Seventeen Year Old Trophy Building Reduces Consumption by 34% WASHINGTON, April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The prestigious Homer Building in downtown Washington, D.C., was designated an Energy Star building this week. After almost eighteen months of rigorous analyses and the implementation of numerous energy conservation methods, the 410,000 square foot trophy class office building is now consuming 34.2% less energy than at the start of the project. The approach of The Homer Building team: a thorough audit and virtual tour of the building to identify every possible place where energy consumption could be lessened while still maintaining top quality service to building Clients. Infrared testing of heat loss was a part of this analysis. Areas identified for adjustment include: the replacement of high wattage incandescent light bulbs with equally luminous fluorescent bulbs which use as little as 8 watts; installation of motion sensors, automatic faucets and auto- flush toilets; adjustments to the energy management system which reduces the use of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) according to the actual usage of office space; installation of photocell lights for exterior accent lights; and extensive Client communications program reminding building Clients to turn off lights at the end of the day or when their office is not in use. The Homer Building is the first office building in Washington, D.C. to be honored with the Energy Star label for 2007. Only six office buildings received the label in 2006 and only 26 Washington office buildings have received the Energy Star label in total. Throughout the Akridge portfolio, goals for energy conservation include the reduction of each building's consumption by at least 5% per year. Three Akridge-managed building have accomplished this goal with an average consumption reduction of 14.7%. "Our team has made tremendous progress toward the goal of reducing energy consumption across the portfolio," said Kathryn L. Barnes, Senior Vice President of Property Management at Akridge. "Through the use of new technologies and the dedication to finding every area for efficiency, we are proud to exercise our civic responsibilities while significantly improving the bottom line both for our investors and our building Clients." About the ENERGY STAR program ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices. Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2006 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 25 million cars -- all while saving $14 billion on their utility bills. Because a strategic approach to energy management can produce twice the savings -- for the bottom line and the environment -- as typical approaches, EPA's ENERGY STAR partnership offers a proven energy management strategy that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings, and rewarding improvements. The EPA provides an innovative energy performance rating system which businesses have already used for more than 30,000 buildings across the country. EPA also recognizes top performing buildings with the ENERGY STAR. About Akridge Akridge is a comprehensive real estate services company that provides acquisition, development, asset and property management, leasing and consulting services. For seven of the last eight years, Akridge has been ranked the number one real estate firm in the country, among firms of similar size, for Client satisfaction by CEL & Associates and BOMA. Since 1974, the company's projects have encompassed over 10 million square feet of space in the greater Washington region. For more information, please visit http://www.akridge.com/. About ING Clarion Founded in 1982, ING Clarion and its affiliates manage almost $32 billion in assets in the private equity, public equity, and public debt sectors of the real estate markets. Headquartered in New York, the ING Clarion organization has more than 750 employees located in major markets throughout the United States. The firm is the U.S. investment management arm of ING Real Estate an international real estate company, active in real estate investment management, development and finance. The company ranks among the world's strongest real estate players with offices in sixteen countries in Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia. ING Real Estate is part of ING Group, a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 114,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.
