The world’s most widely used green building standard offers credible, flexible and cost-effective method for understanding and certifying building sustainability performance
SAN FRANCISCO, July 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 Global. “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.
About American Assets Trust, Inc.
American Assets Trust, Inc. (the “Company”) is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust, or REIT, headquartered in San Diego, California. The Company has over 50 years of acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier retail, office and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation’s most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. The Company's retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet, and its office portfolio comprises approximately 3.4 million square feet. In addition, the Company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 97,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and over 2,112 multifamily units. In 2011, the Company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes. For additional information, please visit www.americanassetstrust.com.
About Able Services
Founded in 1926, Able Services provides solutions for facility operations. Working together to deliver valuable work-life experiences, Able cleans, operates and maintains more than 1 billion square feet of the built environment for the world’s biggest owners of real estate and facilities operators. Employing 17,000 people in 43 states, Able is revolutionizing solutions where people work and live. Able is ‘Service at Work.’ Learn more at ableseve.com.
About BRE Global
BRE Global is the world’s leading building science center. BRE Global’s sustainability, safety and security services, the BRE Academy and our Innovation Centers, are used by customers to deliver on their social, environmental and economic goals. Unlike other providers of building standards, BRE Global conducts research and develops science-backed standards to make a positive difference in the built environment. For more information, please visit www.breeam.com/usa, follow us on LinkedIn and @BRE_BREEAM on Twitter for the latest updates.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," or "potential" or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters. While forward-looking statements reflect the Company's good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, they are not guarantees of future performance. For a further discussion of these and other factors that could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, see the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed on February 15, 2019 and other risks described in documents subsequently filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, of new information, data or methods, future events or other changes.
Source: American Assets Trust, Inc.
Investor and Media Contact:
American Assets Trust
Robert F. Barton
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
858-350-2607
Source: American Assets Trust, Inc.
