2014_Class-A-Report_USGBC-LA_EB-Committee (2)

2014 THINK TANK REPORT—CLASS A—2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is the outcome of the Existing Buildings Think Tank Roundtable held on May 28, 2014 at the
City Club in downtown Los Angeles. Over 70 participants representing building owners and managers,
engineers, utilities, government, trade associations, and other industry professionals were in attendance to
discuss ideas and emerging trends related to the operation and performance of existing buildings. The
discussion was organized around challenges and opportunities related to climate change, energy and water
efficiency, and key sustainability trends.
The Think Tank Roundtable event is an annual event hosted by the USGBC-LA Existing Buildings
Committee and chapter strategic partners. Information compiled and documented in this report is
intended to be a public resource. Although most of the participants are based in the Los Angeles
metropolitan area, this report might be useful nationally and internationally as well.
The purpose of the Think Tank Roundtable is to share best practices, lessons learned, resources,
challenges, and opportunities around topics relevant to owners and managers of Class A buildings as well
as tenants, brokers, government,and building professionals from all sectors. This report highlights key
outcomes of the roundtable discussions and integrates feedback from additional stakeholders during the
months following the event.
The key objectives of this report are to:
 Inspire action to deepen climate, energy, water, and other environmental goals in the existing building
sector by defining critical challenges and potential solutions, and by inviting key stakeholders to engage
in the discussion.
 Promote education by strategically reaching out to professionals that are in a position to influence the
achievement of the goals and objectives of the committee.
 Disseminate information by sharing the findings from this meeting through a number of venues,
including making this report publicly available and holding an open meeting to discuss the report and any
new developments.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Co-Founder & Co-Chair:
Daniele Horton
Founder & Principal, Verdani Partners
Director of Sustainability, Commonwealth Partners
Co-Chair:
Sharla Shimono
Sustainability Coordinator
Kilroy Realty Corporation
Research Coordinator:
Seth Strongin
Sustainability Manager
Leading Edge Consulting
Communications Coordinator:
Khalilha Haynes
Sustainability Analyst
Green Dinosaur
Events Coordinator:
Luke Patruno
Program Manager
USGBC-LA
Co-Founder & Advisor:
Kevin Devine
Brookfield Properties THINK TANK:
A body of experts providing advice and ideas on specific
political or [and] economic [environmental] problems.
COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP

TABLE OF CONTENTS
2014THINK TANK ROUNDTABLE —CLASSAREPORT
INTRODUCTION 02
Executive Summary
Table of Contents
Partners for a Resilient Future
Green Building Snapshot
INDUSTRY UPDATES 08
Technical Support from USGBC-LA
Climate Leadership Through Collaboration
Resources for Building Owners & Managers
Free Energy Audits and Rebate Information
Incentives for Efficiency
WATER EFFICIENCY 18
Current Conditions
Water Usage Per Capita
Conclusions and Resources
CLIMATE CHANGE 14
Resilience and Adaptation
Water Resilience
Energy Resilience
Environmental Resilience
SUSTAINABILITY TRENDS 27
Reporting and Disclosure
ENERGY EFFICIENCY 23
Retrofit Strategy
CLOSING REMARKS & APPENDIX 29
Closing Remarks
Definitions
Resources
Partners and Sponsors
TECHNOLOGY 25
Smarter Technologies
Lead To Smarter Buildings

The Think Tank Roundtable event and report were made possible as part of a larger initiative in
collaboration with the USGBC-LA Existing Buildings Committee, the California Sustainability Alliance
(CSA), a Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) program , and Verdani Partners who was responsible for
putting the event and report together.
About the California Sustainability Alliance:
The USGBC-LA EB Committee was founded in 2009 by Daniele Horton and Kevin Devine. This USGBC-
LA committee targets building owners and managers of high-rise commercial office buildings who are
implementing green operations and maintenance programs. Members attend biannual forums to discuss
innovations in green operations and to share experiences and lessons learned from their internal efforts
and best practices. The vision of the committee is to transform the way buildings are operated in order to
reduce energy and water consumption, waste generation, carbon emissions, and operating expenses,
while also increasing the building's value and creating healthier, more productive spaces for the building’s
occupants.
About USGBC-LA Existing Buildings Committee:
The California Sustainability Alliance (the Alliance) is designed to help meet the State’s aggressive energy,
climate, and other resource and environmental goals by increasing and accelerating energy efficiency in
combination with complementary green measures and strategies.
About Verdani Partners:
Verdani Partners is a full-service sustainability consulting firm. Our mission is to empower organizations
with cost-effective strategies to create sustainable buildings and communities. We maintains a high level
of knowledge in real estate, building operations, energy analysis, financing, and green building
certifications. We are experts in greening large portfolios of existing buildings from managing
certifications to corporate sustainability programs.
PARTNERS FOR A RESILIENT FUTURE
PARTNERSHIPS
Prepared for the California Sustainability Alliance and
the United States Green Building Council, Los
Angeles Chapter (USGBC-LA), Existing Buildings (EB)
Committee by:
Tanya Goyette, Lead Author
Daniele Horton, Contributor
Hanna Grene, Contributor
Megan Moscol, Contributor
Paulynn Cue, Graphic Designer
Our mission is to increase
implementation of sustainable
building operations by advancing
industry awareness and providing
resources to facilitate community
understanding of the significant
life-cycle cost benefits of green
building operation and
maintenance best practices.
-USGBC-LA EB Committee

Green and energy-efficient buildings demand higher rent, increase tenant productivity, reduce operating
costs, and have higher occupancy rates. The upfront cost of green building improvements is a deterrent
commonly cited by building owners. However, data shows that green retrofits and increased energy and
water efficiency increase property values and many upgrades can deliver attractive, short-term returns.
Improving the performance of an existing building can range from a major renovation in pursuit on a
green certification, such as LEED®,
or no and low-cost improvements such as schedule optimization,
tenant engagement, and lighting upgrades. These no and low-cost measures can translate into significant
savings for owners of Class A buildings.
INDUSTRY UPDATES
Los Angeles is poised to lead the state in resource efficiency and climate resilience. To reach these
ambitious goals, the public and private sectors must work together to facilitate improved energy
management and water conservation. Industry leaders shared information about key trends, no-cost
resources and programs to help Class A building owners improve building performance.
CLIMATE CHANGE
After two decades of progressively intense extreme weather events, severe droughts, fires, and higher
mean temperatures, the climate conversation has shifted from mitigation to adaptation. Class A buildings
will play an important leadership role in helping the City achieve its carbon reduction and resilience goals.
WATER EFFICIENCY
With water supplies at an all time low, water conservation is extremely important for all sectors despite
relatively steady water rates. Los Angeles water utilities are investing in water reduction programs and
providing incentives for efficient equipment.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
High-performance buildings
reduce operating costs, command
higher rents, marketability, and
increase shareholder value.
Efficient building operations are
key to staying competitive in
today’s market.
-Daniele Horton, Founder & Co-Chair
USGBC-LA Existing Buildings Committee

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
In top real estate markets, a Class A building must be an energy-efficient building. In order to stay in the
lead, building owners should consider deeper energy retrofits and equipment upgrades at the time of
aesthetic or tenant improvements.
TECHNOLOGY
Smarter technology provides building owners and managers insight into how buildings perform in real time,
throughout the lifecycle of the building. Cloud-based software applications tied to building automation
systems (BAS) can prevent downtime events and help owners and managers reduce peak-load charges.
SUSTAINABILITY TRENDS
Class A building owners can go beyond equipment upgrades to improve performance with tenant-level
metering, data-specific engagement, and energy and water use disclosure. A greater push for transparency
is also influencing more owners to disclose their efficiency data.
INTRODUCTION

GREEN BUILDING STATISTICS
Structures that are already built or near completion represent
99% of US building stock
Most of the US building stock is over 20years old and
75% is ripe for a retrofit
By 2050, CA aims to reduce carbon emissions
80% below 1990 levels
Buildings are responsible for
39% CO2 emissions
The average commercial building wastes an average of
30% energy it consumes
Energy use reductions of 10% are possible with
Little or no cost
Commercial and institutional building electricity use accounts for
60% building energy use

INDUSTRY UPDATES
Industry expertsfromtheGreaterLosAngelesarea kickedoff
the2014 Think TankRoundtablewith sector updatesandinformation
about emergingtrendsin sustainability andrealestate.

Dominique Smith, the Interim Executive Director of the USGBC-LA Chapter, discussed two programs
the USGBC-LA chapter is currently spearheading and supporting, including the Energy and Water
Ambassadors Program and the Green Janitor Education Program.
The USGBC-LA’s Energy and Water Ambassador Program connects Class B and C building owners and
managers with an ambassador to help them identify energy and water savings opportunities in their
buildings and the financing, rebates, and incentives required to move from analysis to investment.
Through the program, a USGBC-LA staff member meets onsite with the owner or management team to
identify building-specific energy and water conservation measures. The ambassador identifies which
rebates and tax credits are available for the building, advises on potential utility bill savings, and assesses
LEED certification opportunities.
The Green Janitor Education Program started as an idea to offer training in green cleaning, safety,
increasing energy efficiency, and water conservation to janitors nationwide. This program is currently
being piloted at seven buildings in Los Angeles and has already graduated 20 green janitors as of May
with the goal of 150 graduates by the end of summer.
More information and resources available at:
USGBC-LA
View Event Interview
TECHNICAL SUPPORT FROM USGBC-LA
As ambassadors, we meet with
building owners of all types, siz-
es, and markets to identify ways
they can run their operations in a
more cost-effective way, be sus-
tainable, and also save money.
- Dominique Smith
INDUSTRY UPDATES

Hilary Firestone, Senior Energy Efficiency Project Manager forthe Cityof Los Angeles, provided an update
fromthe Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, a new office which wascreated in 2013to facilitate cross-agency
collaboration onsustainability issues.
The City’s first Sustainability Plan looks atthe workthat’s already been done to reduce emissions and also
examinesstrategies forfurthermitigation and adaptation.The Plan, described as“the 2.0 ofsustainability
plans,” looks atthe traditional areas of transportation, air, water, greenhouse gases, as well as provides new
and innovativestrategies. A keytheme in the reportis collaboration, with an emphasisonthe importance of all
sectors workingtogethertocut emissions.
Buildings andtransportation are the primarysources of carbon emissions in Los Angeles with 51% coming
from buildings alone. In 2013 Los Angeles hadthe most ENERGY STAR® certified buildingsin the country, but
the majority of the City’s buildingstock has asignificantopportunity to improve energy and water efficiency.
“Itis going to bethe building owner’s responsibilityto install EVchargers on their propertiesandthe
responsibility ofthe Citytofacilitate improvements to public transportation,” said Firestone, providing an
example of how the public and privatesectors will need to work together to achievethecity’s aggressive
emissions reductionstarget.”
Another example of public and private partnershipcomesin the form of incentive programs.The Los Angeles
Department of Water and Energy allocated $50 million to energy efficiency forthe 2012-2013 fiscal year and
$101 million for 2013-2014. In addition to utility and nonprofit programs,the city is workingtohelp building
owners and managers overcomethe challenges and barriersthat have prevented themfrom investingin
energy and water retrofitsin the past.
One of the main barrierstocatalyzinginvestmentin energy efficiencyis alack ofinformation about energy use
in buildings. “One ofthe effortswe’re workingon at thestatelevel is making it easyfor building owners to get
accesstotheir own energy data,”said Firestone.“We are tryingto makethatinformation easierfor building
owners to access andunderstand so everyone is held accountable and responsiblefortheir energy
consumption –not just the owners butthe tenantsthat are occupyingthe building. Everyone has astake in
terms of tryingto reduce our energy use.”
http://environmentla.org
www.cityenergyproject.org
CLIMATE LEADERSHIP THROUGH COLLABORATION
The City will lead by example with
our own buildings. We are going to
start with benchmarking our
energy and water use and making
that information transparent.
– Hilary Firestone
INDUSTRY UPDATES

William Lowery, President of Tālō Management Group and BOMA Sustainability Chair, shared
information on BOMA’s sustainability initiatives and resources for members.
The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Sustainability Committee of Greater Los
Angeles holds monthly discussions on issues that affect existing buildings, high rises, and Class A, B, and C
buildings. Recent topics include water conservation, Title 24 cosmpliance, water and energy to retrofits,
and emerging technology. The Sustainability Committee also seeks to address challenges faced by BOMA
members in the Greater Los Angeles area.
With the passing of Assembly Bill 1103 which went into effect in January, BOMA LA hosted webinars and
hands-on trainings in West and downtown Los Angeles to help building owners and manager comply with
the new regulation.
In August the organization held their fourth annual Great Los Angeles Sustainability Seminar which
covered the value of green building improvements and operations and third-party certifications such as
LEED, ENERGY STAR, and BOMA 360.
www.bomagla.org
 View Event Interview
RESOURCES FOR BUILDING OWNERS & MANAGERS
We partner with organizations
like the USGBC and the LA BBC
make sure we are spreading the
information collected and needed
and provide that information to
building owners and managers
to effectively assist in making
change.
– William Lowery
INDUSTRY UPDATES

Ben Stapleton, Director of Commercial Property at LA Better Buildings Challenge (LABBC), told
attendees how Los Angeles is working to reduce energy and water use 20% by 2020 as part of the
National Better Buildings Competition.
LABBC is a utility-funded local initiative that is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings
Challenge. LABBC surpassed its goal of enrolling 30 million square feet of building space and now has 36
million square feet of building space where owners and managers have committed to reduce energy use
20% by 2020. LA BBC offers no-cost services and subsidies such as energy tracking and analysis, audits,
project development support, and recognition.
This year, LABBC began offering two new services to help building owners and managers achieve deeper
energy savings. LA BBC partnered with contractors to offer challenge participants reduced pricing on
standard efficiency upgrades.
“Contractors enrolling in this program agree to adhere to a certain set of principles, provide their
qualifications, and agree to provide standard deliverables,” explained Stapleton. “It is really accelerating
the process for buildings in our program in terms of retrofitting their assets.”
The Tenant Engagement Program (TEP) helps landlords, property managers, and tenants overcome split-
incentives to help owners recover capital costs and tenants benefit from energy savings. The LABBC also
helps participants identify financing, such as PACE bonds, to fund building performance upgrades.
www.la-bbc.com
FREE ENERGY AUDITS & REBATE INFORMATION
We need to focus on how to
create value for building
owners. For LA BBC, our goal is
to make energy efficiency
cheaper, easier, and faster.
– Ben Stapleton
INDUSTRY UPDATES

Robert Estrada, a water conservation specialist with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
(LADWP), encouraged attendees to take advantage of water and energy-savings incentive programs.
Estrada began his presentation with a reminder of the dire drought conditions that LA is facing. “Here in
Southern California we built water storage for these times. Metropolitan Water serves 26 retail water
agencies and the city of LA is their largest customer. With approximately 2.4 million acre feet of water in
emergency storage, they are going to draw down 1 million acre feet this year. We are really crossing our
fingers for El Nino because we need it.”
Per capita water use is at 133 gallons per person per day in Los Angeles. LADWP offers incentive
programs to reduce water usage such as turf removal for commercial properties starting at two dollars a
square foot for up to 5,000 square feet. They also have a Technical Assistance Program with incentives
for water-efficient building upgrades and operations.
LADWP also offers a Savings By Design program in partnership with SoCalGas through the Energy
Efficiency Technical Assistance Program (EETAP). “This program allows customers to get a comprehensive
assessment of their building to identify energy, water, and gas savings. We pay for incentives as they
implement efficiency measures.” In addition to their standard lighting retrofit program, LADWP offers a
Custom Performance Program that offers incentives for upgrades following an energy audit. Incentives can
now also be used for permitting, project management, or design fees in addition to efficient technologies.
Through the EETAP program, auditing services can also be covered through incentives.
www.ladwp.com
View Event Interview
INCENTIVES FOR EFFICIENCY
For commercial buildings, if you
have a cooling tower, it can use
up to half of the building’s water.
By going from 2.5 to 5.5 [cycles],
that’s an overall 30% water
savings.
– Robert Estrada
INDUSTRY UPDATES

CLIMATE CHANGE
RESILIENCE ANDADAPTATION
38%
Experiencing
Impacts Now
17%
Within
5 Years
7%
Beyond
10 Years
31%
Don’t Know /
No Information
7%
Within
10 Years
Most Companies
Experience
or Expect
Climate Impacts

RESILIENCE & ADAPTATION
In 2013 and 2014 the conversation in the market transitioned from one of potential impacts of climate
change to the realities of adaptation and resilience. The EPA released a Climate Adaptation Plan in Febru-
ary 2013, Grosvenor released a Resilient Cities Research Report, and the Urban Land Institute launched
an Urban Resilience program and hosted their first annual Building the Resilient City conference.
This shift in focus to resilience in the face of adversity comes after two decades of progressively intense
extreme weather events and higher mean temperatures. In order to effectively support business opera-
tions, our buildings need to be ready to bounce back from disaster with minimum damage and downtime
in addition to absorbing overall increases in temperature.
This April the Grosvenor real estate company released a report detailing the findings of their analysis of
the resilience of 50 international cities. They defined resilience as a city’s ability to “preserve capital val-
ues and generate sustainable rental income in the long term, absorb shocks, like natural disaster,” and
“maintain their output of goods and services and continue to provide their inhabitants with a good quality
of life according to the standards of the time.”
Using this methodology, Los Angeles was ranked 21 out of the 50 evaluated cities. Although LA earned a
high score for adaptability, other factors like rising sea levels, earthquakes, limited access to potable wa-
ter, and socioeconomic stressors increase its vulnerability.
Governments aren’t the only entity working on resiliency plans. Insurance companies are evaluating their
exposure to risk and forward-thinking building owners are drafting climate adaptation plans to catalog
and prevent predictable system failures in addition to developing emergency preparedness and disaster
plans. Such plans address the incremental changes in availability of water, increasing temperature, and
other environmental and social pressures arising from climate change.
Roundtable attendees were most focused on how buildings can contribute to grid reliability through load
shifting, on-site power generation, demand response programs, seismic retrofits, and voluntary resilience
ratings to lead the market.
Resilience increases when cities
have more adaptive capacity
and decreases when they are
more vulnerable.
- Resilient Cities Research Report
CLIMATE CHANGE

WATER, ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTMANAGING CLIMATE RISKS
WATERRESILIENCE
The current extreme drought conditions in California have exposed vulnerabilities in the state’s
water storage and delivery systems. Outdated infrastructure, inability to increase water rates, overpump-
ing and salination of groundwater sources, conflicting municipal and community policies, and limited ac-
cess to alternative water sources contribute to increasing water stress. While Los Angeles has maintained
level water use per capita since the 70’s, a result of successful metering programs, population growth has
pushed water supplies to the limit.
ENERGYRESILIENCE
Reducing overall energy usage, especially in existing buildings three years or older, is the first and
best line of defense in grid reliability. Because peak usage times are those times when the grid experienc-
es the most demand, up to 40% of a building’s energy costs comes from peak load energy charges. De-
mand response, energy storage, and on-site generation can effectively reduce costs associated with the
purchase of grid-source peak energy.
Demand response programs, commonly referred to as Flex Alerts in California, have increased in availa-
bility and participation across residential and commercial sectors throughout the state. As one participant
put it, “demand response is becoming a part of LADWP’s DNA.” Industry experts predict that demand
response programs will become mandatory within the next 10-15 years, if not sooner, and recommend
that building owners consider capturing the benefits of voluntary participation while it is available.
On-site generation using fuel cells to reduce peak grid-source energy use was foremost on participants’
minds. They cited lack of space as the primary reason more on-site generation has not been adopted.
Consensus in the group was that renewable energy options generally do not provide an attractive return
on investment, even with incentives, to justify the allocation of space required to generate meaningful
quantities of energy.
Energy storage using battery systems has been developing rapidly, and at least one forum attendee ex-
pects to see uptake of market-ready solutions within the next year. Incentives are available for up to 3%
of the up-front costs of these systems. Batteries allow building owners to store energy during off-peak
hours at lower energy rates for use during peak hours.
CLIMATE CHANGE
BUILD AWARENESS
Educate building managers, ten-
ants and employees at all levels
about the need to build the adap-
tive capacity to manage risks in
the long term.
ASSESS VULNERABILITIES
Determine the threat climate dis-
ruption poses to core building
operations, supplies, building and
tenant work force, customers, and
key services.
MANAGE RISKS AND
PURSUE OPPORTUNITIES
Fortify or relocate infrastructure,
plan for changes in water and en-
ergy availability, or review supply
chain vulnerabilities.
REVIEW RISK ASSESSMENTS
AND MAKE PLANS
Continuously review risks and
opportunities regularly using
centralized assessment tools and
develop adaptive risk manage-
ment plans.

CLIMATE CHANGE
ENVIRONMENTALRESILIENCE
While frequency of earthquakes is not directly linked to climate change, response to earth-
quakes is certainly a factor in building resilience and an area of vulnerability in Los Angeles. The most im-
portant component of building resilience in Los Angeles is the choice of structural materials. Steel frame
buildings are considerably more adaptable, and thereby more resilient than their concrete-framed coun-
terparts.
A seismic-readiness survey of the city of Los Angeles conducted by a team of UC Berkeley researchers
revealed that a number of buildings require retrofits to meet seismic standards. These buildings are pri-
marily smaller, concrete structures, prompting attendees to note that the least resilient buildings are fre-
quently controlled by building owners with the fewest resources, both capital and staff, to manage re-
quired upgrades. Add the fear of triggering potentially costly Title 24 energy upgrades and compliance
with seismic standards becomes nearly impossible.
One attendee suggested that seismic upgrades be linked to energy efficiency upgrades, creating an op-
portunity for a deep retrofit that raises the overall value and stature of the property. The challenge is en-
couraging these owners of concrete building, who are frequently hesitant to incorporate major capital
improvements, to comply. The perception of complexity is already a significant obstacle to adoption of a
number of incentive and financing opportunities.
Infographics on page 14 and 16 source: “Weathering the Storm: Building Business Resilience to Climate Change” Center for Cli-
mate and Energy Solutions, Munich Re, National Oceanic and Atmospheric, Aon Benfield, Lloyd’s of London
Policy and regulations will con-
tinue to drive local governments
and the building industry to
address climate change risks,
infrastructure needs and
increased resource needs for
water, energy and demographic
shifts. Proactive owners need to
stay in front of these risks and get
ready to recover from natural
disasters with minimum damage
and downtime.
- Daniele Horton, Founder & Principal,
Verdani Partners

WATER EFFICIENCY SECTION DIVIDERSIDEBAR HEADER GOES HERE
WATER EFFICIENCY
1900
1940
2010
2015
2050
Colorado River
Annual Average
River Flow
NO ANDLOW COSTMEASURES

Drought in California and water conservation is the new norm.
– Robert Estrada, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Source: U.S. Drought Monitor (http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu)
The current extreme drought in California has exposed vulnerabilities in the state’s water storage and
delivery systems. Outdated infrastructure, over pumping of ground water supplies, pollution of ground
water supplies by fracking and other activities, conflicting municipal and community policies, climate
change, increased demand, and limited access to alternative water sources contribute to increasing water
stress. While Los Angeles has maintained level water use per capita for the past forty years, a result of
successful metering programs, population growth has pushed water supplies to the limit. Climate change
has also greatly affected the snow pack water supplies and the underground water reserves are been
tapped at an unprecedented rate. The state is facing one of its worst droughts in history and a massive
effort will be needed to find solutions to meet its water demand needs.
In response to current conditions, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an Executive Directive on
October 14, 2014 to reduce potable water use 20% by 2017. This includes removing turf landscaping at
city buildings and replacing it with native and drought-resistant plants. The directive also mandates the
CURRENT CONDITIONS
LOS ANGELES WATER SUPPLY
1%
Recycled
Water
11%
Groundwater
37%
LA Aqueduct
51%
Purchased from
Metropolitan
Water District
WATER EFFICIENCY

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to reduce water imports 50% by 2024.
It was also discussed that the cost of water is still quite low which makes the business case for making
water efficiency upgrades more challenging. Some of the attendees mentioned that a price signal would
be critical to incentivize additional water efficiency upgrades and lower water usage. The LADWP rep
explained that because they are a public entity that they cannot charge for the water. They can only
charge to transport the water and any rate increases need to be approved by the voters which makes the
process for increasing the fees for water very challenging.
A best practice for conservation, and one that has helped Los Angeles maintain the lowest consumption
for any city with a population over 1 million, is metering.
LADWP launched their conservation program in the late 1970s. Today, the LADWP provides extensive
incentive programs for water use reduction efforts, including prescriptive, or menu-based programs, and
more flexible technical assistance programs. While more involved, the technical assistance programs
cover a larger variety of costs associated with pre-approved water conservation measures, including
consulting fees. Recently, utilization of technical assistance programs has surpassed the traditional menu-
based programs, although many building
owners interviewed were still unaware of
the technical assistance program.
While improving the efficiency of indoor
water fixtures has been a popular and well-publicized program historically, utilities have identified cooling
towers and outdoor water use as 70%+ of annual building water consumption, making them the target of
renewed water conservation efforts, including access to reclaimed water, widespread adoption of rain
sensors, reverse osmosis systems, and microfiltration systems.
70%+ of annual building water consumption -
cooling towers and outdoor water use.
WATER RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES
 Install metering devices and controls
 Perform ongoing distribution system
audits, leak detection, and repair
 Install native and drought resistant
landscape
 Maximize indoor plumbing fixture and
fitting efficiency (toilets, urinals, faucets,
aerators, and showerheads)
 Implement a cooling tower chemical
management and water efficiency
program
WATER EFFICIENCY

WATER USAGE PER CAPITA
133 GALLONS/DAY/PERSON
Daily water use (LADWP) all customers. Second
lowest in the nation for cities over 1 million
people. NY beats LA.
Source: California Department of Water Resources 
LADWP provides extensive prescriptive and menu-based programs as well as more flexible technical
assistance programs to incentivize water use reductions. The technical assistance programs require more
upfront involvement from property managers but also cover a larger variety of costs associated with pre-
approved water conservation measures, including consulting fees. In recent years, technical assistance
programs have increased in popularity and have surpassed the traditional menu-based programs. These
ratepayer-funded programs are offered at no additional cost to residential and commercial customers. By
the end of 2014, LADWP will have invested$60 million dollars in water conservation incentive programs.
WATER EFFICIENCY

As water efficiency regulations become more stringent and water rates continue to rise, property owners
and operators can reap immediate benefits from low-cost measures such as the installation of aerators
and quickly recoup investments in upgrading indoor water fixtures.
Building managers can reduce water use by installing low-flow or ultra low-flow fixtures, fittings, and
equipment, such as toilets and urinals that exceed current code requirements per recommendations below:
 Water closets, max 1.6 gallons/flush
 Urinals, max 0.125 to 0.5 gallon/flush
 Shower heads, max 1.8 gallons/minute
 Faucets, max 1.0 gallons/minute
 Replacement aerators, max 0.5 gallons/minute
 Metering faucets, max 0.25 gallons/cycle
To help meet the City’s aggressive water conservation goals, building owners will be encouraged to move
beyond upgrades to efficient indoor water fixtures for deeper savings. Cooling towers and outdoor water
use account for an average of 70% of building water consumption, making them the target of increased
water conservation efforts.
Reclaimed water is currently restricted to limited areas. There are plans to further develop water
reclamation projects for Los Angeles, however, its use is limited by state health requirements and the
high cost of pumping plants and distribution facilities to deliver water from the reclamation plants to the
customers. Robert Estrada of LADWP reports that the cost is an estimated million dollars per mile of
purple pipe. However, if Assembly Bill 2282 passes, all new residential and commercial construction with
access to reclaimed water will be required to incorporate it into approved uses, such as landscaping, and
reclaimed water infrastructure would necessarily expand.
The state’s water supplies are at all times low, underground water supplies are rapidly diminishing and
demand for water continues to grow. Solutions to solve our water supply needs will involve many
different solutions from efficiency programs to lower demand, a price signal and a search for new water
sources, and importing water and desalinization plants.
LOS ANGELES DWP
Since 1990, LA Department of Water and Power has
spent about $280 million on conservation programs.
METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT
Metropolitan provides rebates on water efficient
fixtures, financial assistance for water reduction
projects, and incentives programs.
MAYOR’S DIRECTIVE TO CUT WATER USE
(LA Times article) LA Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an
executive directive to further cut potable water use.
20X2020 WATER CONSERVATION PLAN
Statewide plan enacted in 2010 to reduce water
consumption by 20% by 2020.
SENATE BILL SB X7-7 2009
This Senate bill requires all water suppliers to increase
water efficiency.
WATERSENSE
A recognized seal of approval for water efficiency
similar to ENERGY STAR.
DOE WATER EFFICIENCY BMP'S
Water Efficiency Best Management Practices from the
US Department of Energy.
CONCLUSIONRESOURCES
WATER EFFICIENCY

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
RENEWABLE
HYDRO GEOTHERMAL
WIND SOLAR
BIO-DIESEL BIO-MASS
EFFICIENCY
CO-GENERATION
EFFICIENT APPLIANCES EFFICIENT LIGHTING
EFFICIENT VEHICLES EFFICIENT BUILDINGS
INTELLIGENT POWER NETWORKS DECENTRALIZED GRIDS
CONSERVATION
GREY WATER RECYCLING ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
RETROFITSTRATEGY

Many retrofits occur on a piecemeal basis as incentives become available or contractors provide upgrade
recommendations. However, many buildings, especially those that are considering aesthetic or structural
improvements may benefit from a more comprehensive deep energy retrofit.
The key components of a deep retrofit process are ongoing energy management, assembling an
interdisciplinary team, robust analysis, and measurement and verification . This process is not linear;
phases may overlap or go on concurrently and will vary based on factors such as ownership structure,
scale of building, project delivery method, and building complexity.
While net zero was once considered a faraway goal for only the most technologically advanced buildings,
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that there is now the technical potential for over 47
percent of existing U.S. commercial building floor space to achieve net zero energy using existing
technologies and design processes.
Net zero may seem unachievable but it can be done using the same principles as effective deep retrofits. The
process starts with a solid understanding of baseline operations and expenditures and benefits from
extensive modeling and cost-benefit analysis to optimize systems choice for highest return on investment.
There is considerable guidance within the market on how to retrofit buildings with sustainable
technologies to improve their environmental performance. A significant barrier, however, to carrying out
sustainable retrofits is financing. A number of financing mechanisms exist, and each scenario is unique.
Most building owners will choose to use
their own capital when available to avoid
time-intensive administration activities.
Other traditional financing options
include loans and bond programs as well
as increases to operating fees or capital leases. Building owners and managers can also take advantage of
funding improvements through bill savings (as with performance contracting with Energy Service
Contractors, or ESCO’s), PACE, bonds, energy service agreements, on-bill financing, incentives, and rebates.
As utility rates continue to rise, the incentive to implement energy efficiency projects has gone from cost
savings to cost avoidance. This challenge is coupled with how to finance retrofit projects and what to do
once incentivized equipment has been installed.
RETROFIT STRATEGY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
21%+ Utilities represent an average of 21% of
total building expenses.
–2012 BOMA Exchange Report
ENERGY RETROFIT OPPORTUNITIES
 Monitor , meter. and commission main
building systems
 Maximize heating and cooling efficiencies
and install variable frequency drives on
equipment
 Lighting upgrades and controls (efficient
lights, daylight harvesting, motion sensors
etc.)
 Install a building automation system ,
invest in DDC, wireless controls, energy
optimization software, and demand
response infrastructure
 Retrofit main building systems: chillers,
cooling towers, boilers, fan motors
 Building envelope: Seal windows , install
window films, retrofit windows with
higher R-Value
 Invest in on-site generation and
renewable Energy systems (fuel cell, wind,
geothermal and solar energy)

TECHNOLOGY
SMARTER TECHNOLOGIES
LEAD TOSMARTER BUILDINGS

SMART BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES
TECHNOLOGY
Sophisticated building automation systems (BAS) with real-time tracking and links to energy management
systems (EMS) allow owners and managers to control their buildings remotely. Proactive preventive
maintenance coupled with real-time sensing technologies will prevent downtime events and can help
owners and managers reduce peak-load charges.
Ongoing commissioning linked to the cloud allows remote monitoring of large portfolios from a central
location, which improves efficiency of in-house maintenance teams. Janitors, who walk the buildings most
frequently, can become a resource for maintenance and troubleshooting and provide additional eyes and
ears in the building for energy and water-saving opportunities.
Building occupants drive much of how buildings perform. Although installing tenant submeters is
expensive, it can produce real behavior change by helping landlords and manager engage tenants in
conservation measures. Its important to tie everything to your building automation system for real-time
& automated monitoring of HVAC operations. Below is a sample of a Predictive Energy Optimization
(PEO), cloud-based software application that runs on top of existing building automation systems. For
HVAC Energy Optimization & Control from Building IQ. They were selected by the US Department of
Energy (DOE) for a grant to generate data/cases studies to drive market adoption and strengthen U.S.
energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality.
Systems, of course, are only as
good as the people operating
them. Providing on-demand
education and requiring
continuing education can
empower building staff to
highlight low to no-cost energy-
saving strategies and
institutionalize in-house, on-
going commissioning activities.
– USGBC-LA EB Committee
Image Source: BuildingIQ

FINANCE SECTION DIVIDERSIDEBAR HEADER GOES HERE
REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE

With disclosure regulations on the rise, it is important that the data that is collected is consistently
tracked and categorized so that appraisers, brokers, and engineers are all speaking the same language.
The U.S. Department of Energy Building Energy Data Exchange Specification (BEDES) program aims to
standardize energy definitions, terms, and field formats to facilitate the exchange of energy data and
building characteristic information.
Working groups are currently gathering a list of all terms related to energy and building data in order to
align terminology in all US markets. This terminology will be incorporated into federal grants, EPA’s
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, and other energy and contracting databases.
With the Green Building Certification Institute's (GBCI) recent acquisition of the Global Real Estate
Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), the real estate community now has an international dataset of
building performance information from the asset level to global portfolios.
This increased transparency of building performance data helps investors to value green building
practices, stimulates competition between top performers, and encourages adoption of benchmarking
energy and water data in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager as well as pursuit of LEED and other green
building certifications. Building and portfolio owners will face increasing market pressure to participate in
data disclosure and building occupants and investors will benefit from increased choice and information
about building operations, cost, and comfort.
STANDARDIZATION & TRANSPARENCY
ENTITY NAME SCOPE
USGBC LEED (Leadership in
Energy & Environ-
mental Design)
Global
DOE ENERGY STAR America n
USGBC Green Building In-
formation
Gateway (GBIG)
Global
ULI Greenprint
Foundation (2010)
Greenprint index Global
USGBC/ GRESB
(2009)
Global Real Estate
Sustainability Bench-
mark
Global
GRI Global Reporting
Initiative
Global
CDP Carbon
Disclosure project
Global
UN-PRI (2009) SBCI Common Car-
bon Metric
Global
Environmental
Protection
Agency
ENERGY STAR
Portfolio Manager
American
CR (2007) The Climate
Registry
American
California (2007) AB 1103 State
Better Buildings
Challenge
Federal Program American
KEY RATINGS & STANDARDS

CLOSING REMARKS SECTION DIVIDERSIDEBAR HEADER GOES HERE
CLOSING REMARKS & APPENDIX

The most prevalent topics of discussion at the Existing Buildings Think Tank Roundtable were how to
further engage building owners across asset classes, increase participation in underutilized programs,
and share and access information about changes to codes and standards.
These discussions helped focus the stakeholders that participated in the meeting on developing ways
engage the full breadth of the industry’s professionals and organizations to meet the city’s ambitious
carbon reduction and water conservation goals. To drive the conversation and inspire action, the USGBC
-LA EB Committee created a comprehensive list of challenges and possible solutions derived from the
meeting at the end of every section.
With the launch of several exciting opportunities in the last year—LA 2030 District, USGBC-LA Energy
and Water Ambassadors, LEED v4, the LEED Dynamic Plaque – there are more tools and resources
available to improve building performance than ever before.
It is the hope of USGBC-LA that this work will unify the industry and empower stakeholders to take the
next step in owning, managing, and operating more sustainable buildings that benefit investors, tenants,
and their communities.
CLOSING REMARKS
Successful leaders must address
what is important to their clients
and tenants. More efficient use of
space, greater productivity in
better quality space, and lower
energy costs matter to all those
who fear obsolescence.
- Norm Miller, Professor, University San Diego

For the purpose of this report, the following building class definitions were used to describe Class A, B,
and C buildings.
CLASS A: Most prestigious buildings competing for premier office users with rents above average for the
area. Buildings have high quality standard finishes, state of the art systems, exceptional accessibility and
aa definite market presence.
CLASS B: Buildings competing for a wide range of users with rents in the average range for the area.
Building finishes are fair to good for the area. Building finishes are fair to good for the area and systems
are adequate, but the building does not compete with Class A at the same price.
CLASS C: Buildingscompeting fortenants requiring functional space at rents belowthe averagefor the area.
Source: BOMA International Building Class Definitions
DEFINITIONS

ONLINE RESOURCES
PARTNERS & SPONSORS
The Think Tank Roundtable was made possible
with the support and partnership of the following
organizations:
CALIFORNIA SUSTAINABILITY ALLIANCE
http://sustainca.org/
USGBC-LA EXISTING BUILDINGS COMMITTEE
http://usgbc-la.org/branches-committies/
COMMONWEALTH PARTNERS
http://www.commonwealth-partners.com/
LEADING EDGE
http://www.leconsultants.net/
VERDANI PARTNERS
http://www.verdani.com/
ENERGY
CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION
ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR PORTFOLIO MANAGER
BOMA INTERNATIONAL: 30 WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY FOR LTTLE OR NO COST
NATIONAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY BEST PRACTICES STUDY
BPP BETTER METERING TOOLKIT
WATER
WATER SENSE (EPA) PROGRAM
DOE: WATER EFFICIENCY BMP’S 
PC 2006, SECTION 604: DESIGN OF BUILDING WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
OTHER
LA BETTER BUILDINGS CHALLENGE
LA 2030 DISTRICT
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
BEDES
CA LONG TERM ENERGY EFFICIENCY PLAN (CEESP)
CSA CLASS B OFFICE IMPROVEMENT TOOLKIT
LA GHG ASSESSMENT
LA BUSINESS JOURNAL

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