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According to BOMA, The Outstanding Building of the Year® (TOBY) Award, honoring the best of the best in commercial buildings, has seen outstanding participation during the 2010-2011 awards cycle. Able Services was well-recognized in 2011 in both Northern and Southern California.

BOMA, Greater Los Angeles

The Gas Company Tower, owned by Maguire Properties and managed by MPG Office Trust, Inc., won the 2011 TOBY Award in the Over 1 Million category. Janitorial and Engineering support were provided by Able Services. Judges representing many of the Los Angeles area’s largest owners and managers commented on the high quality standards, procedures, and policies in place set by Able Services. The building’s General Manager is Lynne Miller and Senior Operations Manager is Michael Brooks. Built in 1991, The Gas Company Tower is a LEED® Gold Certified, Class A office building. Soaring 54 stories on Fifth Street between Grand Avenue and Olive Street, the property was the second tower in the Los Angeles Central Library Redevelopment Plan.

BOMA, Seattle

Columbia Center (formerly Bank of America Tower and Columbia Seafirst Center) is the tallest skyscraper in the downtown Seattle skyline, as well as the tallest building in the State of Washington, and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It occupies most of the block bounded by Fourth and Fifth Avenues and Cherry and Columbia Streets. Columbia Center, managed by CAC Real Estate, won the 2011 TOBY Award in the Over 1 Million category. Able Services’ Building Maintenance and Engineering provide services to the building and played key roles in the regional competition. Columbia Center has a LEED Silver designation and Energy Star rating of 90.Columbia Center will move on to the Regional TOBY Award with the hopes of making  it to the national TOBY Award held in Seattle, Washington in June 2012.

As Able’s Sustainability Officer my job is to implement green and sustainable projects, educate our team and clients on the latest and greatest trends, as well as ensure that we maintain our leadership in sustainability.

Some of my primary focus areas are LEED certification and code compliance. LEED is a third-party certification program through the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. At Able we can proactively assist with any sustainability strategy whether simply implementing a recycling program at the building or working to gain certification.

Able’s offering is unique in that we cover a lot of ground within the LEED rating system. For example, when you work with Able, all the processes for certification are in place and a building is essentially assured of a good portion of points toward LEED. For example, in reviewing the LEED 2009 O&M reference guide, you’ll find there is a lot that the entire Able Services Company can do. While each project is unique and requires extensive amounts of time and resources to complete, we can provide the following contributions for our customers:

On the building maintenance division, there are nine points we can contribute that come from having GreenAble, integrated pest management, solid waste management and environmental purchasing programs. Within our engineering division, there are three prerequisites revolving around the energy and atmosphere section of the LEED standard. Eleven points are earned through building commissioning, performance measurement, indoor air quality from balanced ventilation, and increased occupant comfort. Collectively, Able contributes 5 Prerequisites (3 Engineering & 2 Building Maintenance); 20 points at a minimum or 50% of a certification (11 Engineering & 9 Building Maintenance). If this is maximized with a high Energy Star score, our 20 goes to 38 or 95% of a certification. That is a powerful and valuable measurement of partnership for our clients.

It’s also important to note that in 2011 California adopted mandatory building regulations for all new construction in the state that will achieve major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and water use. The CALGREEN Code is the nation’s first statewide green building standards code. Considering the impact of these programs and others on the operation and maintenance of commercial buildings, Able is taking a proactive role in working with clients at all levels to implement and monitor these efforts.

Another significant trend impacting real estate is the increasing adoption of alternative energies such as electric vehicles and solar energy. As these sustainable and green options make their way into broader use at the property level, the subsequent challenge will be installation, maintenance, and operations. At Able we believe this will be a whole new area of our business in the near future.

It’s an exciting time to be part of an organization that is passionate about environmental stewardship and is ability to deliver high-quality sustainable services to our clients. Our programs will continue to grow, which will increase our value proposition and our ability to support “green” initiatives and LEED Certified buildings across the U.S. I look forward to working with you.

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