 Nov. 18, 2008 - One Boston Place in Boston, Mass., has become the first building to earn Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance.
The new LEED rating recognizes buildings with maximum operational efficiency and minimal environmental impact.
To earn the certification, building owner TIAA-CREF and property manager CB Richard Ellis performed a site-wide review of building operations with a focus on occupant health and environmental sustainability. Based on this assessment, building staff incorporated green cleaning techniques and upgrades to all base-building systems.
The result? Water use has been cut in half, and the building's energy-related carbon footprint has been reduced by 67% from 2002 levels, according to TIAA-CREF.
In addition to the Operations & Maintenance certification, One Boston Place is also one of fewer than 100 buildings worldwide to earn the LEED for Existing Buildings rating.
"We continually seek improvements to our properties that add value for our tenants and clients and reduce the impact on the environment," says Tom Garbutt, managing director and head of TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate. "We remain committed to improving the energy efficiency of our 43 million square foot commercial real estate portfolio by 10% by 2010."
For current tenants, TIAA-CREF has introduced recycling programs and in-house sustainability consultations to help occupants find ways to mitigate the environmental impact of their office space. The company has also established LEED-compliant standards for the construction of new office space.
Currently, the city of Boston requires that all newly constructed buildings of more than 50,000 square feet be LEED certified, but certification of existing structures is voluntary.
Last month, Equity Office Properties Trust, owner of 20 office towers throughout the Boston area, announced a multimillion dollar effort to certify its properties under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program. |
