Jones Lang LaSalle’s Denver Office Gains LEED-CI Gold Certification

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Denver, CO - Jan. 20, 2012 - Jones Lang LaSalle has gained LEED® Gold certification of its 21,400-square-foot Denver office, located at 1225 Seventeenth Street. It is the firm’s fourth U.S. office to earn LEED certification and the first in the country to receive Gold certification. 

LEED for Commercial Interiors certification was awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. The certification process was led by Laura Kucharczyk, LEED AP BD+C Senior Project Manager in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Denver office. Kucharczyk previously managed the LEED-CI certification process for Flatirons Bank’s 5,000-square-foot office, the first LEED-CI Gold bank in Colorado; provided project management support for LEED-CI Platinum certification of Xcel Energy’s 340,000-square-foot space; and is currently leading a LEED-CI Silver certification process for a 25,000-square-foot space.   “We recognize—as do many of our clients and tenants in the buildings we manage—that a sustainable work environment can bring significant benefits, from operational cost savings to employee well-being and productivity,” said John Cracraft, Vice President in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Denver clients. “LEED certification is proof that we follow the same sustainable practices in our operations that we recommend to owners and tenants.”   The Denver office gained credits toward certification for energy and water efficiency, green power acquired from an off-site source, recycling, low-emitting materials in furniture and carpeting, green cleaning and other programs. Several credits are the direct or indirect result of occupying a LEED certified building. Jones Lang LaSalle helped the owner of 1225 Seventeenth Street gain LEED Gold certification for the building in 2009, when it was the first multi-tenant office building in Denver to hold that designation.   Jones Lang LaSalle conducts feasibility studies for LEED certification of all its U.S. offices that undergo build-out, and pursues certification for most offices over 10,000 square feet.  These analyses take into account the unique features of each building as well as the incremental cost of tactics to gain certification. “Sustainability is not the only thing we consider in building out our space; we look at cost and flexibility issues as well,” said Chuck Kelly, Senior Vice President overseeing build-out of the firm’s U.S. offices. “The most important consideration is maximizing the productivity of our professionals, and in many cases, LEED considerations align with that goal.”   Jones Lang LaSalle offices in Atlanta, Parsippany, N.J., and San Diego have previously received LEED Silver certification. In 2011, the firm’s Hong Kong office gained LEED-CI Platinum certification, achieving the highest point count of any LEED project in the world—95 of 100 available credits. At the end of 2011, Jones Lang LaSalle employed 1,075 professionals accredited with LEED and other energy and sustainability designations. The firm has been instrumental in the certification of more than 200 buildings and commercial interiors around the world, and have helped clients save more than $300 million in energy costs over the past three years. The firm has also directed energy and lighting retrofits at properties such as the Empire State Building, Chicago’s Union Station and Moscone Center in San Francisco. Read the Jones Lang LaSalle Green Blog at www.joneslanglasalleblog.com/greenblog/.   About Jones Lang LaSalle Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) is a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate. The firm offers integrated services delivered by expert teams worldwide to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. With 2010 global revenue of more than $2.9 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle serves clients in 60 countries from more than 1,000 locations worldwide, including 185 corporate offices. The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of approximately 1.8 billion square feet worldwide. LaSalle Investment Management, the company’s investment management business, is one of the world’s largest and most diverse in real estate with more than $47.9 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit our website, www.joneslanglasalle.com.   JLL20331