Greening the Bottom Line in Century City

LA Business Council, elected officials, environmentalists join to release new report detailing how two of the city’s major commercial properties are also among its greenest

Environment California Research & Policy Center

Century City – In Los Angeles’s Century City, being green pays off. Standing at the base of the landmark skyscrapers known as Century Plaza Towers on the city’s westside, environmentalists joined with prominent business leaders and elected officials to put a spotlight on how California businesses and property owners are embracing clean energy solutions and saving money.

The group, which included the Los Angeles Business Council Institute and representatives of Senator Curren Price’s and City Council member Paul Kortez’s offices,  gathered to release a new report by Environment California Research & Policy Center, Greening the Bottom Line 2012: California Companies Save Money by Reducing Global Warming Pollution, that details how the ownership of Century Plaza Towers is saving money by taking concrete steps to reduce global warming pollution.

“The ownership and management of Century Plaza Towers are proud to do our part to help transition to a low carbon economy,” said Bradley Cox, Senior Managing Director of Trammell Crow Company, a wholly owned, independently operated subsidiary of CBRE, Inc., as well as the Chairman of the LABC Institute. “By investing in energy efficiency, Century Plaza Towers’ goal is to advance the public discourse on the many benefits of incorporating environmental responsibility into our daily business dealings. To put it simply, embracing conservation makes great business sense for the project and the community.”

The report highlights ten businesses and organizations that have made groundbreaking progress in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainable practices that dramatically reduce their contributions to global warming while also helping their bottom lines.

“Solving global warming and strengthening our economy are two sides of the same coin,” said Michelle Kinman, Clean Energy Advocate at Environment California Research & Policy Center. “The experience of California companies flies in the face of claims that California’s leadership on solving global warming is bad for business.”

Century Plaza Towers became a LEED Gold rated building in 2011 from the U.S. Green Building Council, a rare standard among high-rise office buildings. To achieve these distinctions, building owernship invested in a variety of state-of-the-art energy efficiency improvements, including a highly efficient heating and cooling system, lighting improvements, and a special window coating to help keep interior areas of the building cool. One of the most innovative measures is a ParkHelp System in its parking garage that guides drivers to vacant parking spaces, reducing traffic congestion and achieving significant fuel savings. Together, these various clean energy measures will reduce global warming pollution by more than 4 million pounds annually and will save the company more than $900,000 each year.

“Los Angeles companies can change the way they use and generate energy and, in the process, realize substantial economic benefits and improve their competitiveness, all while creating jobs and reducing air pollution,” said former Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles).

“Innovation has to be one of the answers to our looming climate crisis,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz, who represents Century City.  “And Los Angeles businesses have to lead in this effort.  We need to encourage more leaders and innovators like the Century Plaza Towers and Constellation Place.  I look forward to continuing to do my part by working with the LA Business Council, Environment California, City businesses and City leaders to craft environment-friendly legislation that is good for business and good for our economy.”

In addition to Century Plaza Towers, the report profiles another Century City high-rise, Constellation Place, which is also a LEED Gold building and hosts a massive 1 megawatt (MW) solar array that covers more than an acre of roof space, cutting global warming pollution by 1.2 million pounds and saving the company $100,000 annually.

“We’re very proud of our ongoing commitment to green technology and reducing our carbon footprint by implementing energy conservation measures, including our solar panel and energy fuel cell installations,” said Sarah Shaw, Vice President of Constellation Place. Not only are these practices good for the environment but they provide our tenants with a greener office environment while generating significant savings.”

The report shows that organizations of all types and sizes can take advantage of clean energy innovations, no matter where they are located. Other institutions highlighted in the report include:

• Marine Corps Air Station Miramar installed a landfill gas plant, solar arrays, and other efficiency measures to reduce their energy bills by over $820,000 and offset the equivalent of 250 million pounds of carbon dioxide each year. Marine Corps Camp Pendleton is also profiled.
• Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fairfield added a 1.5 MW wind turbine to cut 6 million pounds of pollution annually and save $1.6 million over 20 years.
• Gills Onions in Oxnard has an on-site energy system that converts onion waste to electricity. The family-run farm is saving $800,000 and reducing 4 million pounds carbon dioxide per year.
• Clif Bar headquarters in Emeryville features a half-megawatt solar array that saves over $145,000 in energy costs and reduces 8.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide pollution annually.
• Golden Valley Unified School District in Madera, San Mateo Community College, and Sonoma County YMCA are also profiled in the report.

The coalition gathered at today’s event called for a continuation of state and local policies that allow more businesses and homeowners alike to green up their bottom lines by investing in rooftop solar power, energy efficiency, or green transportation alternatives.

“Century Plaza and Constellation Place are helping to show the way toward a smarter, greener future that is both environmentally sustainable and highly cost-effective. It’s a win-win approach that deserves to be emulated in buildings across Los Angeles and all of California,” said Mary Leslie, President of the Los Angeles Business Council. “We applaud Environment California, our longtime partner, for sharing their stories and inspiring others to follow their lead.”  (END) 

Environment California Research & Policy Center is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization focused on protecting California’s air, water and open spaces. For more information, visit www.environmentcaliforniacenter.org.

The LABC Institute is the research and education arm of the Los Angeles Business Council, one of the most respected business advocacy organizations in Southern California. For more information, visit www.labcinstitute.org.