things as employee commute times and corporate travel
habits. Of the many ways of achieving carbon neutrality, a
virtual buzzword in the sustainability movement, purchasing
RECs or other carbon offsets has gained prominence. But the
practice has come under fire from opponents who argue that
offsets provide an easy way for companies to look environmentally conscientious while making no other attempts to go
green.
CB Richard Ellis’ global director of environmental strategy, Sally Wilson, may be inclined to agree. Her firm prides
itself on taking an extensive approach in its goal of reaching
carbon neutrality by 2010. “When we stated our policy last
May, we could have done like many companies who say
“Upon lease renewal our
space will be managed to
a LEED-certified level.”
ALLAN SKODOWSKI
TRANSWESTERN
IN NYC IN 2007
Emporio Armani | 717 Fifth Avenue
40,000 Square Feet
(Selected as RE Forum “Deal of the Year”)
Hollister | 600 Broadway
40,502 Square Feet
230 Park Avenue 18th Floor New York, NY 10169 www.pbsrealestate.com
they’re carbon neutral and go through the process of buying
offsets, but we didn’t want to do that,” explains the
Washington, DC-based executive. “We wanted to really do it
the right way, the hard way, by assessing our footprint and
making operational changes and real
estate decisions that really push the
effort toward reduction. In doing so, we
can better understand how we can offer
the same service to our clients.”
CBRE offers an array of services
through its sustainable practice group
and was named a 2008 Energy Star
Partner of the Year. The firm has
pledged to register 100 of its managed
properties in the LEED-EB portfolio
program.
Regarding its emission neutrality
commitment, Wilson is heading the
venture, working with consultant ICS
International of London to map out
CBRE’s footprint in its approximately
400 offices, consisting of some five million sf across the globe.
“As a property manager, we provide
energy audits and carbon verification
services, but we felt it was important to
work with a third-party provider for
transparency,” she says. “We established
the protocol that would be used for the
verification side, and right now they’re
finalizing the research. We expect to
have that information probably by the
end of the second quarter.”
In the meantime, CBRE is attending
to its recycling program, water usage and
procurement practices within its supply
chain. Like Transwestern, it has begun
registering its offices for LEED-CI certification. In fact, Wilson was instrumental
in the negotiations for CBRE’s 60,000-sf
office space in Washington, DC, which
holds the designation.
“We moved into the space in
December 2007 and structured our
lease so that we are sub-metered, paying
our utilities directly,” she says. “Clearly,
by sub-metering we can directly impact
and see the benefit,” of energy efficient
solutions.
Another organization that is starting
to see their efforts paying off is the
California Public Employees’
Retirement System. Upon moving into
its expanded Sacramento headquarters
