Hidrock Realty has achieved the Energy Star label throughout its commercial portfolio as part of a yearlong effort.
Beginning in April 2010, the Manhattan-based commercial real estate owner began working with CodeGreen to establish Energy Star benchmarks, evaluating each building’s energy consumption and comparing it to similar buildings. Working with CodeGreen and Con Edison, Hidrock established steps to improve energy efficiency in every tenant space, including updating heating and plant operation systems, installing energy-efficient HVAC units and highly efficient windows, converting to natural gas and installing LED lighting and daylight sensors.
According to Steven Hidary, principal at Hidrock Realty, increasing energy savings was one of the steps the firm has taken to enhance overall efficiency and achieve LEED certification, as well as reduce costs as Hidrock prepares for $250 million in new acquisitions by mid-2013.
Green Design Medals have been awarded for 2012 by the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID). The fourth annual competition recognizes organizations and individuals in the New York metropolitan area for their efforts in supporting sustainability and green design. Recipients were honored at a ceremony on April 25.
The 2012 Green Design Award winners are: Gensler for design of interior spaces, Lutron Electronics for interior products, The Related Companies for development/real estate and the New York City GreenCodes Task Force for advocacy/community.
CBRE Group Inc.’s Midtown Manhattan office at 200 Park Avenue has been awarded LEED Gold certification. Headquartered for 25 years at 200 Park Avenue, the Met Life Building,CBRE moved into new facilities in the building in 2011. The new space, which includes a two-story reception area and outdoor-planted terrace, was designed by Gensler. The office exceeded the requirement for LEED Gold for commercial interiors certification by attaining 73 out of a possible 110 points. Key elements included the purchase of renewable energy, maintaining a comprehensive construction recycling program, installing water-efficient fixtures and utilizing Greenguard Certified furniture and Energy Star-rated equipment and low-VOC paints.
Alta Energy has launched an objective solar analytics and procurement process to speed the growth of cost-effective solar power generation on commercial properties. In the midst of fluctuating market and policy conditions, Alta Energy enables commercial property owners to make clear decisions about where, when and how to install solar power and how to sign with the right vendors at the right terms.
For solar vendors, Alta Energy provides the opportunity to bid on pre-qualified projects and successfully deploy solar systems. The company’s unbiased solar evaluation process, ongoing monitoring of market conditions and ability to match solar projects to vendors for the best fit will eliminate a major obstacle in the solar energy marketplace and enable more property owners to get the right projects off the ground at the right time.
Outrigger Hotels and Resorts collected a total of 750,000 recyclables in 2011 at its owned and operated hotels throughout Waikiki, preventing more than 17.5 tons of recyclable bottles and cans from entering Honolulu’s landfill. Outrigger then donated more than $18,000 in Hi5 redemption reimbursements to Parents and Children Together, a nonprofit organization offering social services to Hawaii’s families in need.
The Economic Development Corp. of the City of Detroit has approved $253,732 in SmartBuildings Detroit matching grants to make energy-saving improvements on Shed Five in Eastern Market, a riverfront health and residential mixed-use development and retail pop-up store. Under the program guidelines, the grants must be matched at a 3:1 ratio and are capped at $100,000 per building. This set of grants is expected to leverage $3.9 million in additional investments for a total of $4.16 million in energy-saving improvements.
Eastern Market Corp. will use its $100,000 grant to help pay for installation of energy-saving improvements to Shed 5, located at 2934 Russell Street. Presbyterian Villages of Michigan Foundation will use its $100,000 grant to help pay for installation of energy-saving improvements to its East Jefferson Neighborhood Project at 3103 Wight Street. 2:1 LLC will use its $38,788 grant to help pay for $155,150 estimated costs of installing energy-saving improvements at Quickie D’s pop-up store at 1420-1428 Gratiot Street. Liberty Foods at 10620 McNichols Street has been granted $46,983 to help pay for energy-saving improvements.
Jamestown Properties has acquired 733 10th Street, a LEED-Gold office and retail development in Washington, D.C.’s East End submarket, from Skanska.
The class-A, 171,000-sq.-ft. property was developed by Skanska starting in 2009 and was designed to give small and mid-sized companies a high-level presence with eight floors of trophy-quality office space. The building features 1,800 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail space and energy-efficient floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the building, along with a green roof system. Centrally located five blocks from the White House, the building is in close proximity to two Metro stations, retail stores, hotels and restaurants.
General Growth Properties (GGP) is outfitting four of its Garden State-based malls with solar panels, which will provide an estimated 12 percent of the properties’ energy needs. Malls receiving the upgrade include Bridgewater Commons, Paramus Park, Willowbrook Mall and Woodbridge Center.
In total, the malls will be equipped with more than 20,000 5.1-megawatt solar panels, totaling approximately 3 million sq. ft. of roof space. GGP partnered with Safari Energy to design, engineer and construct the solar systems and assist with local power and regulatory agencies.
The high-performance solar panels guarantee 80 percent efficiency in power production. In addition to the rooftop panels, the project includes inverters to convert electricity generated by the modules from direct to alternating current, as well as utility-grade meters with remote monitoring capabilities.
Pernod Ricard USA has signed a long-term lease for 82,300 sq. ft. at 250 Park Avenue in New York City, a LEED-Gold property located between 46th and 47th Streets. The producer, importer and marketer of prestigious wines and spirits will lease the entire 16th, 17th and 18th floors as well as part of the 20th floor, according to real estate services provider Cassidy Turley, which negotiated the lease with building owner AEW Capital Management. Pernod Ricard consolidate its 150 employees from its former existing offices located elsewhere in Manhattan and in Purchase, N.Y. to establish its U.S. headquarters.
Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC has appointed Lime Energy Company to bring comprehensive energy-efficient lighting solutions to Cornerstone’s portfolio of office, hotel, industrial, retail and residential assets across the U.S. The Huntersville, N.C.-based Lime Energy will make recommendations for lighting efficiency improvements, integrate with Cornerstone’s existing building system management program, and manage implementation of energy conservation measures to match Cornerstone’s investment criteria.
Enterprise Community Investment Inc. has closed its first loan under the Green Refinance Plus program, a partnership between Fannie Mae and the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development introduced last year to incentivize energy and resource efficiency improvements in affordable housing.
The $19.4 million refinance loan to LINC Housing Corporation—a nonprofit that builds, owns and operates affordable housing for seniors and families throughout California—is for 274-unit affordable development City Gardens in Santa Ana. The loan provided $1.5 million for property improvements, including replacing gas-fired furnaces with Energy Star-rated furnaces and installing low-flow plumbing, energy-efficient lighting and a passive solar domestic water heating system.
The city of Los Angeles will move forward with its first Feed-in-Tariff rooftop solar program, CLEAN LA Solar, by creating the first 150 megawatts of rooftop solar in the next three to four years, with a goal of reaching 600 megawatts by 2020. The program enables owners of homes, businesses and multifamily buildings to install rooftop solar and sell the power generated back to the Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power (LADWP). Los Angeles has more than 12,000 acres or 20 square miles of prime space for solar development on its rooftops. A study conducted by the University of California Los Angeles found that a 600-megawatt FiT could result in 18,000 green jobs, spur $2 billion in investment, and produce long-term cost savings for businesses, ratepayers and the LADWP.
TPG Architecture has been awarded a LEED Gold rating for its design of offices for Healthfirst, a not-for-profit health insurance company, at 100 Church Street in Lower Manhattan. The company’s offices occupy 172,000 sq. ft. on four floors in the building, and will be expanding to a fifth floor as well. The designers specified low-VOC flooring, paints, adhesives and sealants. Other green aspects include low-flow plumbing, energy-efficient lighting, lighting occupancy sensors, high recycled content in furnishings, Energy Star-rated appliances and maximum use of daylight and window light. Over 90 percent of employees have access to daylight, even when seated. The LEED Gold rating also gave Healthfirst points for alternative transportation: The building, which is literally next to Ground Zero, is served by five subway lines and 10 additional lines will be accessible when the MTA’s new transit hub on Fulton Street three blocks away is completed.