Cornish & Carey Advances Sustainable Practices

Santa Clara, CA, July 11, 2008 --(PR.com)-- 50% Reduction in energy costs makes going green accessible.

Cornish & Carey Commercial/ONCOR International (C&C), the dominant real estate force in Northern California, today announced three accomplishments that have fortified C&C’s position as a leader in advancing environmentally sustainable practices in the Bay Area real estate industry.

C&C’s Sherry Gubera Achieves LEED Accreditation
Sherry Gubera is C&C’s first and the Bay Area’s seventh commercial real estate professional to earn the LEED accreditation. As a LEED-AP consultant, she is certified to advise clients who are seeking eco-friendly space as well as building owners who want to market green projects. LEED Professional Accreditation recognizes building professionals with the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the integrated design and LEED certification process. LEED Accredited Professionals, through rigorous training and examination, must demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of green building practices and philosophy to assist clients in navigating the LEED requirements, resources and processes.

C&C’s Sustainability Symposium
Last month, C&C hosted the company’s first annual Sustainability Symposium. The event served to educate C&C brokers on new green laws and practices as well as illustrate the best of class green services the company provides its clients. More than 100 C&C agents carpooled to the event at Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ LEED-certified Mission Bay project, a property C&C has represented for lease since October of 2007. The event featured three keynote speakers; Skyline Construction’s CEO David Hayes discussed the criteria and costs for building LEED interiors in the Bay Area. KEMA’s Director of Green Building and the US Green Building Council’s Northern California Chapter President Andrea Traber addressed the benefits of and trends in building LEED projects. Alan Pong from Ferreira Service, Inc. (FSI) highlighted how a C&C service, the Energy Audit, can actually pay for LEED certification or EPA Energy Star Award level upgrades by providing solutions to ensure energy savings.

C&C’s Energy Audit Service
Two years ago escalating energy costs prompted C&C’s Client Solutions Group to team with Ferreira Service Inc. (FSI), a leader in the science of reducing energy costs and obtaining Energy Star and LEED certifications, to develop a program to provide clients with engineered solutions to economically reduce energy consumption. FSI measures, inspects and trend logs existing operations in properties to identify how a building HVAC and lighting systems can be optimized both operationally and in design to achieve the lowest energy usage. PG&E terms this study an "Investment Grade Audit" - its very highest classification. In fact, PG&E awarded FSI three of its "Flex Your Power" awards last year for work the company performed at Cypress Semiconductor, Cnet and GE Infrastructure. FSI will only conduct an energy audit if its experts are convinced a two-year (or less) payback is achievable. Savings are guaranteed by the price of the audit.

To underscore C&C’s commitment to the environment, C&C recently hired FSI to perform an Investment Grade Audit on its Santa Clara headquarters building. The results showed that by investing in recommended upgrades with a two-year payback, C&C could cut its utility costs in half while obtaining Energy Star status. Upon completion of the retrofit in September, C&C will reduce its electricity consumption by 27% and gas consumption by 61%.

“Clearly companies that have numerous server rooms, data centers, call centers and other areas that consume large quantities of energy would benefit from implementing the recommendations from an Energy Audit,” said Kevin Manning, Director of C&C’s Client Solutions Group. “But it is encouraging that a commercial brokerage company occupying a 32,000 sf building can significantly reduce its carbon footprint with a minimal capital investment. A 50% cost savings in energy expenditures is a significant motivation for companies throughout the region to do their part to create a greener Bay Area.”

“As the leader in Bay Area commercial real estate, Cornish & Carey feels a tremendous responsibility to both our community and our clients to provide the most environmentally sound services,” said C&C CEO Chuck Seufferlein. “I am proud that our recent corporate green investments both address the training and accreditation of our real estate professionals as well as highlight the fact that being green can be profitable and sustainable.”

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About Cornish & Carey Commercial
A dominant regional real estate force since 1935, Cornish & Carey Commercial/ONCOR International provides a full range of services for both property owners and companies occupying buildings throughout Northern California. With more than 200 agents in 10 strategically located offices - Santa Clara, Palo Alto, San Mateo, San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Emeryville, Pleasanton, Hayward, Roseville and Sacramento - Cornish & Carey Commercial is one of the largest privately held commercial real estate service providers in the world. For more information, visit Cornish & Carey Commercial online at: http://www.ccarey.com/