LOS ANGELES—The shift to more conservative and sustainable office building has hit hyper speed. The Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge is aiming to “accelerate the L.A. market's transition towards higher levels of efficiency,” according to David Hodgins, executive director of the L.A. Better Building Challenge. The platform challenges landlords to reduce water and energy by 20% by the year 2020. To find out more about the LABBC, we sat down with Hodgins for an interview. Here, he tells us about the importance of energy conservation in office buildings and how the challenge can help.

GlobeSt.com: Tell me about the L.A. Building Challenge, and why you started it.

David Hodgins: To remain competitive, landlords and property managers need to be smart about managing energy and water use, but energy and water conservation projects are complex and time-consuming, so it can be difficult to figure out the best way forward. The Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge (LABBC) is an initiative to accelerate the L.A. market's transition towards higher levels of efficiency by recognizing leaders, facilitating exchange of best practices, and providing free technical support to owners and managers who need it.

GlobeSt.com: Why is energy conservation becoming so important for L.A. buildings?

Hodgins: L.A.'s population has grown significantly, and with record temperatures and the ongoing drought there's a huge strain on our infrastructure – which I think we all know is outdated and in need of major upgrades. That's a larger issue, but what it means for LA buildings in the near term is higher electricity, water, and sewer rates, and higher risk of outages if we can't manage the load on the grid. LA buildings need to find ways to reduce consumption just to keep expenses flat.

GlobeSt.com: How can property owners easily reduce their energy and water?

Hodgins: Every building is unique, so the first step is to figure out what's going on with the building by analyzing the utility bills, benchmarking against other similar buildings, and talking with the engineering and property management teams to understand how the building is used, what equipment is in the building, and how it's running. It's not all about major capital projects. Even in newer professionally managed buildings, we see significant opportunities to reduce energy and water use by adjusting equipment schedules and set-points, and making sure systems aren't fighting each other. The L.A. Better Buildings Challenge can help to assess what's going on, what the opportunities are, and make connections to incentive programs to help fund the work. Our job is to make energy and water conservation easier, so property owners can save more money sooner and the City can achieve its objectives.

GlobeSt.com: What are the benefits for property owners, and why is it worth it to incur any renovation costs needed to reduce consumption?

Hodgins: People talk a lot about utility cost savings as the main reason to invest in energy and water efficiency upgrades, but there are lots of other benefits as well, like: improved system reliability, reduced repair and maintenance costs, greater operational flexibility, fewer hot/cold complaints, the list goes on. Investing in energy and water efficiency means investing in a more modern, more competitive, more valuable building.

Lots of people also assume that saving energy and water requires major upfront capital investment, but like I said you can drive significant savings on the order of 5% to 15% through operational changes that don't require any capital outlay. And with proper planning, efficiency upgrades can be phased in over time and incorporated into Tenant Improvement specifications, so there's no major disruption. There's also an important regulatory compliance aspect here. The State and the City are rolling out a range of policies to make energy and water conservation mandatory, so getting ahead of that is just good practice.

GlobeSt.com: How can L.A. property owners join the challenge and get involved?

Hodgins: It's easy to join the LA Better Buildings Challenge, and there is no cost. All you have to do is fill out a form to tell us about your building, and sign on to the 20% goal. There's no extra work after you join either – our role is to make things easier, not harder.

GlobeSt.com: How many property owners are currently involved in the project?

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The Move to Building Conservation Hits Hyper Speed

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