San Jose – MetLife Investment Management (MIM), MetLife Inc.’s. (NYSE:MET), institutional asset management business, Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK), a leading global real estate services firm and BRE Global, a world leading, multi-disciplinary building science organization, today announced that all five buildings that make up the Montague Pointe development have been certified using the BREEAM USA standard for existing buildings, becoming the first buildings in Silicon Valley to achieve this certification.
BREEAM was developed in 1990 by BRE Global, the first assessment method for buildings in the world. Today BREEAM is internationally recognized as the most comprehensive and holistic environmental assessment method, with over 2,280,000 registered buildings and 570,000+ certified buildings worldwide across 85 countries.
Montague Pointe is a 24-acre campus with five Class A commercial R&D office buildings located in the San Jose, California submarket of Silicon Valley. It is owned by MetLife Investment Management and managed by Cushman & Wakefield. MetLife Investment Management embraces its role as a responsible real estate investor and emphasizes consideration and incorporation of relevant environmental, social and governance objectives best practices in alignment with their clients’ objectives. BREEAM certification acts as a solution to demonstrate this commitment to stakeholders globally. Three of the buildings, including 2840 Junction Avenue, have been shortlisted for this year’s BREEAM Awards which will take place on March 2 in London, United Kingdom.
Focusing on assessing and rating the performance of existing buildings, BREEAM USA In-Use has been adapted to the US market while still providing the global comparability and rigor that distinguishes the BREEAM standard. Certification is achieved through independent, third-party assessment conducted on-site, giving stakeholders’ confidence about their building’s performance and recognition that a building meets, and continues to meet, the robust BREEAM In-Use sustainability standards. UL (formerly Healthy Buildings, Inc) provided the assessments services.
The property management team from Cushman & Wakefield led the assessment process, working with tenants to measure performance and sharing best practices. Eric Tilden, Associate Director, Sustainability Services at Cushman & Wakefield said: “Buildings like Montague Pointe are the perfect example of how an existing building can benefit from the BREEAM In-Use standard, developing a baseline and reaching for greater sustainability goals. Cushman & Wakefield looks forward to supporting the on-site team in maintaining certification, improving performance, and engaging tenants around sustainability and building performance.”
Shamir Ghumra, Director of BREEAM at BRE Global said, “Our existing buildings represent a significant opportunity to meet our sustainability goals for this new decade. The strategic decision by MetLife to use BREEAM in Use is testament to their long term vision and leadership. The third party assessment by UL Verification Services working in partnership with Cushman & Wakefield shows that working together can create synergies not only for the asset but for the people and teams working in these iconic places. We hope that this certification will act as a catalyst for others to be empowered by BREEAM ”.
The achievement was celebrated with the release of a case study focused on 2840 Junction Avenue, a presentation of a BREEAM plaque for each of the five buildings and a reception today at 2840 Junction Avenue.