Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., a leading integrated financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate, has acquired the environmental consulting firm, ECD Energy, best known as the developer of technology underlying environmental rating systems for buildings, including Green Globes for the Green Building Initiative (GBI) and Go Green for BOMA Canada.
"Our clients are asking for guidance- to help define sustainability for their real estate portfolios, provide benchmarking tools to better manage their properties, as well as a practical roadmap to improve property performance," said Lauralee Martin, Global COO of Jones Lang LaSalle.  "There are a number of strong and developing property standards around the world, all of which we strongly support, such as LEED, BREEAM and Energy Star, but there are few efficient tools like the Green Globes/Go Green programs that allow owners to bring their entire portfolios up to these standards.  ECD has demonstrated real leadership in sustainability strategy and has developed a wide range of sustainability tools that can help our clients address the carbon footprint of their entire portfolio."
Professionals and staff of ECD Energy join Jones Lang LaSalle's Toronto office and will join forces with the firm's worldwide network of sustainability professionals.
Jones Lang LaSalle also gains use of ECD's technology platform for assessing the sustainability profile of commercial buildings and benchmarking across portfolios.  The tools assess new building designs, existing building operations and interior fit-outs in terms of their energy, water and environmental impact as well as the health and comfort of building occupants.
ECD developed Green Globes for new construction and existing buildings.  It is licensed and overseen in the United States by the Green Building Initiative (GBI).  In Canada, the Green Globes system for existing buildings is licensed and overseen by BOMA Canada under the brand name "Go Green" (Visez vert). Under the terms of this acquisition, these Green Globes standards will be kept independent from Jones Lang LaSalle and operated under the governance of the GBI in the United States and BOMA in Canada.
"The principals of ECD have demonstrated true leadership in the development, application and benchmarking of sustainable practices in commercial property," said Dan Probst, chairman of energy and sustainability services at Jones Lang LaSalle. "The tools they have created meet our clients' urgent and growing need to understand how their buildings and portfolios measure up in terms of sustainability."
"Building owners throughout the world can quickly and inexpensively find practical paths to sustainability," said Jiri Skopek, CEO of ECD, who will join Jones LaSalle.
ECD joins the fast growing sustainability offerings at Jones Lang LaSalle that include sustainability strategy, energy management, portfolio and facility management, project development management of LEED certifications, as well as research and advocacy in addition to the sustainability best practices adopted by associates throughout the company. In October 2007, Jones Lang LaSalle acquired Upstream, the UK's leading environmental consulting practice.
In recent months, Jones Lang LaSalle has formalized its Sustainability Commitment, which includes a goal to have 500 sustainability accredited professionals by the end of 2009, including programs such as Green Globes and LEED in the U.S., LEED in India, BREEAM in the UK, ABGR and Green Star in Australia, and others. The firm has also formalized the industry's first Sustainability University to train employees in sustainable standards and practices.
ECD Energy and Environment Canada specializes in the assessment of buildings in terms of energy and environmental impact and indoor health. Activities include development of on-line technology building assessment and audit tools, research and development, design advice, advice on specifications and post occupancy monitoring.
Jones Lang LaSalle is a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate. The firm offers integrated services delivered by expert teams worldwide to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. With 2007 global revenue of $2.7 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle has 180 offices worldwide and operates in more than 700 cities in 60 countries.  The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of 1.2 billion s/f worldwide.