Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Equities, owner of HoustonCenter 1, 2 and 4 was among 39 organizations honored this year. Theaward recognizes organizations demonstrating environmentalleadership.

Frank Staats, Crescent vice president and Houston Center'sgeneral manager, tells GlobeSt.com that energy-efficientinnovations have been part of the project since the late 1980s. Theeffort has included continuous lighting retrofits to reduce thenumber of bulbs without affecting lighting quality. The engineeringteam right now is in the process of introducing still newer andmore efficient lighting fixtures. The complex's 100 air handlerunit motors were changed out from 15 horsepower to 10. Specialelectrical equipment was installed in each building's vault. Energymanagement systems were updated several times and elevatorsswitched from continuously running generators to solid-statedrives. The lighting retrofits alone are estimated to have savedabout $3.5 million since 1987.