San Francisco – American Assets Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AAT), a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust, or REIT, Able Services, the USA’s largest family-owned and privately held provider of facility solutions, and BRE Global, a world leading, multi-disciplinary building science organization, today announced that The Landmark @ One Market, one of San Francisco’s most architecturally distinct and historic properties, is the first building in San Francisco to be certified using the BREEAM USA standard for existing buildings.
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 2,250,000 registered projects and 565,000+ certified buildings worldwide across more than 83 countries.
Built in 1916, The Landmark @ One Market was originally the headquarters for Southern Pacific Railroad. It was renovated in 1998 into a modern Class A office building while preserving historic features including the grand façade. The building is located in San Francisco’s famed Financial District overlooking the Embarcadero, the Ferry Building and the San Francisco Bay.
American Assets Trust, Inc (“AAT”) is a dedicated steward of our community and our environment. Together with our community partners, we have developed and incorporated into our business practices innovative programs to promote environmental sustainability and social responsibility. Ernest Rady, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of AAT said, “We are proud of our achievement in earning the first BREEAM USA certification in San Francisco for The Landmark @ One Market and are committed to the strong stewardship of our community and the environment. We hope that in sharing our sustainability knowledge, our communities and neighbors will adopt changes that have an overall positive impact on the environment.”
Focusing on assessing and rating the performance of existing buildings, BREEAM USA In-Use has been adapted from BREEAM In-Use International to reflect differences in American standards and practices 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.
Able Services provided the assessment which was spearheaded by Matt Montanez, licensed BREEAM In-Use Assessor, Engineering Manager and former Chief Engineer. “As a BREEAM In-Use Licensed Assessor Organization, Able Services has the opportunity to help our clients focused on sustainability make scientifically proven operating changes. We worked side-by-side with AAT and the property’s Chief Engineer Chris Malabed to complete the certification. This assessment has enabled the engineers to operate the Landmark at peak performance while limiting resource consumption.”
“I am absolutely delighted that we have our first BREEAM certification in San Francisco,” said Shamir Ghumra, Director of BREEAM at BRE. “This is the result of listening to our customers and working closely with clients such as American Assets Trust who have shown global leadership by committing to BREEAM in such an iconic way”.
The achievement will be celebrated with the presentation of a BREEAM plaque and a reception on July 16, 2019 at The Landmark @ One Market.