LEED for Existing Buildings

Platinum certification

Interland 343 Sansome LLC owns the 250,000-square-foot, 15-story office building located at 343 Sansome Street in San Francisco, California. More than 25 office and retail tenants occupy the building, which is managed by CAC Real Estate Management Company. The owner sought LEED® certification to exemplify its commitment to sustainability and, thus, strengthen the building’s leasing potential.

Project
KEMA initially determined that LEED-Gold certification was achievable and would meet the ownership group’s goals; however, the owner decided to pursue Platinum certification, if possible. KEMA played an integral role in educating building management and engineering staff on sustainability principles and requirements for LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB:O&M). We led the development and implementation of policies, programs, best practices, and tools that would enable staff to demonstrate and measure sustainability performance. We also managed the documentation and submittal process for LEED certification to ensure all credit requirements were addressed.

Benefits
Through KEMA’s building sustainability and LEED expertise, the project team succeeded in elevating its certification target level from Gold to Platinum. Key accomplishments include
> KEMA achieved the USGBC’s approval of the Transportation Management Association of San Francisco’s (TMASF) transportation report and random sampling methodology, to determine alternative transportation use. As a TMASF member building, 343 Sansome achieved maximum points for alternative transportation use and a 75% trip reduction compared to single occupancy vehicle use
> Through low-cost plumbing retrofits, the building achieved maximum points for increasing water efficiency 40% over the Uniform Plumbing Code baseline
> KEMA collaborated with PG&E’s Integrated Energy Audit and incentive program to conduct the building’s energy audit, aligned with ASHRAE standards. This process maximed LEED credits and cost savings over an independent third-party audit. The building achieved a 91 Energy Star Rating
> The owner purchased renewable energy credits for 100% of the building’s annual energy use, which underscored its environmental commitment and achieved additional points
> KEMA and the CAC team engaged more than 20 tenants to help achieve sustainable purchasing credits in furniture, electrical equipment, and supplies

Key Results
343 Sansome and its owner will gain significant marketing exposure and value from this certification. As of late 2010, only two out of 27 LEED-certified buildings in San Francisco achieved Platinum.

Client
> Interland 343 Sansome LLC, United States
> CAC Real Estate Management Company, United States

Project details
> Duration: June 2009 – October 2010