Best Practices and Smart Strategies from Best-in-Class Buildings

Call them best practices, great ideas or just smart ways to run a building, the owners and management teams who run the BOMA 360 Performance Program designated buildings are constructing an impressive repertoire of strategies for the management and operations of best-in-class buildings.

The BOMA 360 program is unique because it validates and recognizes commercial properties that demonstrate best practices in all major areas of building operations and management, not just a single area like other designation and certification programs. A building does not receive the BOMA 360 designation unless it meets the rigorous criteria that evaluate six major areas of property management and operations: Building Operations and Management; Life Safety/Security/Risk Management; Training and Education; Energy; Environmental/Sustainability; and Tenant Relations and Community Involvement.

Following is a selection of best practices in use by BOMA 360 buildings.

Building Operations and Management

At One Gateway Center in Newark, New Jersey, Advance Realty has enhanced building operations and management a number ways, including:

• Installation of a $50,000 optical turnstile and a glass curtain wall, resulting in a reduction of 145 man hours of security personnel.
• Installation of an online visitor registration system, allowing tenants to quickly pre-authorize visitors.
• Initiating a Web-based operations management platform called Building Engines, which allows for tracking of preventative maintenance on mechanical equipment. The platform provides management staff the ability to delegate, check and close out tasks quickly and efficiently. The platform also allows tenants to make service requess that get routed to the appropriate staff member via a mobile device.

Each employee at Granite Tower in Denver, Colorado works with their manager to establish a three-year career development plan. This plan assures that the entire staff, both engineering and management, are up to date on current trends and technology. The plan allows employees to enhance their customer service and management skills.

Life Safety/Security/Risk Management

Each new tenant at 125 East John CarpenterFreewayin Irving, Texas isprovided with an Emergency Procedures pamphlet to gain an overview of what to do in case of an emergency, ranging from fires to confrontational persons. An annual Fire Warden training is held by the Transwestern building management team for all tenant wardens to ensure they have a full understanding of how to properly and safely evacuate their fellow employees from the building.

Greenway Plaza in Houston, Texas has a comprehensive Emergency Preparedness Response Plan (EPRP), high level security standards and several unique programs, including:

• Community Emergency Response Team, a first responder team trained to FEMA standards.
• Partnership with the Houston Fire Department (HFD), which provides an on-site training venue for hi-rise firefighting techniques.
• Life safety equipment training room containing a full mockup of hi-rise building equipment where HFD and Greenway Plaza personnel receive hands on training on the types and uses of life safety equipment.
• On-line building specific fire warden training program.
• Code Adam alert program enacted when a report of a missing child is received on property or in the local area.

At the Hurt Building in Atlanta, Georgia, security officers enter daily logs in real-time, which are continuously archived in a secure searchable database. Officers monitor alarm systems and have multiple methods of communication, including participation in COMNET, a radio net directly linking police and private security. Tenants participate in the Safety Coordinators program, through which they receive emergency procedures manuals and regular training from staff. The Safety Coordinators also incorporate duties as fire wardens during annual fire evacuation drills.

Emergency management plans were put to the test at the Marathon Oil Tower in Houston, Texas, when Hurricane Ike struck Houston in 2008. The entire building team was in place and ready to secure the property before the storm even came to shore. During and after the storm, the team remained on-site to protect the property and update the owner on any issues or property damage. Tenants were also updated on power outages and possible damage as many of them were unable to travel to the building for several days after the hurricane due to wide-spread flooding and downed power lines.

Training and Education

The Security Officer Training Program at Wachovia Financial Center in Miami, Florida, is an instructor-led course designed to provide security officers with a well-rounded foundation of the technical and communicative skills required to succeed as service-oriented security professionals. Course topics focus on the technical aspects of security officer duties while addressing the problem solving skills and attitudinal requirements to earn customer loyalty. At the completion of the course, an examination is administered. All attendees must achieve a passing score of 80 percent to be selected.

Greenway Plaza, managed by Crescent Real Estate Equities Limited Partnership (CRE), in Houston Texas, encourages employees to pursue professional and personal development by attending certification and licensing programs and pursing continuing education classes and training programs and seminars. Professional development goals are assigned to employees as part of the annual performance review and current designations, certifications and special licenses must be kept active. The assists employees by paying dues and fees for seminars, training and licensing, and employees taking courses toward a degree in higher education receive financial reimbursement according to final grades

Energy

The engineering team at Granite Tower records and ‘trends’ the numerous data points monitored by the energy management system in 15 minutes intervals. Graphs are configured that plot the performance of each of the building systems in relation to the changes in outside air temperature. These graphs enable the engineering team to continually develop the most efficient way to operate, whether for that day or the entire season. The engineering team also has developed a ‘Red Zone’ operational clock that highlights in red the current peak energy use times. When large equipment needs to be started by the operating engineer, this clock is referenced to avoid performing the start up during a ‘red’ peak usage time. This is a major part of the rigorous functional analysis that allows retro-commissioning on an on-going basis.

At One Gateway Center, new thermostatic controls on the Perimeter Terminal Air Conditioning units allow the system to cycle on and off when necessary, reducing energy usage. The new controls helped the building receive a rebate from the New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program. A complete lighting retrofit in the building’s parking garage yields better quality light while using less energy, equating to 186,553 KWH hours annually. In addition, all of the lamps in the building have been replaced with newer, more energy efficient models. To help reduce the heat load and decrease demand for electrical power, window film was installed on every exterior window.

17901 Von Karman in Irvine, California has an ENERGY STAR rating of 92 and is LEED Gold certified. The building combines high-efficiency cooling and heating systems with state-of-the-art management practices to reduce strains on utilities and reduce operating costs. A Variable Air Volume system increases energy efficiency, saving up to 40 percent in energy consumption, and the Building Operating Plan is adjusted systematically to minimize energy consumption while maximizing comfort. The engineering team uses fluorescent lamps with minimal mercury for greater energy efficiency and to maintain high environmental standards. These lamps are replaced and recycled to keep mercury out of landfills. All internal lights are programmed to shut off automatically at the end of each day and require a manual override for after hours work. The property’s seating guidelines maximize natural light, and low-level office partitions further reduce required artificial light.

Environmental/Sustainability

Building management at One Newport Place 1301 Dove Street in Newport Beach, California use Earth Week as a platform to promote green practices; programs include holding E-Waste recycling drives and having service providers set up mini trade shows in the building lobby to promote their sustainability practices.

Water efficiency was perhaps the most significant physical change made at the Hurt Building in pursuing LEED certification. A water reclamation system that captures rainwater runoff from the roof was already in place to irrigate the indoor landscape. A new condensate reclamation system was installed on the chilled water coils to pull free water from the humidity in the air and deliver it into the cooling tower basin, reducing the amount of city water needed. Restroom fixtures were also replaced or retrofitted, converting many of the 4.5 gallons per flush (GPF) toilets to 1.6 GPF, urinals to 1.0 GPF, and lavatory faucets to 0.5 gallons per minute. This project reduced water usage almost 40 percent and upgrades paid for themselves in less than six months.

Stream Realty Partners, L.P., manages three buildings in Dallas, Texas that have achieved the BOMA 360 designation — 3811 Turtle Creek, Rosewood Court, LLC and The Tower at Cityplace. Sustainability is a priority at all the buildings where special areas in the parking garages are set aside for hybrid vehicles to foster traffic reduction and encourage use of energy efficient vehicles. The buildings also provide bike racks to encourage tenants to ride their bikes to work. Showers in the on-site fitness center are made available for bike riders.

The sustainability best practices at 17901 Von Karman helped the building achieve 2009 LEED Gold certification. These practices include a recycling program with a diversion rate of 45 percent of ongoing consumable waste (mixed recyclables, paper, e-waste and lamps), and all construction contractors, vendors and activities must meet a minimum of 50 percent diversion or greater. The building also features .5 gallon aerators on all lavatory sinks, resulting in a 75 percent reduction in lavatory sink water consumption. All urinals are set to .5 gallons per flush, half of the plumbing code standard, and water closets are set to the current code of 1.6 gallons per flush. An Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) policy is used to reduce the environmental impacts from materials acquired for use in the operations, maintenance and upgrades of buildings. The building also maintains a toxic material source reduction program to reduce the amount of mercury brought into the building.

Tenant Relations and Community Involvement

The Transwestern Green Team at 125 East John Carpenter Freeway in Irving, Texas initiated a region wide e-waste recycle drive on Earth day. Other activities included handing out free seed packets and sharing a green car demonstration with the neighboring building.

In partnership with GSH Group, building management at One Gateway Center hosts seminars at the building to educate tenants on how to save energy at their office and in their home. They also partnered with the New Jersey Clean Energy Program to offer tenants a reduced rate on energy efficient products. In addition, a semi-annual Book Fair is held for all building tenants where ten percent of gross sales are donated to Newark Now to improve safety, economic independence and civic participation within the city of Newark. Building space is also donated to host a variety of events that assist in fund raising for the organization. During the holiday season, One Gateway Center partners with a local middle school to host a holiday music concert in the building concourse for the enjoyment of all the tenants in the building. In lieu of payment, a donation is made to the school’s music program.

Tenant communication and community involvement are paramount at One Newport Place 1301 Dove Street. A building portal allows for constant communication between the management team and tenants for e-mail blasts, electronic handbooks, upcoming events, weather, training and more. To support the community, building management hosts food and toy drives, blood drives, Cell Phones for Soldiers events, and partners with tenants to co-sponsor community and charity events.

At the Stream 360 buildings in Dallas, Texas, tenant survey are conducted to benchmark quality and a tenant is taken to lunch each month to help building management keep their finger on the pulse of tenant business and satisfaction.

The Wachovia Financial Center hosts the annual ‘Miami Climb,’ to help fight lung cancer.  Participants climb 55 flights (1,210 steps) of the Wachovia Financial Center, the second tallest building in Florida (765 feet). Last year, more than $80,000 was collected for lung cancer research from this event.