Hines' 101 California Earns LEED Platinum Certification

Scores #1 out of 7,307 LEED EB Projects Worldwide

 

(SAN FRANCISCO) – The San Francisco office of Hines, the international real estate firm, along with partner NLI Properties West, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Life Insurance Company), announced that 101 California has been certified at the Platinum level under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Rating System. With a score of 94 LEED credits, this architectural landmark, designed by Philip Johnson, has earned the highest score ever awarded in the Existing Building (EB) category throughout the world, an extraordinary milestone for a 30-year-old building, for the city of San Francisco and for the state of California.

This announcement was formalized at a festive outdoor ceremony on the building’s plaza during which Rick Fedrizzi, founder, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) will spoke about this achievement and presented 101 California with a plaque commemorating the milestone. Fedrizzi comments, “Green building makes an immediate and measurable impact on the environmental health of the planet and we have an especially large opportunity in the existing building sector. Hines’ certification of 101 California is a remarkable achievement. Their leadership is helping to change the way we build and operate our buildings and serves as a model for others."

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee added, “Congratulations to Hines and NLI Properties West, Inc. for earning LEED Platinum certification at 101 California, and the highest number of LEED points ever awarded to any building in its category. It is in large part due to the strong support of our business leaders that San Francisco is at the forefront of the clean energy economy."

The 48-story, 1,250,000-square-foot building was developed by Hines, completed in 1982 and is still managed and leased by Hines, as well as co-owned with NLI Properties West, Inc. Located in the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District, 101 California provides quality office space to tenants and enhances its surroundings with a prominent public plaza. The building is over 93 percent leased to a distinguished roster of tenants that includes: Cooley LLP; Deutsche Bank; Merrill Lynch; Morgan Stanley; and Winston & Strawn.

With a long-standing commitment to sustainability, the building has earned the ENERGY STAR® label for nine years dating back to 2001. 101 California is 42 percent more energy efficient and annually saves $1.45 in energy costs per square foot when compared to the average U.S. office building. This translates to estimated annual greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to removing 928 passenger vehicles from the road, or reducing gasoline consumption by 530,381 gallons.

101 California gained notoriety in the LEED arena in 2008 when it became the first high rise office building in San Francisco to become LEED EB certified. As the focus on LEED intensified in the market and more buildings became certified at higher levels, the decision was made by management not to wait the requisite five years to recertify, and nothing short of Platinum would do.

“To get a score of 94, we looked at every single credit to determine how, not if, we could achieve our goal,” said Hines Senior Vice President-Operations Tom Kruggel. “A top-notch in-house LEED team was dedicated to the project for nearly 10 months, and with careful attention to detail, we accomplished our goal."

During the last 15 – 20 years, this iconic building has executed upgrades which helped with the original LEED certification, including: retro-commissioning of the entire building; implementing green cleaning standards; and introducing a comprehensive recycling and composting program.

To reach the goal of Platinum certification, the dedicated LEED team developed new ways to receive credits that hadn’t previously been done in the other LEED projects on the West Coast. Some of the sustainable features and programs implemented during the last 10 months include: replacing the restroom fixtures; revamping the landscaping in order to monitor water usage; making plant and tree fertilizer on site; installing new bike racks and showers in the building; and moving from a re-commissioning to continuous-commissioning program to ensure the building’s systems continue to function at optimal performance levels.

Provisions for electric vehicle charging stations were also installed in the garage. Hines Director of Property Management David Koch explained, “The electric vehicle charging stations are relatively new in California, but San Francisco is leading the charge with several of the larger occupant garages having at least one. We currently have two electric vehicle charging stations that are used four to six times per month, although we expect usage to escalate as more electronic vehicles are purchased."

101 California utilizes high performing green cleaning services and sustainable purchasing. All cleaning products are now green-seal certified, paper products contain recycled content, cleaning equipment stresses re-use versus disposal, and all vacuums use HEPA filters to reduce dust by at least 99.9 percent. The property also improved its diversion rate for trash. More than 85 percent now gets recycled or composted versus going into a landfill.

Additionally, Hines offers its proprietary GREEN OFFICE for Tenants program, which assists in giving tenants options to reduce their carbon footprint. Hines developed this program in 2008 for tenants to enhance the sustainable features and operations of the space the firm occupies. HinesGO (GREEN OFFICE) for Tenants was rolled out at 101 California in April 2009 and to date, approximately 82 percent of the property’s leased square footage has been certified GREEN OFFICE.

Hines Global Sustainability Officer Gary Holtzer commented, “This extraordinary achievement by the staff of 101 California is a testament to the quality of the original building and the commitment of ownership to the sustainable operation and maintenance of the asset. Even though the building is nearly three decades old, it still performs to the highest standards in our industry. It is symbolic of Hines’ firm-wide commitment to sustainability.”"

Pictured Above Left to Right: Hiroyuki Nishi, Director/Executive Officer, Nippon Life Insurance; Tom Kruggel, SVP, Hines; Rick Fedrizzi, CEO, USGBC

 

For Further Information Contact:
George Lancaster, Hines
713/966-7676
george.lancaster@hines.com