"The certification of Lincoln Center has eliminated harmful ozone depleting chemicals, reduced greenhouse gases construction and occupant waste, and adopted environmental friendly cleaning chemicals and high recycled content janitorial products," Transwestern's Alla Skodowski tells GlobeSt.com.

The process of turning the existing buildings, located at 2514 South 102nd Street and 10150 West National Avenue in West Allis, WI, green took roughly eight months, from the original review to the implementation and performance periods, according to Skodowski.

"The LEED for Existing Building Operations and Maintenance certification is the simply the best report card available for building owners and managers to qualify the overall sustainability of a building and the efficiency of it's operations," Skodowski says. "It is a clean, unbiased report card from a third party organization."

In this economy, monetary considerations are playing an even greater role in the implementation of any new product or procedure. Skodowski says this process was no different. "With very little information available on the cost to implement and certify a building under the LEED program, it took a little bit of time to nail down the cost versus the benefit of various criteria/points. As it turned out, many of the past improvements made by ownership were aligned and aided with the LEED certification process," he says.

"Overall the buildings needed few additional physical upgrades. Nearly all operational procedures did require changes to comply with the LEED requirements, including, a low mercury lighting plan, occupant recycling plan, green cleaning and pest control, as well as in-house re-commissioning of the heating, ventilation and control systems," Skodowski says. "While ownership ruled out nothing toward moving forward, the goal was to receive certification for the building, and throughout that process evaluate the cost and benefit of the different initiatives."

Energy measures included installation of white roofs and high efficiency, CFC-free roof top units, upgrades to plumbing fixtures and the use of sustainable cleaning equipment, to name a few.

Transwestern is committed to improving the environment one facility at a time. Skodowski says the company is currently in the process of obtaining LEED certification for about 100 buildings across the country. "Green practices will always be our standard and we will work with all owners, as we did with the Westminster Funds staff to guide them through the greening of their buildings," Skodowski says. "Transwestern will also help guide owners through certification should they decide they want to continue the process."