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Best Practice Guide |
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Commercial Office Buildings |
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Case StudyTranswestern Commercial ServicesProperty Name: Irvine Center Towers Website: www.transwestern.net
Transwestern Commercial Services is one of the country's largest privately held commercial real estate companies, with offices in 22 cities nationwide. As one of its value-added services, Transwestern helps to initiate, facilitate and implement energy projects on behalf of property owners across the nation. Transwestern is motivated by more than saving energy and money. These projects are an important way for Transwestern to do its part saving the environment and assuring reliable energy in the local communities in which it operates. Transwestern routinely conducts investment-grade energy audits of the buildings and facilities in its portfolio. Advanced energy management systems (EMS) are installed in to track energy consumption in real time and create monthly utility logs. Using this information as well as its in-house expertise, Transwestern is able to advise owners about the most up-to-date tools and technologies available that improve energy efficiency and increase property value. Transwestern is proud of its longstanding partnership with U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR and makes full use of the resources available through the commercial building program. Quik Scope, a financial calculator useful for assessing the value of energy projects, and Portfolio Manager, an online benchmarking tool, are two particularly valuable tools. Transwestern expects to have 100 percent of its property portfolio benchmarked by mid-year 2005 and has completed energy efficiency projects at more than 200 individual locations. Because of these outstanding achievements, Transwestern has been distinguished as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
Irvine Center Towers in Irvine California is a perfect example of how this energy program has benefited Transwestern. Built in 1983, Irvine Center Towers had a history of obvious and constant tenant comfort problems associated with the indoor air quality. Unreliable HVAC and thermal energy storage systems required frequent repair and maintenance and contributed to abnormally high energy costs. To counter this problem, Transwestern retrofitted the HVAC system,which included the replacement of old chillers for a new high efficiency variable speed chiller as well as upgrades to the thermal energy storage system, doubling the capacity of the tanks. Wherever feasible, equipment was fit with variable speed drives and variable frequency drives for the fan system. Transwestern also retrofitted the building's lighting system, replacing magnetic ballasts for high efficiency electronic ones, and installing T8 fluorescent fixtures instead of old T12. Motion sensors are used throughout the buildings, and automatic controllers were placed in the outdoor parking garage. Transwestern was able to achieve significant cost and energy savings. Electrical expenses have decreased steadily from $2.29 SF to $1.89 SF (17.5 percent reduction). Over 2.5 million kWh have been trimmed -- enough to power roughly 420 homes in California. Irvine Center Towers is now an ENERGY STAR labeled property. Payback on Transwestern's investment in energy efficiency at this property was achieved in less than three years. |