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Costa Mesa, Calif. — June 2, 2015 — South Coast Plaza – Office Division has earned the first two LEED Platinum certifications in Orange County at its Park Tower and Plaza Tower buildings. LEED Platinum is the highest LEED level attainable.
The Park Tower and Plaza Tower buildings are the first commercial buildings in Orange County to earn this prestigious certification.
The South Coast Plaza – Office Division buildings were the first in California to be certified LEED Gold in 2009. When Park Tower, Plaza Tower, and Center Tower were up for recertification in 2014, the building management team knew they wanted to improve their buildings’ sustainability, while maintaining productive and healthy workplace environments for occupants and tenants.
South Coast Plaza – Office Division approached Healthy Buildings to manage the
LEED recertification process.
The buildings now boast a combined water reduction from a baseline of about 2.8 million gallons per year, and are projected to realize an 81 percent reduction in conventional commuting trips.
The buildings also sponsor the protection and restoration of 180,000 square feet of open habitat. In addition, both Park Tower and Plaza Tower implemented solutions such as adding toilet retrofits, using reclaimed water for landscaping, and offsetting 75 percent of energy use with renewable energy credits.
Healthy Buildings’ goal is to make buildings and the organizations that operate them more valuable. It does this by increasing buildings' efficiency
and savings through LEED programs and certifications, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) assessments, and energy and water reviews.
