ESG Awards Presented at LABBC’s 9th Annual Innovation Awards
Netflix, Brookfield Properties and the Coalition for Responsible Community Development Among Winners Recognized for Sustainability & Social Impact Efforts
LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2023 — The Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge (LABBC) on Wednesday afternoon presented the city’s most prestigious sustainability awards to the “Best Buildings” in Los Angeles at its 9th Annual Innovation Awards. The intimate invite-only ceremony was held in Downtown Los Angeles at the L.A. Cleantech Incubator (LACI) in the Arts District.
The first award went to newly appointed L.A. Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley for her extraordinary leadership in the space of building decarbonization. It was her vision, as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality for the Obama Administration, that paved the way for the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge to take off more than a decade ago, starting with a 30 million-square-foot commitment by building owners and managers here in Los Angeles to reduce water and energy use 20% by 2020. Today, the LABBC counts buildings totaling more than 130 million square feet as partners committed to reducing building energy use 22% per square foot and potable water use by 22.5% per capita by 2025.
“It’s heartening and inspiring to see how far this strange little idea has come,” Sutley said, accepting the award and thanking her fellow award winners for their collective environmental work. “It’s really up to all of us to deliver on ambitious decarbonization and sustainability goals, and to meaningfully confront the climate crisis and the environmental injustices in our city.”
Five additional awards were presented to LABBC partners who demonstrated exceptional ingenuity in energy and water efficiency, along with a commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals for their buildings.
LABBC Executive Director David Hodgins pointed out that many of this year’s award winners were recognized not only for making the most of the tools and technologies available to them, but for applying them in ways that reach far beyond the boundaries of any one property.
“These winners are truly inspiring,” Hodgins said. “They’re showing it’s possible to make a real impact today, using today’s technology to overcome today’s biggest challenges. They’re laying the foundation for the clean energy transition.”
The energy and water use reductions achieved by this year’s winners bring Los Angeles closer to achieving the goals set forth by L.A.’s Green New Deal, which seeks to put Los Angeles on a course to reach the science-based targets laid out in the Paris Climate Accord.
Matt Petersen, Chief Executive Officer for the L.A Cleantech Incubator, welcomed guests to the awards program, and Marta Segura, Climate Emergency Mobilization Director and Chief Heat Officer for the City of Los Angeles, presented a keynote address. She commended this year’s winners for their contributions to making Los Angeles a better, more resilient city.
“[Together], we’re creating healthier environments, healthier buildings, healthier homes. It’s the kind of future that we all wish we had grown up in, and the one that we foresee for our children,” she said. “It more than takes a village. It takes a village of visionaries, a village of doers, a village of people who want to see a healthy, thriving Los Angeles and can see that that is our ultimate goal.
Learn more about each of our awardees below, or check out our event recap here.
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Appointed earlier this year as Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles for Energy and Sustainability by the newly installed Bass administration, Nancy Sutley has long been the sort of advocate our city—and our planet—need. It was her vision, as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality for the Obama Administration, that paved the way for the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge more than a decade ago. Her continued leadership has been instrumental in keeping momentum going around building decarbonization not only here in Los Angeles, but nationwide.
Prior to joining the Bass administration and after her post with the Obama administration, Sutley served as LADWP’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Assistant General Manager for External and Regulatory Affairs, overseeing customer service operations, energy efficiency and water conservation programs, as well as environmental regulatory, real estate and legislative teams. During that time, she initiated LADWP’s corporate sustainability programs, spearheaded the development of LADWP’s La Kretz Innovation Campus and coordinated the LA100 study to promote electrification of the transportation network and clean, renewable energy for all Angelenos.
Sutley’s background in public service also includes roles as Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles for Energy and Environment for the Villaraigosa administration, Board Member for the Metropolitan Water District, Member of the California State Water Resources Control Board, Energy Advisor for California Governor Gray Davis, Deputy Secretary for Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. EPA during the Clinton Administration.
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As the single largest landlord in downtown Los Angeles with roughly 11 million square feet across 10 properties, Brookfield Properties has an outsized influence on the city’s success in decarbonizing the built environment and reaching sustainability goals. It is clear the real estate giant takes this responsibility—to Los Angeles, the communities in which it operates and the planet—seriously. Brookfield has made a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner, as well as an interim target of a 50% reduction in direct emissions from a 2019 baseline by 2030.
In service of that goal, last year Brookfield initiated or completed several notable projects within its Downtown L.A. portfolio to reduce energy and water use, including LED retrofits, a groundwater recapture system at Bank of America Plaza, participation in LADWP’s demand response program and a comprehensive renovation of the two-million-square-foot California Market Center in the Fashion District. These projects and more contributed to an 18% reduction in energy use and a 40% reduction in water use for Brookfield in Downtown Los Angeles between March 2019 and March 2022, according to data provided by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
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Since partnering with the American Cinematheque in 2020 to ensure the long-term future of the historic Egyptian Theater, Netflix has worked diligently to ensure that the 100-year-old Hollywood landmark stays true to its cinematic roots while renovating it to efficiently meet the stringent energy demands of the future. In addition to overcoming preservation hurdles, the team on the ground has successfully managed to upgrade the building envelope and building systems to be as efficient as possible—most notably replacing an aging HVAC system on the roof with an all-electric high-efficiency VRF system. Other upgrades included the installation of carbon neutral air-cooled heat pumps to replace a gas water heater and boilers, a heat recovery air conditioning unit, LED lighting and automated controls.
Work on the Egyptian Theater builds upon Netflix’s public commitment in 2021 to reach “net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2022, and every year thereafter.” At the same time, Netflix aims to reduce its direct emissions and those from using electricity (scope 1 and 2 emissions) 46% by 2030, in line with the latest science and the Paris Climate Agreement.
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Built in the 1940s and ‘50s on 150 acres in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles, Park La Brea is the largest multifamily property west of the Mississippi. Featuring 4,250 residential units, the property also boasts three multiacre parks. Owned and operated by Prime Residential, the property late last year completed the installation of an innovative soil moisture sensor system that is poised to save the property up to 23 million gallons of water a year—the equivalent of filling nearly 35 Olympic-size swimming pools. These projected savings come on top of a water use reduction of 11% at the property since 2018.
The smart irrigation system, designed by UgMO Technologies, consists of 717 active sensors and was completed with no upfront cost to Prime. Its installation necessitated the completion of a comprehensive survey of its outdoor watering system to repair leaks, and the cost of the system is expected to be covered by LADWP incentives.
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For more than 40 years, Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) has provided a safety net of social welfare and community development services to empower people and communities in need, starting in its Downtown L.A. home in Little Tokyo. Over the past two years, the community-based nonprofit has begun shepherding four of its 26 properties through demonstration projects as part of a cohort of local affordable multifamily housing owners interested in implementing and providing feedback to utilities and policymakers on the challenges and opportunities of decarbonization. LTSC’s small but ambitious asset management team aims to use experience gained during this process as a blueprint to incrementally implement energy and water efficiency projects across its portfolio in years to come.
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Founded in South Los Angeles in 2005 with a contract from the City of LA for graffiti abatement, the Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) has grown into a multifaceted organization that aims to sustain, coordinate and improve local planning, development and community services that address the needs of low-income residents and small businesses. This holistic approach provides South L.A. residents with much-needed workforce development, education, housing and a social enterprise. CRCD began to develop affordable and permanent supportive housing in 2007 with on-site support services for transition-age youth, families and veterans experiencing homelessness, as well as for other low-income residents.
Today, recognizing the need to own property in the community to secure a seat at the table, the organization owns and operates 13 properties—including three historic and culturally significant buildings—that together total 483 residential units and support more than 1500 people. Future projects in the pipeline, representing an investment of more than $700 million, will add nearly 1,400 additional units to the chronically underserved community. CRCD’s work is not only critical to the social, cultural and environmental sustainability of the South L.A. community, but a model of the way forward for all of Los Angeles.