Erin Hopkins

Erin Hopkins, Associate Professor of Property Management

_{Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management

113 Wallace Hall

295 West Campus Drive

Blacksburg, VA 24061

540-231-6282 | erinz1@vt.edu}

Erin A. Hopkins, PhD, serves as an Associate Professor of Property Management within the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, where she teaches courses in property management operations and sustainable property management. She has been awarded Virginia Tech’s Teacher of the Week and has received recognition in Virginia Tech’s “Thank a Teacher” program multiple times.

Her research interests include how green building policy impacts the environmental, social, and economic spheres of sustainability as well as how contemplative practices can be used in higher education and industry to cultivate mindfulness. She most recently has received the Woman of Influence award from the GlobeSt Real Estate Forum and Best Paper award in housing and interior design from the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal. She sits on the Editorial Advisory Board for the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, and currently serves on IREM Foundation’s Board of Directors, IREM’s ESG Advisory Council, and is an executive committee member for the Contemplative Higher Education Alliance for Research, Teaching & Service.

Principal Areas of Research Focus

Ecological Sustainability Initiatives
Building Lifecycle Analysis
ESG within the Built Environment
Multifamily Housing
Contemplative Practices in Higher Education

Education

PhD in Higher Educational Leadership, Management and Policy, Seton Hall University, 2014.
MRED in Real Estate Development, University of Southern California, 2004.
BBA in Accounting and Finance, James Madison University, 2000.

Professional Roles

Editorial Board member: The International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Executive Committee Member: Contemplative Higher Education Alliance for Research, Teaching & Service
Executive Committee appointed member: Institute of Real Estate Management Foundation
Board of Directors elected member: Institute of Real Estate Management Foundation
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Advisory Council appointed member: Institute of Real Estate Management

Awards and Honors

Woman of Influence Award, GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, 2023.
Best Paper Award in Housing and Interior Design, Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 2020.
Tessie Agan Paper Award (awarded to undergraduate for our undergraduate research independent study), Housing Education and Research Association, 2019.
Undergraduate Alumni Advising Award nominee, Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Virginia Tech – Student nominated, 2018.
Kenneth Tremblay Early Career Housing Award, Housing Education and Research Association, 2018.
Excellence in Access and Inclusion Award, Services for Students with Disabilities, Virginia Tech – Student nominated, 2018.
“Thank a Teacher” recognition, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Virginia Tech – Student nominated, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2020, Spring 2021.
Teacher Appreciation Recognition, Panhellenic Council, Virginia Tech - Student nominated through survey conducted by Virginia Tech Greek Community, 2016.
Best Manuscript Award in Property/Asset Management, American Real Estate Society, 2016.
Sporn Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching Introductory Subjects finalist, Academy of Teaching Excellence, Virginia Tech - #3 out of over 200 faculty members nominated by students, 2016.
Willis and Mary Blackwood Junior Faculty Fellowship, Program in Real Estate, Virginia Tech, 2015-2020.
Teacher of the Week, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Virginia Tech, 2015.

Publications

Journal Articles

Hopkins, E.A. (2024). Well-being in response to gratitude interventions: A student elicitation approach. Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education, 2(1), 1-16.

Hopkins, E. A. (2023). Book Review: Contemplative practices in higher education: Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning (by D. Barbezat and M. Bush). Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 20(1), 1-3.

Hopkins, E. A. & Hwang, E. (2022). Are LEED campus buildings universally designed? Assessments at Virginia Tech. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 23(7), 1520-1542.

Hopkins, E.A. (2022). Greening On-Campus Housing: Blending Commercial and Higher Education Contexts. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 44(4), 335-346.

Hopkins, E. A. & Garber, O. (2022). Informing homeowners associations through housing design trends. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 37(2), 106-114.

Hopkins, E. A. (2021). Leveraging experiential education techniques in the real estate curriculum. Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education, 23(1), 1-9.

Hopkins, E. A., Carswell, A.T., & Love, K.R. (2020). Impacts of ENERGY STAR appliances on U.S. multifamily rents. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 49(1), 37-51.

Hopkins, E. A. & Van Mullekom, J. H. (2020). An exploration of ecolabels and operating financial metrics: A first look at the multifamily rental sector. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 13(5), 869-886.

Hopkins, E. A. (2019). Communicating sustainability initiatives virtually – Taking stock of the apartment property management industry. Property Management, 37(4), 547-561.

Hopkins, E. A. (2019). Are multi-family LEED-certified buildings biased towards high income areas? An analysis based on the theory of innovation diffusion. International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development, 18(1), 3-16.

Hopkins, E. A. (2019). Building lifecycle sustainability analysis. In: W. Leal Filho, A. Azul, L. Brandli, P. Özuyar, T. Wall (Eds.) Sustainable Cities and Communities. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. (pp. 1-9). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Hopkins, E. A., Parrott, K. R., & Beamish, J. O. (2018). Sustainable multifamily kitchen design: A student elicitation approach. Journal of Green Building, 13(2), 55-66.

Hopkins, E. A. (2018). The influence of public transportation on housing values. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 25(3), 206-215.

Read, D. C., Goss, R. C., & Hopkins, E. (2017). Strategic business development and client prospecting in the third-party apartment management industry. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 21(4), 346-356.

Hopkins, E. A. (2017). John Dewey and progressive education. Journal of Educational Thought, 50(1), 59-68.

Hopkins, E. A., Read, D. C., & Goss, R. C. (2017). Promoting sustainability in the United States multifamily property management industry. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 32(2), 361-376.

Hopkins, E. A. (2017). The importance of incentives and grants for green buildings. In W. Leal Filho, U.M. Azeiteiro, F. Alves, & P. Molthan-Hill (Eds.), Handbook of Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development in Higher Education – Volume 4 (pp. 429-439). New York, NY: Springer.

Hopkins, E. A. (2016). The impact of community associations on residential property values. Housing and Society, 43(3), 157-167.

Hopkins, E. A. (2016). Barriers to adoption of campus green building policies. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 5(4), 340-351.

Hopkins, E. A. (2016). Incorporating sustainable features into historic renovation projects: A case study of Roanoke’s center in the square. Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education, 19(2), 175-190.

Read, D. C., Hopkins, E. A., & Goss, R. C. (2016). Working effectively with asset managers and institutional groups. Property Management, 34(4): 280-296.

Hopkins, E. A. (2016). Program efficiency analysis within the environmental landscape. Environment Systems & Decisions, 36(2), 209-216.

Hopkins, E. A. (2016). An exploration of green building costs and benefits: Searching for the higher ed context, Journal of Real Estate Literature, 24(1), 67-84.

Hopkins, E. A. (2015). LEED certification of campus buildings: A cost-benefit analysis. Journal of Sustainable Real Estate, 7(1), 99-111.

Fellowships, Grants, and Sponsored Research

Hopkins, E.A. (principal investigator), (2023) Koru Mindfulness and its Efficacy on Employee Well-Being. Funded by The Institute of Real Estate Management Foundation.
Hopkins, E.A. (principal investigator), Walz, A. (2021-2023) VIVA Open Course Grant, funded by The Virtual Library of Virginia, to support development of the open textbook Sustainable Property Management, plus ancillaries.
Hopkins, E.A. (principal investigator), (2021) Open Textbook Library Textbook Review Grant, funded by The Virtual Library of Virginia, to support the textbook review of A Primer on Sustainable Business.
Hopkins, E.A. (principal investigator), (2021-2022). Insights into the Implementation of IREM’s Certified Sustainable Property (CSP) Program. Funded by The Institute of Real Estate Management Foundation.
Hopkins, E. A. (principal investigator), (2019-2020). Downtown Roanoke housing study and needs assessment. Funded by Downtown Roanoke, Inc.
Hopkins, E. A. (principal investigator), (2018-2019). Financial impacts of green certifications on multifamily communities. Funded by The Institute of Real Estate Management.
Hopkins, E. A. (principal investigator), (2016). The influence of public transportation on housing values - A hedonic estimation. Funded by The Appraisers Research Foundation.
Hopkins, E. A. (principal investigator), (2015). The impact of community associations on residential property values. Funded by Foundation for Community Association Research.

Invited Lectures

Hopkins, E.A. (2024, February). Real Estate Management and the Evolution of ESG. IREM Advocacy Impact Day + ESG Summit, Washington, D.C.
Hopkins, E.A. (2024, February). Cultivating Mindfulness to Promote Employee Well-Being, IREM Webinar, virtual.
Hopkins, E.A. & Read, D.C. (2024, February). Insights from IREM Foundation’s Inaugural J. T. Aveni Center for Research Grant Recipients. In From the Front Lines. Institute of Real Estate Management. https://www.irem.org/learning/from-the-front-lines
Hopkins, E.A. (2023, October). Best in class sustainable properties: Jackson Control Sustainability Award winners, IREM Global Summit, Toronto, Canada.
Hopkins, E.A. (2022, December). Sustainability in the Built Environment and Stakeholder Well-Being. Virginia Tech Center for Humanities, Blacksburg, VA. https://youtu.be/gUXMmskR2ig
Hopkins, E.A. (2022, March). Insights into the implementation of IREM’s certified sustainable property program. In From the Front Lines. Institute of Real Estate Management. https://www.irem.org/learning/from-the-front-lines
Hopkins, E.A., Carswell, A.T. & Love, K. (2021, June). Impacts of ENERGY STAR appliances on U.S. multifamily rents. American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences, Virtual.
Hopkins, E. A. & Feist, T. (2019, January). Multifamily: The energizer bunny sector - The business case for green. America’s Commercial Real Estate Show.
Hopkins, E. A. (2018, August). Business case 2.0: New research around high performing buildings. Better Buildings Summit, Cleveland, OH.
Hopkins, E. A. (2018, September). Does green pay for multifamily communities? Insights from IREM research. IREM Global Summit, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Courses Taught

PM 2674: Multifamily Property Management and Operations (Undergraduate)
PM 3634: Developing and Managing Affordable and Specialized Housing (Undergraduate)
PM 3674: Property Management Operations (Undergraduate)
PM 3684: Sustainable Property Management (Undergraduate)
PM 4684: Managing and Leasing Commercial Properties (Undergraduate)
PM 4694: Contemporary Issues in Property Management (Undergraduate)
PM 4964: Property Management Field Study (Undergraduate)
PM 4994: Undergraduate Research (Undergraduate)
REAL 3014: Professional Development in Real Estate (Undergraduate)
REAL 3024: Applied Real Estate Development (Undergraduate)
RED 4604: Environmental and Sustainability Issues in Housing (Undergraduate)