Colorado-Real-Estate-Journal_319902

January 2023 — Property Management Quarterly — Page 25 www.crej.com Energize Denver Awards Denver aims to bring new buildings to net zero energy by 2030 and exist- ing buildings to net zero energy by 2040. Improving the performance in existing commercial and multifamily buildings is essential for driving down community emissions and improving the health and vitality of our city. Each year, Denver recognizes buildings that demonstrate excellence not only in energy efficiency and electrification, but also in community leadership and equity. This year, an additional category was added for Smart Leasing to encourage collaboration between tenants and landlords. We are excited to celebrate these case studies as they excel in reducing emissions, improv- ing resilience, and serving as leaders in the community. Energy Efficiency: Driving down energy use has the benefit of reducing utility bills – a significant motivator for improving performance. Many buildings in Denver are doing excellent work in energy efficiency to improve their environmental impact and the health and wellbeing of building occupants. Heat Pumps (electrification): Denver has focused heavily on promoting the electrification of space and water heating. As buildings replace gas equipment with heat pumps, a renewable heating and cooling technology, Denver will improve air quality and human health, as well as resilience to climate change. Equitable Community Impact: Buildings providing community services and accessible housing are especially important in the journey toward net zero. Denver strives to celebrate examples of efficient and all-electric buildings that prioritize vulnerable communities. Smart Leasing: Smart leasing practices can help address the split-incentive problem, which occurs when the interests of tenants and landlords are misaligned. Align- ing these interests through specialized lease language and communication and collaboration can help building owners comply with performance requirements and improve the quality of their leased space. Awards Categories: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado (Anthem) sig- nificantly reduced their building’s energy use even as associates and other occupants returned to office in 2021. Demand-side efficiency strategies drove down energy use by 26% from 2020 to 2021, and 50% from 2019-2021. Anthem achieved over $48,000 in annual savings as a result of efficiency initiatives. As a result of an upgraded build- ing automated system (BAS), the team identified strategies to opti- mize energy efficiency. Measures included installing variable fre- quency drives (VFDs) and actuators and integrating locally controlled chillers into the centralized BAS. The 1973 building is now heating, cooling, and ventilating indoor spaces more efficiently and cohe- sively. The operations team can now visualize energy use data, which allows them to identify challenges such as power outages and high demand days as well as opportunities for continued effi- ciency improvements. Facility Manager Doug Fro- dine said that they now have the resources to look at systems holis- tically, informing future budget decisions. Building systems man- agement is more seamless for the operations team to manage as they can make real-time changes. Anthem’s parent company, Elevance Health, is an initial sig- natory to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Care Sector Pledge, focused on achieving net zero by 2050. The organization’s strategy to reach net zero includes making operations energy efficient, buying renew- able electricity, and working with the supply chain to mitigate its impact, while seeking ways to pro- tect biodiversity. In fact, Elevance Health met its goal of 100% renew- able electricity four years ahead of schedule in 2021. Energy Efficiency Award Winner Anthem Building Address: 700 N. Broadway, Denver, CO 80203 Building Type: Offices Square Footage: 440,209 Owner: IHP HLIC 700 Broadway Asset LLC Management Team: Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. 1875 Lawrence is a Class-A mixed- use office building in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood. Since purchasing the asset in 2016, Unico Properties has made strides in improving building performance on the company’s path to carbon neutrality. Jessy Aghaba- bian, Manager of Sustainable Real Estate, says, “Unico’s dedication to sustainability [has] allowed us to develop a really robust internal sus- tainability team.” Richard Wren, Unico’s Chief Engi- neer, led the installation of a new building automation system (BAS) and adopted an Energy Information System (EIS). These enhancements help identify trends and opportuni- ties to continue improving perfor- mance and maintain efficiency of systems in the all-electric building. Additionally, Unico installed a new, higher efficiency chiller to replace the original system and both supply fan variable frequency drives (VFDs). The company is in the process of replac- ing both return fan VFDs. Finally, two dual-port electric vehicle charging stations were installed in the parking garage. With these improvements, 1875 Lawrence is now LEED Gold certified and Fitwel Viral Response Module certified. The property has enrolled in Xcel Energy’s Community Solar Garden program, through which 4,642 MWh of electricity is purchased annually from Unico’s solar farm in Aurora. The emissions saved from Unico’s solar farm is equal to the energy use of almost 500 single-fam- ily homes per year. 1875 Lawrence is collaborating with Xcel Energy to pilot the utility’s Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program, which has been helping reduce energy use by 9.9% since 2020, creating over $13,000 in annual energy savings. In addition to the improved per- formance and utility bill savings, Unico has been able to track compli- ance with Denver policy thanks to the upgrades and participation in Xcel’s SEM program. Ten- ants have increasingly begun to acknowledge and praise the work that Unico has put into driving down emissions in 1875 Lawrence. Tenants also receive regular education on energy-saving and other sustainable prac- tices, such as zero-waste and composting. Unico continues to improve the quality and performance of this and other buildings to not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to ensure occupants’ health and satisfaction. 1875 Lawrence is already plan- ning additional upgrades, including an LED retrofit for the parking garage, mechanical rooms, and stairwells. The company will continue searching for new energy use reduc- tion methods as they see opportunities. Heat Pump Award Winner 1875 Lawrence Address: 1875 Lawrence St., Denver, CO 80202 Building Type: Mixed-use Office Square Footage: 208,035 GSF Owner: Unico Properties Management Team: Maria Clark (Property Manager), Laura Bailhache (Assistant Property Manager), Carol Mulligan (Ten- ant Services Coordinator), Richard Wren (Chief Engineer), Noah Thomas (Build- ing Engineer), Edmée Knight (Associate Director of Sustainable Real Estate), Jessy Aghababian (Manager of Sustain- able Real Estate) Elevance Health