LABBC CASE STUDY

PROPERTY OWNER
Brookfield Properties

PROPERTY TYPE
Commercial

SQUARE FEET
9,248,770

Sponsoring Organizations

2.5%

Energy Reduction in 2019

21.3%

Water Reduction since taking Ownership

2020 Innovation Awards: Portfolio of the Year Finalist

“At Brookfield, we continually seek out innovative strategies to engage our stakeholders. Whether investors, tenants, building occupants, or our employees, Brookfield acknowledges that the ongoing relationships we build with our stakeholders are a significant part of our success.”

BRIAN PAGAC
Vice President, Brookfield Properties

CHALLENGE

Brookfield’s ultimate objective is to optimize energy and resource efficiency at their properties together with the wellness and safety of tenants, employees, and surrounding communities.  

Brookfield achieves this goal through an integrated strategy based on three principles that are embedded in their corporate culture and foundation in their commitment to environmental responsibility:  

1. Develop, operate, retrofit, redesign and renovate properties to achieve optimum energy efficiency, occupant satisfaction and reduced carbon emissions.  

2. Incorporate innovative environmental strategies in order to achieve best in industry environmental performance in all new office developments.  

3. Seek best-in-class environmental certifications, actively participate in green industry organizations, supporting new initiatives that foster the energy and resource-efficient operation of office buildings and environmentally sustainable communities and practices. 

With a strong record of environmental leadership, Brookfield’s challenge is finding continuous improvement project opportunities that align with company’s principles and financial goals.

STRATEGY

Brookfield has built a comprehensive, multi-tiered strategy to streamline processes and tools in support of optimal project effectiveness portfolio wide. This strategy relies on Brookfield’s establishment of trustworthy teams from the operational thru executive levels. These teams approach projects by utilizing LEED certification requirement as a guide for analyzing each property’s operations and have accrued a core selection of crucial technologies to maximize operational efficiency.  

Among these tools are innovative platforms like MACH Energy and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Demand Response, which enable cross-building energy management and optimization. In addition, Brookfield seeks to foster positive tenant engagement through tools like tenant surveys. These surveys are used to formally capture feedback on management teams and building amenities. With the results, Brookfield implemented multiple projects in 2019 throughout 6 properties in their LA portfolio. 

Over the last five years, Brookfield has developed opportunities for its Global Sustainability and Global Operations committees to share best practices across the organization, which has provided employees the ongoing means to collaborate on common initiatives and strengthen relationships, share innovations and provide insight into differences between its global markets.

IMPACT

Brookfield’s Los Angeles portfolio achieved over 2 million kWh of energy savings across 6 properties by building on savings projects that had been previously initiated. 

Brookfield’s successes are not owed to the savings from any one project, but the focus on ROI’s that promote good stewardship. The cooperation of all stakeholders to exercise exceptional organization of project timelines and seek accumulative improvements, has been key to its success. 

The continuous effort to improve property efficiency exemplifies the value of setting standards within an organization’s sustainability strategy that can be achieved across multiple properties.