Palisades Office Park’s Green Efforts Rewarded with LEED Gold Certification

January 25, 2013

Palisades Office Park, Shorenstein Properties’ Class A complex located in Atlanta’s dynamic Central Perimeter, has recently received LEED certification at the Gold level, Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (EBOM). LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance addresses energy efficiency, whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues (including chemical use), recycling programs, exterior maintenance programs, and systems upgrades.

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Palisades Office Park, Shorenstein Properties’ Class A complex located in Atlanta’s dynamic Central Perimeter, recently received LEED certification at the Gold level, Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (EBOM).

LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance addresses energy efficiency, whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues (including chemical use), recycling programs, exterior maintenance programs, and systems upgrades.

Palisades Office Park’s sustainability program includes: a parking deck retrofit using 32-watt spring lamps instead of 175-watt HID, and the addition of photo cells to control outer row lights during daylight hours; a water heater retrofit resulting in a 50 percent reduction in electricity use; conversion of lobby lights and all outside lighting to LED; use of lake water for irrigation; electronic monitoring of all cooling tower water usage; motion sensors in offices to control lighting; low flow fixtures in restrooms; new waste management practices resulting in a 58 percent diversion rate; and a program to recycle batteries, computers, and other electronic equipment for tenants and management.

Palisades is a four-building complex comprising approximately 640,000 rentable square feet. The property consists of three interconnected mid-rise buildings (five to six stories each) and one 11-story building. The property wraps around a four-acre lake, while amenities include a conference facility, fitness center, two-hole putting green and a café. The buildings carry an ENERGY STAR rating of 84.

The office park is now the 23^rd Shorenstein-owned or managed property to achieve LEED certification at the Silver level or higher. Nineteen properties currently owned by the company are LEED certified, 15 of which are at the Gold level. The company is reportedly currently in the formal process of pursuing LEED certification for four additional properties.