Project Details
- Scheme & Version: USA In-Use 2016 Part 1 – Asset Performance
- Valid Until: 21 Nov 2021
- Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Size: 421,093 square feet
- Score & Rating: 34.6% Pass
- Certificate Number: BIU00005771-2.0
Project Team
- Client/ Developer: Barings
- BREEAM Assessors: Facilities Commissioning Resources, LLC
About the Building
Northpoint Business Center is a 421,093 square foot industrial warehouse building located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The building was constructed in 2006 and contains three tenants all related to the automotive industry. The largest tenant is a manufacturer of commercial trucks, which occupies over half of the building.
Green Strategy & Challenges
Barings has made sustainability a core tenet of its investment process. As a result, attaining green building certifications on its assets is essential to measuring and improving sustainable performance. Although most of Barings’ commercial assets have achieved green building certifications, certifying industrial properties has proven more challenging. One of the main challenges is that tenants are typically under a triple-net lease and not under management control. As a result, pursuing certification which requires tenant involvement is more challenging for this property type. BREEAM USA In-Use allows assets to pursue certification with minimal tenant participation by pursuing Part 1 Asset performance where the focus is on the asset’s built form. Barings selected Northpoint Business Center as a pilot project to determine the feasibility of pursuing BREEAM on its industrial portfolio. The goal was to assess the asset’s sustainable performance against the BREEAM standard using the BREEAM In-Use online platform and exceed the minimum score required for certification.
Achievements
The asset achieved the highest score of all industrial buildings participating in BREEAM USA In-Use at the time of certification in November 2020. Additionally, it has the distinction of being the first BREEAM USA In-Use certified project in Nevada. These achievements demonstrate Barings leadership in sustainability, especially in the industrial sector.
Benefits of BREEAM
The BREEAM assessment benefited the project by benchmarking its current performance which was previously unknown. For example, the building’s energy performance was not able to be determined due to lack of energy bills from tenants. The project team was able to evaluate the energy efficiency of the asset by entering data related to the asset’s construction, fixtures and fittings. The project’s energy score was determined to be in the ‘Very Good’ range.
Additionally, the BREEAM rating allowed Barings to compare how it’s asset performed compared to other BREEAM certified assets of this building type. The project scored higher than any other industrial building certified in the US at the time certification was achieved in November 2020.
Certifying industrial project types can been challenging, but BREEAM USA In-Use provides a pathway and framework to benchmark the sustainable performance of buildings on a portfolio level.
– Alex Herold, Director of Green Building Certifications, LORD Green Strategies
Environmental Categories
The property features several attributes that promote health and wellbeing, including indoor and outdoor rest areas for tenants and solar shading at all windows to reduce glare.
Additionally, 2% of the building envelope is glazed including prominent skylights that provide natural daylight to the warehouse area.
The property performed well in the Energy category achieving a 65% score. The building’s energy consumption is significantly reduced due to the use of evaporative cooling in the warehouse space. In low-humidity areas, evaporating water into the air provides a natural and energy-efficient means of cooling.
The building is in close proximity to public transportation as well as amenities via a safe pedestrian route. Two bus stops with frequent services at peak times and amenities such as a gas station, convenience store, and cash machine are located adjacent to the property.
10% of the site is planted which adds to the ecological value of the site. Plantings include prominent shade trees, palm trees, shrubs, and groundcover.