garden strategies and bioswales provide filters for stormwater and prevent flooding and puddling; flowering plants provide forage and habitat for pollinator insects, birds and wildlife. 

First things first. Prioritizing improvements is a task made easier by a master landscape maintenance plan.Knowing which improvement will offer sustained ROI depends on a few factors. One is the size of your property, the other is how it is used—where people gather, what types of amenities drive the greatest appreciation, and where fitness and pedestrian areas can be enhanced for greater health, i.e., walking and jogging trails, bike paths, bocce ball courts, green roofs, terrace and outdoor eating and meeting areas.

ELM’s top ten. Repairing walkways and footpaths impacted by winter storms, fencing/retaining walls, signage, water features, park-like amenities, new plantings and installation projects, turf aeration and plant health care, tree and shrub pruning, and power washing.

If you’re ready to take advantage of ELM’s summer landscape improvement and hardscape restoration expertise, perk up your high impact focal areas with bold containers and lots of color; swap out underperforming turf for perennial meadows; try our new and improved plant health program (and its organic option), upgrade your irrigation system with green technology, or partner with us to drive LEED credits, but don’t know where to begin, contact Bruce Moore Jr. at 203-316-5433.

Chris Smith to Lead ELM’s Plant Health Initiative

Posted by Eastern Land Management on

Please join us in congratulating Field Manager Chris Smith who has been tasked to lead ELM’s commitment to plant health.

Plant health care is both a philosophy of long term health as well as a broad framework of customizable and proactive approaches that address commercial landscapes and soils as integrated, biodiverse systems.

“If your goal is a high performing landscape,” said Chris, “incremental fixes have little impact.  Like human health, treating the symptoms rather than seeking to understand the underlying cause of the problem, rarely improves the outcome.” 

“Nutrition and proactive disease management are the two most powerful things that can create resilience or cure stress problems in plants,” he added. “For clients pursuing green building or LEED credits, a plant health care program as part of a sustainability-driven landscape maintenance platform can help advance green goals.”   

“The bottom line for us,” said company president Bruce Moore Jr., “is to foster approaches where sustainability for our clients is profitable and a competitive differentiator.  As property and facility managers make investment decisions, capital improvement and site operations decisions, they will want to do things that drive greener futures and we believe that future starts from the ground up.”

ELM’s sustainable protocols include an increase in the use of non-nitrogen fertilizers, microbial organisms for soil health, an eco-system-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests, and a holistic approach to minimizing environmental risks while optimizing the quality of life for plants and people.

Chris holds a pesticide applicator’s license from the State of Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection and will be receiving a certificate in Turfgrass Management from Penn State University in July 2019. Before joining ELM in 2017, Chris served with the Darien Board of Education’s ground crew.