Executive Centre Reduces Carbon Footprint and Earns Energy Efficiency Award

The Executive Centre on Merchant Street in Cincinnati, a 521,000-square-foot office building housing General Electric and CINCOM Systems, Inc., recently announced completion of building-wide renovations that will drastically reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in its three buildings.

As a result of the renovations, the building’s property manager, CB Richard Ellis, anticipates more than $40,000 in savings per year from reduced energy use. The improvements will result in a kWh reduction of 10 percent — the equivalent to saving 143 tons of carbon dioxide annually, taking 24 cars off the road or eliminating 12 households’ electricity use for one year.

To recognize the importance of these upgrades and CB Richard Ellis’ commitment to building-wide efficiency, the Executive Centre earned the Trane Energy Efficiency Leader in Commercial Real Estate Award for its sustainable energy and operational efficiency building designs and practices. CB Richard Ellis is dedicated to reducing its environmental footprint and has made it company policy to not only reduce the carbon footprint of its operations every year, but to also provide advice and services to clients, encouraging them and collaborating with them to adopt or enhance responsible environmental policies and practices with respect to their real estate.

Joe Roetering, general manager, will present the award at 4:00 p.m. Nov. 18 in the lobby of Executive Centre 3, located at 25 Merchant Street. The building also has received ENERGY STAR certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

About the updates

While the equipment has performed without a major failure for 24 years, it was time to update the equipment. Trane presented energy savings, current technology and financial solutions that caused CB Richard Ellis to initiate the project. The outdated equipment also was inefficient and new equipment was attractive, given the increasing costs of energy.

The new system is significantly more energy efficient and includes a new rooftop unit with a higher efficiency rating than the previous equipment, as well as other environmentally responsible features.

“Our first responsibility is to our tenants,” said Eric Smith, operations manager for CB Richard Ellis. “We’re looking to provide the same high-performance environment to everyone working in a CB Richard Ellis property while reducing our energy consumption, reducing our carbon footprint, and ensuring we live up to our environmental and sustainable responsibilities.”

Tours and interviews are available after the award presentation upon request.

About CB Richard Ellis

CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc, a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2007 revenue). With over 29,000 employees, the Company serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices worldwide (excluding affiliate offices). CB Richard Ellis offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. CB Richard Ellis is the only commercial real estate services company named one of the 50 “best in class” companies by BusinessWeek, and was also named one of the 100 fastest growing companies by Fortune. Please visit our Web site at www.cbre.com.

About Trane

Trane, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingersoll Rand, provides systems and services that enhance the quality and comfort of air in homes and buildings around the world. The business offers a broad range of energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; dehumidifying and air cleaning products; aftermarket service and parts support; advanced building controls; and building and financing solutions including those that allow energy-efficient systems to pay for themselves through energy savings. Trane’s systems and services have leading positions in premium commercial, residential, institutional and industrial markets; a reputation for reliability, high quality and product innovation; and a powerful distribution network. The business has more than 29,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit www.trane.com and www.americanstandardair.com.