10 St. James Ave Earns LEED Silver EB O&M

10 St. James Ave., a 585,000 square foot Class A office building located in Boston's Back Bay, has been awarded LEED Silver Certification for Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance (LEED EB O&M) by the USGBC. The 19-story tower, purchased by Liberty Mutual in 2006, is the first building in Boston's

Back Bay to receive the prestigious designation.
To achieve LEED certification, Liberty Mutual engaged the property's management company, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) and its Sustainability Programs Group.CBRE's strategy was to increase the building's operating efficiency, reduce utility consumption and explore all aspects of the LEED EB rating system relating to the environmental impact of operations, maintenance, construction and the health and welfare of the building.

"Over the past two years, Liberty Mutual has focused on resource conservation and preservation tactics that provide a good return, economically and environmentally. This has resulted in four LEED-Certified buildings and two ENERGY STAR labels," said Joanne Bragg, facility director for Liberty Mutual's corporate real estate. "Recognizing our commitment to energy reduction, CBRE worked to make the 10 St. James building a more sustainable facility and we are pleased that through their efforts we are able to add a fifth LEED certified building to our portfolio of green initiatives."

To reduce base building utility consumption and lower the building's operating expenses, CBRE conducted an energy audit, a building-wide lighting audit and an on-site waste stream audit. The firm also balanced the building ventilation system to optimize occupant comfort and reduce HVAC-related energy consumption by approximately five percent.

As a result of CBRE's sustainability efforts, the firm projects Liberty Mutual's 10 St. James Avenue building will realize approximately $63,900 in annual savings within an expected payback period of two years. In additional, the efforts will save 400,000 kilowatts of energy, reduce 1,323 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and divert from landfills 56 tons of recycling.

Liberty Mutual's 10 St. James Avenue building is located in Boston 's Back Bay with close proximity to the Boston Public Garden and Copley Square.Constructed in 2001, the property is one of Back Bay 's newest top-tier office buildings and features a 400-car garage and approximately 35,000 square feet of retail space. In addition to the offices of Liberty Mutual, the building is home to Pearson Education and Law firm Holland & Knight.

Liberty Mutual has a total of 4,091 employees located in 33 offices across Massachusetts, with 2,602 of these employees located in Boston . The majority of Liberty Mutual's Boston-based employees are located at the company's Home Office campus, in buildings the company owns at 175 Berkeley Street, 30 St. James Avenue, 10 St. James Avenue and 330 Stuart Street .

Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group ranks 86th on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2008 revenue.