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| Dennis Luster |
EBie Awards: The Oscars of Sustainable Buildings Honors San Antonio’s Fountainhead Business Park II
New Award Spotlights Importance of Green Design and Improvements, and Workers who Transform Buildings into Sustainable Leaders
NEWYORK– Urban Green Council- the NY chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council- today announced the ten winners of the first annual EBie Awards, a new nationwide juried competition that honors existing buildings that have been retrofitted for sustainability and made green improvements. Fountainhead Business Park II is a winner in the “Shine a Light on Me” category. This award recognizes the best lighting retrofit, as measured in energy performance, productivity enhancement and good design. The other winning buildings are located throughout the country- New York City; Detroit, MI; Dallas and San Antonio, TX; Lexington, KY; Seattle, WA; and Edison and West Caldwell, NJ.
The EBies, sponsored by Carrier, a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, recognizes “unsung heroes” who have made great strides in improving environmental performance but whose accomplishments may otherwise go unheralded – not just building owners, but building managers and operators, auditors, commissioning agents, lighting designers, plumbing engineers and others. Unlike other awards, the EBies are based on measurable improvements in performance.
Fountainhead Business Park II is an Energy Star, LEED Silver building constructed in 1999 and owned by Shorecliffs Investments LLC. Genzyme is the sole tenant. Under the direction of the consultant, Ampajen Solutions, the landlord, tenant, consultant Facility Solutions Group and the management team worked diligently together on a lighting retrofit that reduced usage by over 40,000 watts. The local utility company’s rebate program reduced the cost of the project by 35%, which resulted in a payback period of only 2.5 years. The lighting retrofit not only reduced energy usage for lighting, but also HVAC energy usage due to the reduction of the heat load of the lights. Other project features include new occupancy sensors in hallways, break rooms, conference rooms and restrooms.
“The Lighting retrofit that Facility Solutions Group, Inc. completed at Fountainhead Business Park II was a second generation lighting retrofit- we retrofitted to the Advance Optanium Low Watt Electronic Ballast and the Philips 25 watt T8 , 4’ft lamp. With this system we were able to provide significant additional energy savings and combined with a generous rebate the simple payback was right at two years,” said Dennis Luster, L.C., National Sales Representative, Facility Solutions Group.
The EBie winners and their teams have made significant performance improvements to existing buildings, through reduced energy and water use, more efficient lighting, and changes in operations.
“Today’s winners show the range of extraordinary work going on in buildings across the country. We had office buildings and schools, residences and hospitals, and even a museum. Whatever building you live or work in, the EBie winners are proof that you can reduce costs while saving energy and water, and making your building healthier,” said Russell Unger, Executive Director of the Urban Green Council.
With existing buildings accounting for more than 1/3 of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, and 85% of the buildings expected to be in use in 2030 already standing, there is a tremendous need to retrofit existing buildings for improved efficiency and sustainability.