Lessons from the field: LEED for Existing Buildings Volume Certification By Lisa Stanley

As the U.S. Green Building Council prepares to officially launch their Portfolio Program, I wanted to share some thoughts from my experience helping Cushman and Wakefield achieve 18 facility certifications under the pilot of the Portfolio Program.

The goal of the program as it relates to existing buildings is to scale the implementation of sustainable operations and maintenance practices so that multiple buildings within a company’s portfolio can pursue LEED certification in a streamlined and cost-effective way, while at the same time maintaining the rigor of the LEED rating system.

Cushman and Wakefield was one of 40 companies to participate in the USGBC Pilot Program for portfolio certification. The Pilot was launched in November 2006, and C&W joined in February 2008. When the company joined, 20 properties under their management were selected – a portfolio representing multiple clients and millions of square feet of commercial real estate.

Opportunities:
The opportunities posed by volume certification are obvious:

• implement green policies company-wide,


• impact a broad spectrum of facilities at once,


• influence market trends for commercial real estate,


• provide notable recognition for companies that embrace sustainability, and


• pave the way for more companies and institutions to follow.

One of the greatest benefits to companies pursuing portfolio certification is the ability to take advantage of the opportunity to adopt practices and processes that will provide continuous and persistent savings. At CTG, we always stress the fact that sustainability is an ongoing process, not a one-time event.

By implementing portfolio-wide green changes, organizations can position themselves to reap all the benefits of sustainable operations and maintenance (lower operating costs, increased asset value, prolonged equipment life, improved worker productivity, etc.) while also making the process for LEED re-certification much simpler and less expensive. In fact, we’ve found that facilities that pursue an ongoing certification maintenance program can save more than 40% in certification and consulting fees compared to pursuing certification as a one-time event.

Challenges:
Despite the obvious benefits of pursuing portfolio LEED certification, there are numerous obstacles to overcome. As a former portfolio manager for Cushman and Wakefield, I’m very familiar with some of the biggest challenges:

• How do you facilitate standardized data capture across a nationwide (or worldwide) portfolio of buildings?


• What is the best way to account for regional differences in operations and maintenance procedures (such as landscaping and waste management)


• How can local incentives (such as tax breaks and utility rebates) effectively be applied to select buildings within a portfolio?

What we learned:
We knew that in order to enable a successful large-scale LEED EB O&M program we would have to develop a variety of tools, resources, and training programs to assist C&W. Indeed, one of the points of participating in the Pilot program is to identify and solve challenges posed by applying a rating system which has traditionally been based on single-building implementation to a nationwide, multiple-building certification effort.

One of the cornerstones of successfully rolling out volume LEED certification is a robust comprehensive training program. Because multiple buildings adopt changes all at the same time each and every team member at the building level must be trained to understand and implement the portion of the sustainable program that they are responsible for maintaining.
Each policy, procedure, and tracking tool – at a minimum – must be rolled out and integrated into the building operating team’s day-to-day structure.

In addition to providing staff training, CTG delivered the following tools:

• Microsoft Excel-based applications for building-level credit compliance


• Documentation tracking tools


• Summary reporting for performance metrics


• Customized procedures manual


• Portfolio-level submittal package (including a portfolio report card, and summaries of portfolio performance by credit)

Results
Earlier this month, we received word from the USGBC that 18 C&W properties received final certification, including 4 Platinum and 7 Gold rated facilities. This accomplishment is the first of its kind for the Portfolio Program under the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance rating system.

Looking forward
Based on our experience, the Portfolio Program was an extremely positive experience which represents a huge step forward in the practice of greening existing buildings. As the Portfolio Program opens to the public in an official launch this year we expect to see more companies with a portfolio of buildings begin to pursue volume certification strategies as opposed to limited one-off pursuits.

For any company considering portfolio certification, there are a few questions you should start off asking. Who from your staff is dedicated to supporting the program and how much time do they have to do so? How much money are you willing to invest in the tools and training programs required for your building teams?

We are excited about the official launch of this program, and interested to see how it is adopted by the market. If the early data is an indicator, we can expect to see more firms – particularly companies with large portfolios of Class A office space – pursuing volume certification and portfolio-wide sustainability programs.

-Lisa

Lisa Stanley is a Director with CTG Energetics based in CTG’s Denver office. She is a former Portfolio Manager with Cushman & Wakefield.
ctg@ctgenergetics.com