Property developer Jones Lang LaSalle continues to develop and expand its commitment to enhancing energy efficiency and sustainability to address the concerns of its clients and investors over Corporate Social Responsibility and the safeguarding of the value of their assets.

In 2006 the company established a policy which mandated that all client facilities it operated adhere to the Energy Star energy management practices and has also worked to extend the application of the US Green Building Council’s LEED throughout its facilities, leading 10.2 million square feet of building space being bought under LEED certification.  In 2006 the company’s Energy Management Programme resulted in savings in carbon emissions and related utility costs of 89,000 tons and $33m respectively.

Empire State Building Retrofit

Most recently, in April 2009, Jones Lang LaSalle announced that it would be programme manager for an energy efficiency retrofit of the Empire State Building that is estimated to reduce the building’s energy consumption and carbon emissions by 38%.  It is anticipated that after the upgrade the building will attain an ENERGY STAR rating of 90, placing it in the top 10% of energy efficiency for Class A buildings.  The retrofit is a collaboration between the Clinton Climate Change Initiative, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the Empire State Building Company, Jones Lang LaSalle and Johnson Controls and the building owner, Tony Malkin.

The retrofit methodology was designed to yield the highest net present value with regard to capital phasing and was developed by RMI.  The partners anticipate that the methodology should be applicable to other buildings as a means of identifying the most cost effective retrofit path.

Raymond Quartararo, International Director and programme lead for Jones Lang LaSalle stated that the methodology developed demonstrates that building owners can save millions of dollars in utility energy costs, significantly reduce carbon emissions and elevate asset values.

At an initial cost of $20m, the retrofit programme will result in $4.4m in energy savings on completion in just over two years’ time and will result in the reduction in carbon emissions of 105,000 tonnes over the next 15 years, equivalent to the annual emissions of 17,500 cars.

The project team analysed over 60 strategies to identify the most cost effective method of reducing carbon emissions whilst yielding an acceptable payback period and net present value on a 15 year basis. 

The principal project areas are being addressed include the enhancement of the performance of the buildings’ windows, radiator insulation, tenant lighting, daylighting and plug upgrades, air handling replacements, chiller retrofit and a whole building control system upgrade. Other key elements of their strategy include:

Whole building analysis: Most energy efficiency retrofit programmes led by ESCOs focus on optimising the requirements of meeting existing loads, rather than attempting to reduce or eliminate them all together.  This approach frequently leads to savings of between 10 to 15 percent from targeting areas such as controls for HVAC and lighting.  By enhancing the performance of the building envelope and daylighting the loads needed to deliver the required performance can be reduced and this, in combination with more efficient systems to meet those loads, typically HVAC and lighting, can result in significantly improved energy savings and ROI that significantly changes the business case.

Phasing the energy retrofits with equipment replacements: At current energy prices the energy savings attainable are typically not sufficient to counteract the non-incremental capital cost of the retrofit investment.  By phasing the energy efficiency retrofit with the scheduled replacements of windows, chillers and other components the net present value of the project was significantly enhanced.

Engaging tenants in energy saving initiatives: By pursuing a policy of engagement with tenants on the energy efficiency objectives of the retrofit the programme will be able to realise over 50 percent of its total energy savings from changes in tenant energy usage behaviour.  Initiatives include the sub-metering of tenant spaces to measure usage reductions and improve accuracy of carbon reporting and the introduction of pre-built spaces that will cost an additional $6 per square foot for annual savings of up to $0.90.

Jones Lang LaSalle is a real estate services and investment management firm, operating in more than 450 cities in 50 countries with a real estate management portfolio of approximately 1 billion square feet worldwide.