CHICAGO-- Jones Lang LaSalle announced it has achieved 100 percent participation in ENERGY STAR, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's voluntary program for benchmarking the energy efficiency of commercial buildings, throughout its property management portfolio.
A total of 330 office buildings in 106 U.S. cities across Jones Lang LaSalle's property management portfolio have been enrolled in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, a process which involves reporting a range of energy-related information to receive a rating between 1 and 100. Ratings correspond to the level of energy performance of a building compared to competitive building, so a building with a 75 rating--the level required to receive an ENERGY STAR label--is more energy efficient than 75 percent of comparable buildings.
The average ENERGY STAR rating of properties in Jones Lang LaSalle's managed portfolio is 67, or 17 percentage points higher than the industry average score of 50. This strong performance equates to approximately $50,000 per building in annual energy cost savings for buildings managed by Jones Lang LaSalle.
In addition, 143 of the buildings achieved ratings of 75 or higher, which is the cutoff for earning an ENERGY STAR label. Jones Lang LaSalle-managed buildings that have participated in the ENERGY STAR program for more than 24 months have an average rating of 74, an indication that benchmarking performance leads to a cycle of continuous improvement.
"Participation in ENERGY STAR is the best way to objectively measure a building's energy efficiency, and measuring performance is a key element in improvement," said Dan Probst, Chairman of Energy and Sustainability Services at Jones Lang LaSalle. "Owners are more likely to make modest investments in properties when they can see a payback in terms of reduced energy cost."
In 2008, Jones Lang LaSalle helped clients reduce their carbon emissions by more than 438,000 metric tons and save $95 million through energy management programs that reduced aggregate energy use by 2.7 trillion BTUs. The reduction in emissions is the equivalent of taking 80,000 cars off the road. In addition, Jones Lang LaSalle took steps to reduce its own carbon footprint, such as acquiring hybrid vehicles for its U.S. maintenance fleet and a global employee-engagement initiative known as ACT: A Cleaner Tomorrow.
Recently, Jones Lang LaSalle became one of only two real estate service firms listed in Buildings Magazine's "Who's Who in Energy and Sustainability" feature. Previous recognition includes receiving a Sustainability Cities award from Financial Times and the Urban Land Institute; an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award; and the Chairman's Award from the Alliance to Save Energy. The firm also serves as program and project manager of the innovative $20 million energy retrofit of the Empire State Building in New York, which will result in energy savings of $4.4 million annually.
ENERGY STAR was introduced by the EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Today, the ENERGY STAR label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products, new homes, and commercial and industrial buildings. Products and buildings that have earned the ENERGY STAR designation prevent greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the government. Last year alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved about $19 billion on their energy bills while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 29 million vehicles.
Jones Lang LaSalle
www.joneslanglasalle.com
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