Denver Place – LEED for Existing Buildings (EB) pilot project
LEED Accredited Professional for LEED for Existing Buildings (EB) pilot project under sub-contract to E-Cube, Inc. Project comprises a full city block in downtown Denver including two office towers, 34 and 23 stories each, connected by two-six level Terraces, comprising 815,000 gross square feet plus an additional 500,000 square feet of retail and underground parking. The project has been awarded a LEED EB Gold rating and was the first LEED EB, and first LEED Gold, in Colorado.
The Denver Place LEED EB project was the culmination of years of energy reduction measures capped by implementation of sustainability policies. The project resulted in improvements to the Triple Bottom Line of Economic, Social, and Environmental goals. The economic impacts helped to keep lease rates competitive (savings are passed on to the tenants), energy and water costs lower than the competition, and improve employee and tenant productivity. Social goals were targeted at involvement and ownership in the process, education, and special events for kids. Environmental benefits include reduced primary energy consumption and healthier indoor environment.
Over $1 million in energy retrofits resulted in a 29.5% return on investment and reduction in energy use of 5 million kWh per year. Water conservation measures including drip irrigation, metering, finding leaks, cooling tower drift and treatment improvements, and fixture replacements yielded 29.4% reduction in site water use. Recycling improved from 12% to 43% by weight of the waste stream.