Green Shoots

Mert Livingstone
IAMC Chair

"Sustainability is embedded in our culture."

That's what my colleague Tish Lascelle, Johnson & Johnson's senior director environment, health and safety, says in "The Green Imperative" feature found in this issue of Site Selection. She and Jed Richardson, Johnson & Johnson's global energy director, offer some great insights into how a company's environmental, energy, efficiency, community and cost priorities can converge for the betterment of all.

As they note, J&J will be asking for public sustainability commitments from our key suppliers as part of our goals for 2015. We also have committed to attaining LEED certification for any new facility requiring an investment of $5 million or more, and have focused just as strongly on existing facilities, including our LEED GOLD (existing building) headquarters in New Brunswick, N.J. It certainly appears that LEED principles of green building are now embedded in most corporate real estate and facilities leaders' approach. Just flip through the pages of this or any recent issue of Site Selection for proof.

I'm writing this from one of the greenest places on this earth: Brazil. In addition to its famous rainforests, it's a place primed for growth in so many areas, from life sciences to energy. And its leaders are looking to manage it all as sustainably as possible.

As we move forward in our daily work, as well as our IAMC 2020 initiative, it only makes sense to ask how embedded our individual and collective notions of sustainability are, or can be. Beyond the physical environment, there are broader implications to social impact and community commitment.

I've been especially pleased to see how enthusiastically IAMC members have participated in recent community service events at our Professional Forums, including a river cleanup in Philadelphia and the reconstruction of a trading post at a Native American reservation near Albuquerque. My thanks to Rick Little, past IAMC chair and director, real estate for Weyerheuser for his leadership in launching this new volunteer opportunity as part of our IAMC Professional Forum experience. You should plan to come and get involved with Rick and his community service committee in Austin, as they look to built a native plant garden in the Colorado River Refuge and to host a children's art sale on the Forum site to benefit those affected by the catastrophic fires in the area last year.

Sustainability principles also apply to honorably negotiating a new lease agreement or incentives deal down the street or in the state next door — perhaps in a novel reimagining of an existing facility. In fact, sustainable thinking can apply to just about everything we do in corporate real estate and facilities organizations.

There's no denying the growing level of energy and engagement of industrial asset managers in helping to lead their corporations' sustainability programs into the future. You might call us green shoots. Here's hoping your engagement in IAMC sustains and gives energy to your working life and relationships in 2012.

Mert Livingstone
IAMC Chair

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IAMC INSIDER

From Site Selection magazine, January 2012

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n early December UGL Ltd. acquired all of the trading operations of global real estate services company DTZ for £77.5 million (US$119 million). With its beginnings in the U.K. in 1784, DTZ operates in 145 cities across 43 countries. Following the acquisition of DTZ, UGL will have combined annual revenues of $5.1 billion, approaching 53,000 personnel worldwide operating in around 240 offices in 43 countries. "We see significant opportunities for growth in Asia, particularly in China, where DTZ holds the leading market position in property services with 1,300 personnel in 18 cities," said UGL Managing Director and CEO, Richard Leupen.

n December Cassidy Turley announced it was selected by Equity Office Properties to manage and/or lease approximately 3 million sq. ft. (278,700) of Class A office space in Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minn.; and Dallas, Texas. The majority of the properties are part of The Blackstone Group's recent acquisition of Duke Realty's suburban office portfolio. Earlier in the month, Cassidy Turley was selected as the exclusive national property accounting partner for Panattoni Development Co. Cassidy Turley, which already is responsible for the property management of nearly 20 million sq. ft. (1.86 million sq. m.) of Panattoni's portfolio, will be responsible for the application of more than 3,000 rent payments and the payment of 20,500 invoices on behalf of Panattoni on an annual basis.

ate November saw Lockheed Martin Corp. sign a lease renewal with Rockbridge Investments, LP to occupy 84,181 sq. ft. (7,820 sq. m.) at the Santa Barbara Business Park in Goleta (pictured above), announced commercial property manager Kate Villar of the Towbes Group, which represented the landlord in the transaction. Under the terms of the five-year lease, Santa Barbara Focalplane (SBF), a Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control business, will continue to occupy two identical adjacent Class A single story buildings. SBF, founded in Santa Barbara in 1985 and acquired by Lockheed Martin in 1993, is a world leader in the design, custom development and manufacture of infrared component, imaging systems, camera systems and technology used in military, space, medical and commercial applications. Other tenants at the park include Texas Instruments, Cree, Integrated Procurement Technologies, Inogen and True Vision.

n November Alcoa announced it has approved the next phase of a five-year, $2.1-billion investment plan for its Baie-Comeau, Deschambault and Becancour smelters in Quebec. "The plan will move the Quebec smelters down the aluminum cost curve by 13 percentage points and contribute to Alcoa's goal of achieving an overall 10-point improvement," said the company. The plan will also increase production capacity by 120,000 metric tons per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It includes 25-year power contracts for all three smelters and allows investments to move forward in Baie-Comeau and Deschambeault that will optimize every mega-watt-hour of power used in the smelters. Alcoa will provide $50 million to an economic development fund managed by the Government of Québec, and create a $25-million Sustainable Development Fund dedicated to its three host communities. This fund is in addition to the partnership agreement of $3 million that Alcoa recently signed with the new Centre for Sustainable Development located in the heart of Montréal.

aterpillar in November selected 46 acres (18.6 hectares) at Tejon Ranch Commerce Center in California for the construction of a new 400,000-sq.-ft. (37,160-sq.-m.) parts distribution warehouse to serve California and the western U.S. The deal was aided by the efforts of Kern County EDC. "With its excellent accessibility to major highways and airports, this location will ensure the rapid delivery of Cat parts to dealers and customers," said Steve Larson, vice president of Caterpillar Inc. and chairman and president of Cat Logistics. Located in Kern County at the junction of I-5 and Highway 99 in Central California, the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center encompasses 1,450 acres (587 hectares), and is already home to 3 million sq. ft. (278,700 sq. m.) of warehouse facilities and approximately 1,000 employees. The new Cat facility is scheduled to be operational in late 2012 and is expected to employ up to 150 people.

n September U.S. Army and Boeing officials cut the ribbon to celebrate the renovation and improvement of the historic H-47 Chinook facility in Ridley Township, Pa. Boeing has invested more than $130 million in the project.

Honda Leads the Way with 11 Green Buildings

Honda Canada’s new headquarters in Markham, Ontario has earned LEED-Gold certification from the Canada Green Building Council.

onda Engineering North America, Inc.'s Powertrain Division in Anna, Ohio, and Honda Canada, Inc.'s new head office in Markham, Ontario, have each earned LEED certifications, bringing to 11 the number of LEED-certified Honda facilities in North America, the most LEED-certified buildings of any automaker. The facility in Anna provides manufacturing tooling design and engineering support for the production of engines at the adjacent Anna Engine Plant, the largest automobile engine plant in Honda's global production network.

The expanded facility is now equipped with cool-roof materials, more energy-efficient lighting controls and advanced indoor-air-quality management systems. Water conservation measures in the facility include the use of low-flow toilets and bathroom fixtures, which have reduced the building's water use by approximately 30 percent from earlier levels. Annual CO2 emissions from the facility have been cut by approximately 470,000 pounds.

Honda Canada's new 138,000-sq.-ft. (12,820-sq.-m.) head office, one of three buildings on the company's 53-acre (22-hectare) campus in Markham, utilizes a north-south orientation along with an energy efficient underfloor air-distribution system and a heat-reflective white roof to reduce energy consumption. Innovative water management at the new facility has reduced potable water consumption by 44 percent, compared to the company's previous facility. Also, landscape design provides for on-site storm water treatment through the use of bioswales and water collection.

Ahead of the Game

The company began building its LEED credentials in 1999, when its Gresham, Ore., parts warehouse and service training facility became the first mixed-use industrial building in America to achieve LEED-Gold EB (Existing Building) certification. That facility is now LEED-Platinum certified. Other facilities in the fold include:

American Honda data center in Longmont, Colorado, the first LEED-Version 2.2. Silver-certified data center in the U.S.;
American Honda parts consolidation center in Troy, Ohio (LEED-Gold);
American Honda Finance Corp.'s Mid-Atlantic Region facility in Wilmington, Del. (LEED-Gold CI for Commercial Interiors)
Honda R&D Americas, Inc.'s Acura Design Studio in Torrance, Calif.; its Marine Engine Research Facility in Grant-Valkaria, Fla.; and its central plant facility in Raymond, Ohio (all LEED-Gold);
Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC's welcome center at its new auto plant in Greensburg, Ind. (LEED);
Honda Aircraft Company, Inc.'s world headquarters, R&D facility and the home of the HondaJet very light jet, in Greensboro, N.C. (LEED-Gold).

Honda Fit-EV electric vehicle next to a GE WattStationTM electric charging station, powered by Honda-developed solar cells. Honda added to its environmentally friendly credentials in November when it installed its own solar-cell technology at its motor sports engineering facility, Honda Performance Development, in Santa Clarita, Calif. The 100-kilowatt, 800-cell array of thin-film "CIGS" solar panels will power several areas of the facility and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 60 tons per year. In Japan, where Honda first began selling its CIGS solar cells in October 2008, Honda is utilizing Honda Soltec solar cells in 15 facilities, including most of its factories and major R&D facilities, with a total output of 2.5 megawatts.