Shorenstein Properties' Building in Oakland City Center Receives LEED Gold Certification

Shorenstein-owned 555 12th Street in Oakland City Center is the first building in the company’s commercial real estate portfolio to be LEED Gold certified through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED EBOM) program. The certification of the building comes seven years after its opening in 2002.

“This is a major accomplishment,” said John Dolby, Shorenstein vice president and leasing manager at Oakland City Center. The green building consulting firm of Simon & Associates coordinated the LEED certification process for the building. An assessment was conducted in late spring 2008 and work began in earnest in August 2008. The building was officially designated as LEED Gold on October 31, 2009.

Among the steps to achieve LEED Gold certification, the building achieved an Energy Star score of 94, which means it is more energy efficient than 94 percent of office buildings in the U.S. In addition, the building staff worked closely with tenants to measure the environmental impact of purchasing in the building as a whole. With tenant participation, the LEED team was able to calculate that over 40 percent of the purchases in the building (by dollar volume) had green attributes, such as paper with recycled content and Energy Star-rated computers and electronics.

Shorenstein has been actively “greening” its assets for several years, issuing more than 15 sustainability initiatives to property managers and forming a multidisciplinary committee to implement sustainable practices throughout its portfolio.