Kenneth Acks, CEO of the Cost Benefit Group LLC, Spoke before the Regional Meeting of the Auditing Roundtable in New York City on “The Economic Impact of Environmental Liabilities on Real Estate Values”

March 4th, 2009

On March 3rd 2009 Kenneth Acks, CEO of the Cost Benefit Group LLC, spoke before the Regional Meeting of the Auditing Roundtable in New York City. The title of the talk was “The Economic Impact of Environmental Liabilities on Real Estate Values” The presentation reviewed the issues surrounding the valuation of contaminated properties, basic valuation methods and procedures, and included a summary of empirical results. It also presented a positive spin on the issue by discussing how greening buildings can increase values.

The conference was entitled “Valuing Environmentally Toxic Assets”. The program of the conference follows:

I. Welcome – Howard Apsan/Jerry Atlas (9 AM – 9:15 AM)
II. Introduction – Jeffrey Teitel, EHS Consultant (9:15 – 9:30 AM)
A. "Toxic Assets" – Financial community borrows a term from the EHS world
B. Greater role for the EHS Auditor – Discovering and Valuing Impaired Assets
III. How and Why The Financial Crisis Has Changed the Role of the EHS Auditor: The Legal Perspective - Holly Cannon, Principal, Beveridge & Diamond PC (9:30 – 10:30 AM)
Coffee Break (10:30 – 10:45 AM)
IV. Discovering and Valuing Environmental Liabilities - Muriel Robinette , CEO, New England EnviroStrategies Inc. (10:45 – 11:45 AM)
Lunch (11:45 AM - 1:00 PM)
V. Economic Impact of Environmental Liabilities on Real Estate Values – Kenneth Acks, CEO, Cost-Benefit Group, LLC (1:00 – 2:00 PM)
Auditing Roundtable Announcement – Jerry Atlas, Consolidated Edison
VI. Environmental Considerations Impact Banking Industry – Eric Rothenberg, Partner, O'Melveny & Meyers LLP (2:15 – 3:15 PM)
Q & A (3:15 – 4:00 PM)
ADJOURNMENT

The Auditing Roundtable is a Professional Organization for Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Auditors. For more information on the Auditing Roundtable go to:
http://www.auditing-roundtable.org
For more information on The Cost-Benefit Group, LLC go to:
http://www.costbenefitgroup.com