U.S. gov’t integrates sustainability in operations

Posted by:
Jiri Skopek
Energy and Sustainability

I attended the GovEnergy training workshop and tradeshow in Dallas last week, where GSA Administrator Martha Johnson compared the current state of the renewable energy industry to the exciting early days of the automotive industry in Detroit, when many companies were tinkering and developing new innovations.

Martha also emphasized the government’s role to influence change in regards to its sheer buying power. The government’s view is that greenhouse gas emissions reporting and other sustainability measures must now be integrated with all operations. Naturally, this lends a new level of complexity, as these laudable objectives can get bogged down in bureaucratic quagmire.

And that’s where Jones Lang LaSalle’s streamlined approach and industry proven tools can help organizations. We’ve put a great deal of time and thought into developing systems that translate property-level energy data into useful enterprise-level information, in a very efficient manner. So, while some companies have trouble even determining their energy usage, our energy services clients can compare per-square-foot usage across multiple properties to identify and address problem areas quickly. We can calculate the carbon footprint of all their owned properties, and show how energy-efficiency initiatives help reduce emissions. It may not be as revolutionary as the Model T was, but it’s innovative.

Pittsburgh’s green economy positions it as lead

Posted by:
Lauren Picariello
Occupier Research

Pittsburgh is leading the U.S. office market recovery and many people are wondering why. The answer may come as a surprise, but Pittsburgh, once a blue-collar manufacturing city, has transformed itself into a hub for green and clean technologies.

Previously known as the Smoky City, with a 150-year history of steel mills, the region has undergone a dramatic environmental transformation. Now a national leader in environmental responsibility, Pittsburgh’s rejuvenated economy has kept its unemployment rate low and its office market tight. For most of 2009 and into 2010, while office markets across the country were experiencing occupancy losses and climbing vacancy, demand for space in Pittsburgh remained firm.

Pittsburgh is actually home to more green building space than any other city in the world. One large reason is the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. With 1.5 million square feet, it’s the first “green” convention center in the world and the only meeting venue to be awarded Gold LEED. In the short time LEED has been around Pittsburgh has seen approximately 5 million square feet certified or registered under it’s rating system.

Looking ahead Pittsburgh will likely serve as the leading green example other markets try to emulate. Expanding green and clean technology companies should be increasingly tuned into the many resources Pittsburgh has to offer. It may be a core location to stay competitive in this space─a Silicon Valley for the green technology world.

A data center achieves ENERGY STAR designation

Posted by:
Peter Belisle, President
Energy and Sustainability Services

BNY Mellon announced this week that its Northpointe Data Center in Pennsylvania has received an ENERGY STAR label, making it one of the first data centers in the country to achieve the designation.  A team of Jones Lang LaSalle, H.F. Lenz and Mechanical Operations Company assisted BNY Mellon in making the improvements that increased the efficiency of power and cooling systems in the 71,000 square-foot center.

Click here to read more.

The ability of data centers to get ENERGY STAR ratings is big news. Data centers use far more energy per square foot than other properties, and as more and more activities are conducted on-line, the amount of data center space is growing by leaps and bounds. In recent years, major players in the IT industry have realized the need to be energy efficient, both to save money and to be environmentally responsible. But the inability to benchmark energy performance has been an obstacle.

Not any more. ENERGY STAR created a pilot program–in which Jones Lang LaSalle participated–to measure energy performance in data centers across the country as a baseline for setting benchmarks. With the help of organizations such as USGBC, Uptime Institute and ASHRAE, ENERGY STAR created a set of guiding principles regarding Power Usage Effectiveness in data centers.  The program was formally launched in June, and BNY Mellon was one of the first firms to pursue a rating.

Regular readers of this blog know that Jones Lang LaSalle is highly supportive of energy efficiency in data centers, as well as an ENERGY STAR Partner. We’re excited to participate in the success of this great program.

Lighting represents 40% of building electricity

Posted by:
Bob Best
Energy and Sustainability

It’s no wonder that a lot of owners are now looking at lighting retrofits as a way to improve their energy efficiency, boost their ENERGY STAR scores and help achieve for LEED certification. A comprehensive lighting initiative is likely to net at least a couple of LEED points right off the bat, since every two ENERGY STAR points translate into an additional LEED point.

The following lighting initiatives might affect the LEED criteria:

• Controlling employee task lighting is worth a point.
• Reducing mercury in lamps is worth up to two points depending on the level of mercury reduction. LED lights do not have any mercury.
• Enabling daylight and opening space layouts  is worth up to two points and can also reduce energy from lighting.
• Reducing light pollution and shielding outdoor lamps so that all the light is aimed at the ground or building rather than intruding onto neighboring property and the night sky is worth a point.
• Controlling automated systems such as HVAC and lighting and other main operational elements is worth a point.

Even in cases where LEED certification is not a near-term goal, it’s good to know that best practices in lighting may be worth LEED points as well.

 

LEED Around the World

Posted by:
Dan Probst
Energy and Sustainability Services

In spending the past several weeks visiting some of our offices and client properties around the world, I was struck by the importance placed on sustainability in every country.

One surprise is how firmly LEED is becoming established as the standard for high-performing green buildings everywhere—even in places like Germany and the UK that have their own well-established standards. In Australia, new buildings must conform to the NABERS standard that has been in place for many years. Yet, many buildings also go through the process to get LEED certification.

The various standards around the world are more similar than they are different anyway, so a property built with BREEAM in mind will probably have no trouble qualifying for LEED.

Perhaps LEED is becoming so widespread because multi-national companies based in the U.S. and other LEED-oriented countries often want the same standards worldwide. It also helps that at least a dozen countries now have Green Building Councils, as many of us saw at last year’s Greenbuild extravaganza, where Council leaders from each country appeared either in person or via satellite.

Having a common standard for green buildings helps to keep us all connected, as long as we also consider issues of importance to specific regions, such as water in the Middle East and land conservation in Brazil.