Ryan Anderson founded Belay Energy after learning from his family's experience in commercial real estate about the importance of change and bringing the right stakeholders together. Belay Energy identifies cost savings opportunities through efficiency improvements like lighting retrofits and equipment upgrades. Their work for a senior care facility system achieved a 14% reduction in utility fees in one year. Anderson hopes to shift the focus to sustainable best practices that improve profits and the environment.

2. ENERGIZING
38 MARCH 2016
LESSONS FOR LEADERS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
C
oming from a family of entrepreneurs
can either be oppressive or energizing.
It depends on what approach current
leaders use to develop the next generation,
which sometimes includes allowing them to
create something new for their futures.
There is a funny thing about change, though.
It’s hard. Ryan Anderson witnessed the cycle
of change, aversion, acceptance and growth
many times in his family’s group of businesses.
He learned from that experience to ask “why”
before changing things in order to understand
pains and priorities.
It also helped that his father and mentors
helped Anderson determine where he fit in
the business world by reminding him of the
“experiments” he used to perform to make
improvements to the family’s portfolio of
commercial real estate. What evolved was a
business model in which real estate owners,
vendors and the end users can collaborate to
improve the efficiency and sustainability of
each building. In 2011, Anderson founded his
own creation, Belay Energy.
“We can walk into a brand new building
and find up to 20-30% reductions in utility and
operational costs,” Anderson says. “Our goal
is to identify cost reduction opportunities and
implement efficient products and sustainable
practices to realize them.”
Changing a light bulb is more complex than
you think, according to Anderson. Too bright
light bulbs can impact the health and pro-
ductivity of employees and increase sick days.
Poorly lit rooms can increase the potential for
injuries. Some bulbs have extended warranties
and rebates. The spacing and number of bulbs
are also important for energy savings and
employee productivity.
Anderson has learned that everyone from
lenders, architects and general contractors
to product manufacturers, service vendors,
inspectors and end users need to be part
of the assessment and conversation to
determine priorities. Often the conversation
only starts when there is a serious cost issue
to solve.
“We had a client whose insurance carrier
was dropping coverage because the facil-
ity’s existing high-pressure steam boiler was
deemed too high a risk,” Anderson says. “The
bid to replace it was $700,000. We brought in
mechanical, electrical and insurance special-
ists as well as the state boiler inspector and
came up with an alternative solution that cost
less than $300,000 and also saved the owner
$10,000 a year in operational savings and
$9,000 in rebates.”
The owner was happy, the vendor was paid,
and the new system was safer and more efficient.
For a system of 21 senior care facilities,
Belay Energy’s assessment and collaboration
with facility owners, managers and main-
tenance determined the need for a lighting
retrofit and water efficiency upgrade including
toilets, faucets and showerheads. The overall
health system savings was a 14% reduction in
utility fees in one year. They are now consider-
ing numerous other opportunities identified
by Belay during the initial assessment.
Anderson has to convince potential clients
that change goes beyond changing light bulbs
and replacing boiler systems and toilets to
a mindset of long-term sustainability over
short-term cost savings and reactive fixes.
Being diligent and making small incremental
changes often compounds into considerable
savings long-term.
Beyond his more high-minded goals of en-
vironmental impact and the comfort of people
who live and work in properties, Anderson
knows that change comes down to money. His
business model shifts to accommodate it.
“In an economic downturn, companies
want to save money, so we focus on utility and
operational cost reductions. When business is
good, we focus on due diligence for new real
estate acquisitions to help owners get the most
return on their investments,” Anderson says.
“In reality, we aren’t actually adding to their
expense, but reallocating or repurposing what
they already spend.”
LESSONS IN SUSTAINABLE
CHANGE
BE OPEN to mentorship to
determine new opportunities or
ways of operating.
BRING THE right people to the
table and analyze all the pains and
priorities.
DEVELOP A phased plan of
solving problems that repurposes
existing resources.
MAKE SURE that measures are
built in to demonstrate benefits
and savings long-term.
Belay Energy looks for
the little things that bring
big, sustainable change
and savings.
BY JOHN P. PALEN

3. JOHN P. PALEN is CEO of Allied
Executives (jppalen@alliedexecutives.
com) and works with CEOs, business
owners and executive leaders on
leadership development and business
performance improvement through
peer groups, coaching and educational
workshops. alliedexecutives.com
As a new generation moves into leader-
ship, Anderson hopes the taste for change
is more acceptable. Just maybe, the focus
will shift to best practices in the real estate
industry that still bring profits, but also a
cleaner world.
BELAY ENERGY
HEADQUARTERS: Minneapolis
INCEPTION: June 2011
LEADERSHIP: Ryan Lee Anderson
EMPLOYEES: 1 (2016 proj. 7); 12
independent contractors
REVENUE: Undisclosed
DESCRIPTION: Strategists and implementers
of utility efficiencies and environmental
impact improvements in commercial real
estate, designed to reduce costs and
improve how people perform.
WEB: belayenergy.com
BIZ BRIEFING
SUBMITTEDPHOTO
Ryan
Anderson
www.ariampls.comPhoto by Yantes Photo