SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose moves a step closer to its vision for a green community with the transformation of a tired former industrial property into an eco-friendly business park that was crafted according to LEED standards, civic leaders and developers said yesterday.
The
AMB TriPoint Business Park, an 11.5-acre, four-building campus that sits on wedge-shaped parcel, represents what's expected to become a key component of the city's ambitious
Green Vision initiative, said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and other green building proponents at a presentation at the site.
AMB's Mark Hansen, the firm's senior vice president for value added conversion, said such infill projects also represent an important greening opportunity for cities, developers and builders. Urban areas that have a desire to grow, but no space to do it, are increasingly turning to former traditional industrial properties to create a place for smarter, more environmentally conscious enterprises near population centers and transportation hubs for people and products.
"Infills have always made a lot of sense," Hansen told GreenBiz.
Environmental concerns, economic considerations and the sharp increase in fuel costs have now made retrofits a business imperative, he said. "Infill industrial is a smart business," Hansen said.
In San Jose, the 10-point environmental initiative adopted by the city council last year calls for the green construction or retrofitting of 50 million square feet of building space, the creation of 25,000 clean tech jobs to establish the city as the world leader in that arena and the equivalent of a 50 percent reduction in energy use by every person in town — in addition to seven other objectives.
"We have a Green Vision in San Jose," said Reed, the driving force behind the initiative. “It is a difficult but not impossible plan covering 15 years.”
With 90 percent of San Jose already built, the greening of the city's buildings will rely heavily on infills, he said.
"This is a retrofit and a retrofit is a very different animal than a new green building — anyone can build a new green building," said Reed, standing before a bank of windows in a newly refurbished business space at the TriPoint campus. "We're very excited to show the rest of the market how this can be done."
To create the TriPoint campus, AMB took "an older, outdated, functionally obsolete property and turned it into a vital 21st century project," Hansen said.
In taking on the project that started last September, the firm's integrated design team left the walls in the air — as builders like to say — but not much else. They stripped away the floor and wall coverings, insulation, the HVAC system, its network of ducts, the lighting and other existing fixtures. Outside, the facade and the landscaping experienced a similar fate.
AMB's team replaced those elements with environmentally friendly materials and systems to create a workplace that uses 30 percent less energy than an unretrofitted building. They added seismic safety features and designed parking sweet spots for bicycles, low-emitting vehicles, carpools and vanpools. And when they were done, they made sure any construction waste that couldn't be mulched was recycled.
"What you see today is drastically different than what was here," said Tony Lin, AMB's transaction officer for value added conversion.
The difference can be seen and smelled, said Lin, who encouraged visitors to inhale deeply and try to detect any new-building odors.
When yesterday's visitors conceded that all some could smell was the pleasant, but distant aroma of a gourmet, high-fiber, low-cal, mostly green, heart-healthy lunch being prepared, Lin smiled.
"We used low volatile organic compound paints, coatings and sealants throughout the project," he said.
Together, the business park's four buildings contain 167,341 square feet of space. The campus lies about 2,000 feet from two light rail stops. In keeping with the city's drive to increase its clean tech profile, the property is zoned for office and R&D use.
Dan Geiger, the executive director for the
U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in Northern California, said the project is the result of a "great partnership" between San Jose and AMB.
"They've set a high bar for the market," Geiger said.
Based in San Francisco, AMB Property Corp. is a leader among global developers and owners of industrial real estate. Its broad portfolio included some 155.5 million square feet in 47 markets and 15 countries as of June 30, the company said.
The firm is the largest owner of industrial real estate in San Jose with more than 3.5 million square feet of holdings in the area, according to Hansen. The TriPoint business project is registered with the USGBC's
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ratings system. AMB anticipates the project will receive LEED certification in late 2009. It is the first investor-owner operated LEED commercial redevelopment project in San Jose, Hansen said.
