PROJECT PROFILE 2000 ST JAMES PLACE
Earns LEED EB v2.0 Gold ~ Only Texas Office Building
August 2009 PROJECT BACKGROUND
Owned and managed by Cameron Management, 2000 St. James Place Building is located on a 6.23-acre campus-like setting in the San Felipe Green Office Park near the Galleria area in Houston, Texas. The 12-story office building contains approximately 335,000 square feet of rentable area. Originally constructed in 1978, the building recently went through $11.9 million of upgrades and capital improvements. As a result, in 2008 the project earned an Energy Star rating 96 (out of 100) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2009, it earned a Gold rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Existing Buildings Rating System.
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENT
While some companies hire LEED consulting firms to provide LEED facilitation services, all documentation and work for 2000 St. James was performed by the Cameron Management team led by Morris Chen, LEED AP and general manager, and Allan Fuller, LEED AP and director of engineering. Cameron Management has proven that Existing Building LEED documentation process can be done in-house with efficiency and cost savings. At the time of certification, 2000 St. James Place is the only commercial office building in Texas that holds the LEED-EB v2.0 Gold rating and one of 49 buildings in the United States to obtain LEED-EB v2.0 Gold or Platinum certification since its release in October 2004.
Dougal Cameron, chief executive officer of Cameron Management, says, “Obtaining the certification shows the firm’s commitment to the environment, energy efficiency, and safety.”
STRATEGIES AND RESULTS
Increased energy efficiency and reductions in waste disposal costs have significantly lowered operational costs at 2000 St James Place. Energy savings include high albedo roof coating to minimize heat island effects, high-efficiency chillers with extensive building automation control system, refitted air handler units, and lighting retrofitted with integrated illumination controls. As a result, electrical usage dropped 35%, saving over $300,000 per year. The waste reduction program includes recycling aluminum, plastics, paper, batteries, lamps, computers, and landscape waste. During the yearly performance period, over 99 tons of garbage were kept out of landfills, boasting a 60.6% occupant recycling rate. Owner: Cameron Management Engineer: Allan Fuller, LEED AP, Cameron Management Contractor: Morris Chen, LEED AP, Cameron Management Project Size: 335,000 rentable square feet Photography courtesy of Steve Anderson
ABOUT CAMERON MANAGEMENT
Cameron Management is a Houston-based real estate company. Cameron Management's goal is to bring value to its tenant base through effective on-site management as well as to the community at large. The Cameron Management concept is to house all functions of owning and managing a commercial office property under one umbrella: ownership, property management, leasing, and engineering. This concept fosters out-of-the-box creativity to reduce overall cost of running a building. Lower costs are passed on to the tenants through wellmanaged operational expenses. It is Cameron's philosophy to value our tenants’ needs by responding quickly and maintaining close business relationships.
ABOUT LEED
The LEED Green Building Rating System is the national benchmark for the design, construction, and operations of high-performance green buildings. Visit the U.S.Green Building Council’s Web site at www.usgbc.org to learn more about how you can make LEED work for you. Support the local chapter of USGBC by visiting www.usgbchouston.org
PROJECT PROFILE
2000 ST JAMES PLACE
Houston, Texas
LEED EB v2.0
61% Waste recycled 91 out of 100 Energy Star
Rating
95% Green cleaning
products
LEED® Facts
2000 ST JAMES PLACE Houston, TX
LEED for Existing Building v2.0 Certification awarded August 7, 2009
Certified
Sustainable Sites Water Efficiency Energy & Atmosphere Materials & Resources Indoor Environmental Quality Innovation & Design
*Out of a possible 85 points
51*
11/14 0/5 19/25 8/16 9/22 4/5