LOS ANGELES--Wilshire Grand Center located at 900 Wilshire Blvd. in Downtown Los Angeles, today received more than $1 million in energy-saving incentives from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas). During a meeting with LADWP General Manager David H. Wright and SoCalGas Senior Vice President Jimmie Cho, building owner Hanjin International Corporation, a subsidiary of Korean Airlines, received a ceremonial check for $906,511.85 in energy efficiency rebates--$759,690.45 in electric incentives and $146,821.40 in gas incentives. The design team, comprised of architectural firm AC Martin and engineering firm Glumac, also received $140,880.36 in energy efficiency rebates--$121,884 in electric incentives and $18,996.36 in gas incentives. Hanjin International Corp.’s Senior Vice President S. Chris Park, AC Martin’s CEO and Chairman Christopher Martin, and Glumac President Steve Straus were all present.
“It was our intention to create a new standard of energy-savings excellence through our Wilshire Grand Center development, and we have achieved that goal,” said Chris Park, Senior Vice President, Hanjin International Corp.
The design for the 73-story Wilshire Grand Center, which includes the Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown Hotel and office and retail space, is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold-certified and demonstrates a commitment to energy efficiency. The Wilshire Grand Center, the newest skyscraper in Los Angeles and the tallest west of the Mississippi, is expected to save more than 2,174,987 kWh in electricity, enough to power 175 homes for a year, and more than 133,374 therms of natural gas each year, enough to fuel 77 homes for a year, with its energy saving construction. The energy savings equates to reduced emissions from 498 vehicles. In order to qualify, customers must exceed Title 24 building code requirements by more than 10 percent. The Wilshire Grand Center’s design and construction exceeded code requirements by 20 percent.
“AC Martin has a long history of integrating groundbreaking environmental stewardship into all of our design projects, and we are so proud of what we have accomplished with the Wilshire Grand Center and so honored to receive this recognition from LADWP and SoCalGas,” said Chris Martin, Chairman and CEO of AC Martin, the architect of record for the Wilshire Grand Center.
From the beginning, the building used recycled materials from the original building at the site, reduced waste generation and controlled indoor pollutants. Some of the integrated features in the Wilshire Grand Center include LED lights in the hotel rooms and many of the function rooms, as well as high efficiency central plants with variable speed capability on major components, such as the cooling tower, chillers and pumps. Variable speed technology allows the building to utilize only the energy required, rather than having a motor run at constant (fixed) speed using excess energy.
“The owner, Hanjin International, made our job easy, as they wanted nothing less than the most ultra-efficient building that was comfortable and built to last,” said Glumac President Steve Straus. “The rebate from the utility companies is a reflection of Hanjin International’s decision to include all sensible green and sustainable solutions.”
Other features of the building include radiant under floor heating and cooling in the first floor lobby, multiple small boilers for multiple-stage operation and thermal energy storage, which saves money by allowing the building storing energy to cool water in the evenings when rates are lower and then uses the same water to cool the building during the hotter daytime hours. The building also makes use of collected and treated rainwater and HVAC condensate water for use in the cooling tower, making the air conditioner one of the most water efficient in the city. In addition, a building management system collects detailed energy usage information down to the minute.
As Los Angeles’ population grows and the skyline expands with continued economic development, local utilities such as LADWP and SoCalGas seek greater collaboration with builders to help promote the construction of energy- and water-efficient designs in order to better manage the electrical grid and other natural resources.
“LADWP takes great pride in partnering with Hanjin International, AC Martin, Glumac and SoCalGas in this landmark project that we hope will serve as an example of what our commercial customers can achieve when they build with energy efficiency in mind,” said LADWP General Manager David H. Wright. “Embracing energy efficiency provides long-term benefits not only to the participating customers’ financial bottom line. It also helps all LADWP customers to collectively enjoy the benefits of greenhouse gas emission reductions and eliminates the need for more power plants.”
“SoCalGas commends Hanjin International, AC Martin and Glumac for their commitment to energy efficiency and success in creating one of the most sustainable buildings in Los Angeles,” said Jimmie Cho, senior vice president of customer services and distribution operations at SoCalGas. “We enjoyed working alongside the developers and LADWP to help select top energy-efficiency materials and systems for this building to reduce operating costs as well as greenhouse gas emissions.”
The construction and design rebates were earned through participation in the Savings by Design Energy Efficiency Incentive program, a statewide program in which LADWP is a participating member with SoCalGas and other utilities. Participants, Owners and Design Teams can receive incentives and achieve long-term savings over the life of their buildings by designing their projects to conserve natural resources and in turn reduce operating costs, increase comfort, health and productivity for building occupants.
Since the inception of Savings by Design in 2012, buildings designed or constructed under the program are projected to save nearly 75 million kWh of energy and nearly 878,000 therms of natural gas. That is equivalent to electricity for 6,000 L.A. homes and fuel 503 homes for an entire year. Combined energy savings can reduce emissions equivalent to taking nearly 13,000 cars off the road.
About Hanjin International Corporation
Hanjin International Corp. is a California corporation founded in 1989. The company owns and operates the Wilshire Grand Center, which comprises a hotel and office buildings with approximately 890 hotel rooms being operated by InterContinental Hotel Group, over 350,000 square feet of Class-A office and retail spaces, and other amenities located in Los Angeles, California. Hanjin International Corp. is a subsidiary of Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. To learn more about the Wilshire Grand Center, please visit www.wilshiregrandcenter.com
About AC Martin
AC Martin is Los Angeles based architecture, planning, interior architecture and research firm that uses an integrated design approach to create enduring environments for the 21st century. As one of Southern California’s oldest planning and architecture firms, AC Martin has contributed to the economic vitality of downtown Los Angeles. For more information please visit www.acmartin.com
About Glumac
Glumac is a leader in sustainable design for the built environment. For more than 45 years, its unifying principle has been sustainability and creating systems that optimize energy efficiencies and minimize environmental impact. It’s an ideal that presents a responsibility not just to their clients and designs, but to the people who occupy the spaces they help create, and the environment in which they reside. For more information please visit www.glumac.com.
About LADWP
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is the nation’s largest municipal utility, with a 7,880 megawatt electric capacity and serves an average of 438 million gallons of water per day to 4 million residents, its business and visitors in the City of Los Angeles. LADWP is aggressively working with its customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by expanding renewable energy, energy efficiency and other clean energy alternatives. LADWP puts customers first by offering numerous rebate and incentive programs to help them reduce their energy use while also saving on their bills. To learn more about LADWP’s commercial rebate programs visit www.ladwp.com or call (800) DIAL-DWP. LADWP is also on Twitter (@LADWP) and Facebook.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable natural gas service to 21.7 million customers across 22,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Natural gas delivered through the company’s pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians—about 60 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.
SoCalGas is committed to investing in its natural gas system infrastructure, while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2013 through 2017, the company spent nearly $6 billion to upgrade and modernize its natural gas system to enhance safety and reliability. The company is also committed to being a leader in the region’s clean energy future, and is working to accelerate the use of renewable natural gas from dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants and the development of renewable energy storage technologies. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.
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