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Retrofit Responds to Market Demands Oxford Prepares to Compete with New Green Kids on the Block
November, 2008
By Lucie Grys
Its early 1990s vintage makes Oxford Properties Group's office tower at 225 King Street West one of the newer office buildings in downtown Toronto, but, like all buildings from the pre-LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) era it had some catching up to do to meet today's standards for energy efficiency and environmental performance. Earlier this year, the 15-storey, 316,000-square-foot structure became the first commercial building in Canada to achieve LEED for existing buildings (LEED-EB) status.
"Oxford knew that creating a more environmentally sound building would not only keep us competitive with the new buildings being constructed, but also demonstrates our leadership as managers of existing building stock," says Andrew McAllan, Senior Vice President, Real Estate Management at Oxford Properties Group.
The LEED-EB Silver certification was actually conferred by the US Green Building Council, as the Canada Green Building Council's (CaGBC) program is still in development and scheduled to be launched in the spring of 2009. (See Canadian Property Management, page 36) Oxford is also one of the companies participating in the CaGBC's pilot project for commercial buildings.
The tower's LEED-EB Silver certification now positions it well to compete in a market where existing buildings making up more than 95% of the stock. And tenants do seem to be driving a movement to make existing commercial real estate more environmentally sustainable.
According to the commercial real estate information provider, CoStar Group, energy-efficient buildings not only have lower operating costs, they also have 4.1% higher occupancy rates, increased rental rates at an additional $2.40 per-square-foot compared to non-certified buildings, and higher sales values compared to more conventional structures. LEED-certified buildings are selling for a noteworthy $171 more per-square-foot than their non-certified counterparts.
For Richard Williams, Vice President of Architecture and Co-Leader of the Sustainable Design Group at HOK, the project at 225 King Street West represented an opportunity to work with a client willing and ready to explore possibilities and break new ground. "Oxford is a class A landlord. They are able to attract and retain tenants and hold a commitment to quality and the environment," he observes.
SYSTEMS & OPERATIONS
Mechanical, lighting and building automation upgrades were key to earning LEED credits. So, too, was the implementation of metering and monitoring systems that will allow for ongoing tracking of building performance. Recommissioning to verify systems are performing as designed and achieving projected savings is a part of that monitoring process, while training programs for building operators ensure that they will have the skills to keep all systems running at optimal levels.
"The objective of LEED-EB is to ensure that the mechanical and lighting systems provide occupancy comfort utilizing the least amount of energy," says Mel James, President of CFMS Consulting Inc., which provided commissioning services at 225 King Street West.
Some of the retrofit measures include airflow monitoring for indoor air quality, variable speed drives and associated controls enabling pumps to respond to actual demand levels, adoption of deep lake water cooling to replace the in-house chiller, and installation of low-mercury fluorescent lamps.
"Although the original design was energy-efficient, lighting has come a long way since the 1990s and we have saved 30% of the total lighting power usage while at the same time increasing lighting levels," says Rob Marcuzzi Vice President of Mulvey + Banani International Inc., the electrical engineering consultant on the project. "We disconnected all exterior lighting. Because of the downtown location of the building and high ambient lighting levels provided by the city's street-lights, they weren't really necessary."
In contrast to LEED for new construction, which, by definition, focuses on technological features, design elements, construction materials and processes, LEED-EB broadens the scope to include ongoing operations and maintenance.
PRODUCTS & MAINTENANCE
HOK helped to devise green building policies, such as the Suggested Sustainable Purchasing Policy, which will provide guidelines for tenants as well the property owner/manager. It endorses products that contain at least 50% rapidly renewable materials, have at least 10% post-consumer or 20% post-industrial material, are made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood, and contain at least 50% material harvested and processed or extracted and processed within a 500-mile (800-kilometre) radius of the project.
Oxford has adopted indoor air quality performance criteria to encourage the use of products with lower levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This applies to products and furnishings such as paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, carpets, composite panels and Agrifibre products.
"Tenants participating in their own Alternative Materials purchases and reporting IAQ purchases are encouraged to obtain manufacturer documentation and track total materials purchased," adds Barbara Ciesla, HOK's Project Manager for 225 King Street West.
Supplies and methods used to clean the office spaces at 225 King Street were also factored into the LEED certification process. Sustainable cleaning materials and products, cleaning equipment with low environmental impact, and associated training programs, processes and internal policies secured LEED credits.
The retrofit, recommissioning and ongoing sustainable management approaches give 225 King Street West renewed competive footing in the marketplace. Nevertheless, experts stress that it would be an easy model for others with the willingness to make the investment to replicate.
"With respect to lessons learned, one of the key items for a new construction team is to set the sustainable design goals early on in a project's design stage and not to necessarily concern yourself with high-tech solutions," Marcuzzi says. "225 King Street West is a good example of how a building originally designed nearly 20 years ago, primarily with technologies nearly 20 years old, can compete with some of today's high-tech sustainable buildings."
The preceding article is excerpted from Building Strategies, Summer 2008.
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