Real Estate Roundtable honored by EPA for green commitment.

The Real Estate Roundtable was recently honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for encouraging broad real estate industry commitment to energy efficient "green building" principles and technologies.

The Roundtable was one of three associations selected to receive EPA's "2000 Climate Protection" award for exemplary efforts to reduce the threat of global warming. Award recipients came from thc United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Hong Kong. They were judged by an international panel of judges representing industry, government, and international non-governmental organizations.

"The Real Estate Roundtable is deeply honored by this award. It's a testament to significant environmental progress that can be achieved through cooperative, public-private strategies which are also good for business," said Real Estate Rounndtable chairman Nelson C. Rising (Catellus Development Corp.). "We are proud of our partnerships with EPA and the Department of Energy in promoting smart, energy efficient buildings through voluntary, market-based programs such as the federal Energy Star Building Label."

Roundtable president and COO Jeffrey D. DeBoer added, "We salute real estate's visionaries who lead the marketplace in setting 21st-century standards for strategic energy management and environmental responsibility. These forward-thinking companies recognized early on that green building investments make both economic and environmental sense."

Presenting the awards was Dr. Kathleen Hogan, director of EPA 's climate protection partnerships division, which works with The Real Estate Roundtable and other industry partners in administering the Energy Star program. Underscoring the value of this public-private initiative, EPA administrator Carol Browner said, "If all building owners followed the example of those who have already achieved the Energy Star Building Label, we would reduce our nation's energy bill by more than $130 billion over just 15 years. In New York alone, investments already made through the Energy Star program will prevent more than 38 billion pounds of carbon dioxide."

The Roundtable's leadership on energy efficiency issues grew out of a 1998 challenge by former Energy Secretary Federico Pena to the nation's commercial real estate leaders to make their properties roughly 30% more energy efficient by thc year 2010. A federal study found residential and commercial buildings account for approximately one-third of total U.S. energy consumption -- suggesting that more efficient energy use could help U.S. efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions released during energy production.

The real estate industry responded to the administration's challenge by incorporating green building technologies, such as fuel cells, solar panels, smart thermostats, and unique air ventilation systems that simultaneously improve tenant comfort and energy efficiency. Federal officials estimate that every dollar invested in boosting a commercial building's energy efficiency adds as much as $3.00 to its asset value.

In addition to significant energy cost savings and higher asset values, real estate companies whose properties meet certain federal energy performance criteria are eligible for the Energy Star Label. This is the government's highest symbol of energy excellence and environmental conservation -- commercial real estate's eco-equivalent of an Oscar award. Real estate's responsiveness to thc program over the past two years has brought overall commercial space covered by Energy Star initiatives to more than 20 billion SF.

Energy Star recipients agree that applying advanced, eco-friendly designs and technologies to new and existing buildings benefits business, as well as the environment. The Energy Star label "signals to our tenants and investors that we're capitalizing on an extraordinary opportunity to make our buildings environmentally and fiscally sound," said Tim Callahan, president and chief executive officer of Equity Office Properties Trust and chair of The Real Estate Roundtable's technology task force.

Accepting EPA's "Climate Protection" award on behalf of The Real Estate Roundtable was Frank Frankini, senior vice president of engineering and construction at Equity Office Properties Trust.