By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor<\/i><\/p>\n
The 224,000-square-foot 1800 K St. office building, owned by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management and managed by Transwestern, is the first building in the world to earn certification through the new, more stringent LEED v4 Operations and Maintenance: Existing Building rating system.<\/p>\n
It was Transwestern\u2019s sustainability services team that oversaw the certification process of 1800 K St., directing the on-site property management team and setting operating and maintenance procedures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a tremendous achievement for Transwestern,\u201d Allan Skodowski, Transwestern\u2019s managing senior vice president & director of LEED and sustainability services, said in a company statement. \u201cAs the first in the industry to make sustainability the norm, it is truly an honor to be on the forefront of the next chapter in sustainability. The new LEED v4 rating system holds buildings to higher standards, and we are excited to see how much building sustainability improves with these new guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Washington, D.C.-based building was awarded the unique distinction by the U.S. Green Building Council simultaneously with LEED Gold certification for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance through v2009.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the launch of LEED V4,\u00a0we are seeing a number of leading organizations certifying\u00a0their new and existing buildings to\u00a0LEED v4, upping their already\u00a0high standards of performance,\u201d Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council, said in an organizational statement. \u201cAs one of the\u00a0first\u00a0projects to obtain certification under the new rating system, Transwestern has made an important addition to the growing strength of the green building movement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The building earned 64 points in the LEED v2009 and 52 points in the newer v4 system, thanks to a tenant engagement component in both of the certification projects.<\/p>\n
According to Skodowski, tenants have a significant impact on the efficiency and sustainability of an office building, and when occupiers\u2019 preferences are taken into account when making building-wide decisions, they are more satisfied with their work environment and take more of an interest in achieving long-term sustainability goals of the building.<\/p>\n
Improvements to the building included the installation of MERV 13 filters at all outdoor air intake locations; upgrading of all plumbing fixtures to meet WaterSense requirements;\u00a0achieving an ENERGY STAR rating of 81; offsetting 27 percent of electrical usage with sustainable power; recycling 61 percent of office waste; and implementing a sustainable purchasing program for all cleaning products and equipment.<\/p>\n
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The 224,000-square-foot 1800 K St. office building, owned by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, managed by Transwestern, is the first building in the world to earn certification through the new, more stringent LEED v4 Operations and Maintenance: Existing Building rating system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":451,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21742,21786,1615],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004087506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest","category-sustainability","category-washington-dc"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n