by Brianna Crandall — February 16, 2015—Leading the way for sustainability efforts in California, 400 & 450 N. Brand Boulevard in Glendale have become the first buildings in the state of California to be awarded the Certified Sustainable Property certification from the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM).
Owned by MetLife and managed by Cushman & Wakefield, the individuals at 400 & 450 N. Brand have made sustainability a focal point of all aspects of operations, having met the diverse but attainable requirements of the IREM Certified Sustainable Property certification.
The Certified Sustainable Property certification is a mark of distinction for high performing, sustainable buildings recognized by IREM’s international community of over 19,000 real estate professionals who set the standard for best practices in real estate management, explains the group. The certification is intended to be pragmatic, action-oriented and within reach for most building types.
400 & 450 N. Brand certification specifics
400 & 450 N. Brand earned the certification by completing 12 core and 9 elective requirements, some of which include energy and water efficiency, tenant and construction recycling program, indoor air quality (IAQ) and staff education.
Taking advantage of the IREM Sustainability Property Gap Analysis, 400 & 450 N. Brand was able to quickly complete the certification with most of the requirements, policies and procedures already in place through the building’s LEED Gold for Existing Buildings (EB) certification.
IREM Sustainability
The IREM Certified Sustainable Property certification is part of a program called IREM Sustainability, designed to help property managers and other practitioners strive for more efficient, value-enhanced buildings.
The program, powered by Green Per Square Foot, consists of three integrated parts: a Web-based sustainability management platform, a challenge competition, and the property-level certification.
IREM Sustainability enables participants to:
- Gain a thorough understanding of the numerous opportunities available to achieve profitable sustainability for a particular property and its interior spaces—including a financial/cost-benefit analysis—and find customized ways to save;
- Engage and educate owners and tenants to understand the NPV-positive sustainability opportunities available to them; and
- Achieve a minimal level of property performance across a variety of categories—e.g. energy, water, and waste—and put plans in place to make incremental improvements over time.
