The most energy efficient buildings are said to release 35% less carbon dioxide into the air and to use as much as 35% less energy than typical buildings, and one company based in the Southeast is doing its best to achieve such positive results across all of its properties. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has realized an 8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption since 2015, companywide, with some properties seeing as much as a 25% decrease in energy consumption, by taking a strategic improvement strategy.
Highwoods, a publicly traded REIT based in Raleigh, North Carolina, achieved Energy Star certification for 94 office properties in 2018, representing a little over 80% of all eligible square footage across the portfolio using an advanced utility monitoring program called LiveMeter. With insights on energy use culled from the program, the company makes cost-effective improvements to both existing buildings and those in development. Changes include upgrades like the installation of LED lights, energy-efficient chillers, energy management systems, variable speed drives, and efficient plumbing.
LiveMeter provides facility managers with actionable data which helps them to identify short-term cost savings opportunities and develop long-range performance goals that will decrease resource consumption and improve energy efficiency.
In the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Highwoods saw a 25% decrease in energy consumption and a 30% higher Energy Star score at One Alliance Center upgrading the office property in 2013, the company says.
Efforts to improve the carbon footprint of its properties include:
Highwoods is not alone: some of the world’s leading commercial real estate owners and managers are making significant progress in reducing water usage, carbon emissions and energy consumption, according to a report released last fall from the Urban Land Institute’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance. Building owners are driving progress as they work to mitigate the risks that come with climate change.
The report, which tracked and analyzed 8,700 properties owned by Greenprint members, demonstrated the following reductions between 2015 and 2016:
Since 2009, reductions have been significant: water use has dropped by 12.1%, carbon emissions by 17.9% and energy consumption by 13.9%. The reductions occurred even as building occupancy rose, suggesting that greater space usage does not necessarily have to cause a decline in building performance.
Factors driving property owners to improve building performance and create financial value include investor mandates, tenant demand, the regulatory landscape, and the increasing adoption of portfolio-wide goal-setting.
Highwoods works with Breea Buildings, a sustainability advisory company, to build its sustainability strategy into operations to improve how existing building systems are operated.
