CommonWealth Partners Achieves Emissions Reduction Target Early with Extensive Efficiency Measures at City National Plaza
LABBC CASE STUDY
PROPERTY OWNER
CommonWealth Partners
PROPERTY TYPE
Office
SQUARE FEET
3,607,789
Sponsoring Organizations
38.1%
Energy Reduction Since Ownership
2021 Innovation Awards: Energy Performance Winner
“The energy efficiency projects that have taken place at City National Plaza have contributed to achieving our 20% emission reduction target substantially earlier than anticipated.”
JESSICA LOEPER
Director of Sustainability, CommonWealth Partners
CHALLENGE
Real estate investment company CommonWealth Partners owns and manages a portfolio of two properties across Los Angeles. The company had set portfolio-wide energy, emissions and water use reduction goals of 20% by 2020, as well as 75% waste diversion rates from a 2013 baseline. In addition, they have set long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets through the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) of 50% per square foot by 2030 and aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050. These commitments to the environment and community have been recognized by industry peers with numerous awards including first place in the GRESB Assessment (U.S. Office Corporate High-Rise Peer Group, 2019 and 2020), Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award (2020), ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year (2019 and 2018), and the U.S. Green Building Council’s Award for ESG Leadership (2019), among others. These awards are a product of a 100% LEED Platinum and Gold portfolio.
Since taking ownership of City National Plaza in 2013, CommonWealth Partners has implemented extensive energy efficiency projects with the objective of meeting—and exceeding—these broader net-zero targets. With major capital projects planned to be completed in 2021, including an LED retrofit and HVAC floor isolation, the onset of COVID-19 required reprioritization of operational measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their employees, tenants and clients.
STRATEGY
CommonWealth Partners worked with sustainability consulting company Verdani Partners,as well as management and technology vendors such as Aquicore to make several major capital and operational improvements to the building to increase energy efficiency while protecting tenant health and safety.
At the same time, they were able to complete two major capital projects. First was an LED lighting retrofit with more than 2,200 lighting fixtures tied into Encilium, a state-of-the-art lighting control system projected to save more than 1.5 million kWh a year. The second was a multi-year floor isolation project, which will allow the hours of HVAC service to be modified on a floor-by-floor basis, saving energy during differences in operating hours within a group of floors serviced by shared air handling systems.
In addition to capital projects that were planned and in progress when stay-at-home orders led many tenants to work remotely, City National Plaza implemented operational changes such as optimizing outside air intake through the HVAC system, installing MERV 15 air filters, scheduling recurring indoor air quality audits, enhancing cleaning measures and updating staff schedules and policies to promote social distancing and health screenings. Additionally, CommonWealth Partners used the building’s real-time energy management tool, Aquicore, to boost weekly energy savings from 14% to 26% through modifications such as reducing lighting in common areas, eliminating HVAC service to unoccupied spaces and closing blinds in sparsely populated areas to reduce cooling needs.
IMPACT
Energy efficiency projects at City National Plaza have directly impacted CommonWealth Partners’ portfolio-wide progress toward reduction targets. As of 2019, City National Plaza had reduced energy use intensity by 19% from a 2013 baseline and had achieved a 32% reduction in CO2 emissions, remarkably enabling CommonWealth Partners to meet its goal substantially early. The company is now 80% of the way to its SBTi emissions reduction goal.
While one adverse impact of COVID-19 was a drop in ENERGY STAR score due to a decrease in onsite workers and operations, the management team at City National Plaza made tenant health and safety their priority. Despite lower occupancy numbers due to the pandemic, CommonWealth Partners and the City National Plaza management team accomplished quite a bit. They added an ENERGY STAR section to the sustainability page on CommonWealth Partners’ website to educate and communicate green initiatives with employees, vendors, business partners and the public; they published their annual ESG report; and they completed the property’s L.A. Department of Building and Safety benchmarking ordinance to earn the property a 2020 ENERGY STAR label.
