BOMA International honored with EPA Climate Protection Award

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International with a 2009 Climate Protection Award in honor of BOMA's exceptional leadership, outstanding innovation, dedication and technical achievements in climate protection. Winners, which include individuals and organizations, are chosen on the basis of originality and public purpose; persuasive, moral or organizational leadership; global perspective and implication; and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This year's winners were honored at a ceremony at the Kennedy Center. "We are honored to receive this prestigious award for our green initiatives," said BOMA International chair and chief elected officer Richard Purtell, portfolio manager, Grubb Ellis Management Services, Inc. "We strive to provide solutions that benefit our members while also protecting the environment. This award is a testament to the fact that sustainability and profit go hand in hand." BOMA is being recognized for four initiatives: the BOMA Energy Efficiency Program, the 7-Point Challenge, BOMA's Green Lease Guide, and the BOMA Energy Performance Contract model. BEEP is an innovative operational excellence program that teaches commercial real estate professionals how to reduce energy consumption and costs with proven no- and low-cost strategies. To date more than 14,000 industry professionals have participated in the BEEP seminars. BOMA's 7-Point Challenge aims to reduce energy consumption by 30 percent by 2012 across real estate portfolios, as measured against an average building measuring a 50 on the Energy Star benchmarking tool. The 7-Point Challenge has gained universal industry acceptance. More than 110 companies and affiliated organization, representing more than two billion square feet of office space, have endorsed the Challenge. In 2008, BOMA released the industry's first green lease guide, an instant best-seller. The guide includes enforceable lease language to ensure tenants comply with the building's green priorities and includes annotations for ENERGY STAR, LEED and GBI rating programs. BOMA partnered with the Clinton Climate Initiative to launch the BOMA Energy Performance Contract, a model toolkit that makes major energy retrofits to existing buildings easier and more affordable than ever before. "BOMA International will continue to lead the way by delivering the solutions that will propel commercial real estate toward a sustainable and thriving future," said BOMA International 2007-2008 chair and chief elected officer Brenna Walraven, RPA, CPM, managing director, national property management, USAA Real Estate Company, and one of the chief architects of the BEEP program and BEPC model.