August 10, 2009 | GBI Insight Home

Columbia Square Earns Prestigious Four-Globe Rating Using Green Globes® for
Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings

A plaque recognizing achievements at Columbia Square is presented at a special Green Globes ceremony. Left to right: Portland City Councilor Dan Saltzman, GBI president Ward Hubbell, Melvin Mark Companies chair Pete Mark, and Melvin Mark Companies CEO Jim Mark. Also in attendance were Oregon Congressman Greg Walden (R-02) and Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-03). [News release]

Columbia Square, a 15-story, 313,000 square foot office building in Portland, Oregon, recently became the first existing building in the U.S. to earn the highest rating of Four Green Globes for achievements in green design and sustainable operations. A flagship property in the Melvin Mark Companies real estate portfolio, the building was assessed using Green Globes for Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings (Green Globes-CIEB) and received an overall rating of 88%.

Built in 1979, Columbia Square includes integrated parking on floors 2-4 and commercial space on the ground floor. It has undergone extensive upgrades since 2001 to enhance its performance, as indicated by the following highlights from the Green Globes report:

• Energy – Having achieved an ENERGY STAR® score of 83 out of 100, the building is ENERGY STAR certified and rated as 31% better than average. Energy use is tracked and reviewed monthly and Melvin Mark Companies continues to make improvements in HVAC, lighting and tenant energy consumption.
• Water – Water use for the building has been reduced through fixture maintenance, landscape sprinklers and cooling towers.  Water use is tracked and reviewed monthly.
• Waste Reduction – Reduction in building waste has been achieved with a strong recycling program that includes paper, metal, glass, food waste, e-waste and construction waste. Construction recycling and reuse programs are also in place and all waste is tracked and recorded.
• Pollution Reduction and Effluents – Ozone depleting refrigerants have been reduced by replacing the main building HVAC chiller plant and by tracking and logging refrigerant use in the remaining cooling systems.  Hazardous materials management and reduction is achieved using Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) with the goal of continually reducing the total amount of hazardous materials in the building.
• Indoor Air Quality – Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is maintained with high ventilation rates and quality air filters. IAQ testing is done by the building staff as well as outside contractors as required. Walk-off mats are used at all entrances to reduce the amount of dust carried into the building and cleaning chemicals are screened for emissions following the Green Seal GS-42 standards. Building materials are selected for low or no VOC or formaldehyde content.
• Environmental Management – The building manager, engineer, and superintendent all work with tenants to save power, reduce waste and improve indoor air quality, with support from Melvin Mark Companies upper management and the building’s owner. Melvin Mark Companies also works with the City of Portland, Multnomah County and the state of Oregon to meet their energy reduction and sustainability goals.

The Columbia Square building in Portland, Oregon achieved a certified rating of Four Green Globes.

To achieve its Four-Globe rating, the building was assessed via the Green Globes online questionnaire and the results verified through an independent third-party assessment. A required part of the certification process, third-party assessment for Green Globes-CIEB includes a review of the building’s performance and operations over a minimum of one year based on actual operating costs and data.

Columbia Square is the first existing building in Oregon to achieve Green Globes certification and one of more than 70 buildings to achieve a rating nationwide. Others include the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas and the Whole Foods Market in Centennial, Colorado. Organizations that use Green Globes also include Newell Rubbermaid, Bristol-Myers Squibb, JPMorgan Chase, Arizona State University, University of Arkansas, Poudre County School district, and several federal government departments. 

The Melvin Mark Companies own or manage more than 2.8 million square feet of commercial space in Portland and provide a full range of commercial real estate services through Melvin Mark Brokerage Company, Melvin Mark Development Company, Melvin Mark Properties and Melvin Mark Construction Company. Melvin Mark Brokerage Company is Oregon’s only member of The CORE Network, a global alliance of commercial real estate providers with affiliations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia and Europe.