JMB THE PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY
By Michael Douglas Carlin
Those are pretty heavy words – “The Pillar.” In the case of JMB these words have never been more fitting. Their position in the community has been earned over a lifetime of doing the right things for Century City, Los Angeles, California, America and now Mother Earth. On numerous occasions they have transformed patches of dirt into architectural works of art. They have earned a reputation of improving society every time they embark on a venture. They have risked billions of dollars and been tenacious to unveil skyline transformations that rewarded the risk handsomely. Each of their Century City investments improves the revenue of the City of Los Angeles, adds upscale office space, and converts a patch of dirt to the highest possible use.
No wonder politicians flock to them, investors court them, top managers vie for positions in their company, and vendors struggle to get their attention. JMB has roots to almost every single building within Century City. They have placed their mark indelibly upon the landscape of what has become the financial capital of the West Coast. The entire time they have been working hard to bring the dream of Century City to fruition it has been an uphill battle. Yet JMB has always found a way to win. They worked with local neighborhood groups on the details of every project to design and fully integrate their buildings into the fabric of the community.
But what would we expect from the pillar of the community? The have brought tax revenues, created jobs, added value, put capital to good use, and provided an increased quality of life for so many people. But there is so much more that JMB has done as the pillar of the community. For years they maintained the common areas within Century City at a substantial cost that will never be repaid. Now they are leading the way through their sustainability initiatives. Constellation Place was the first building in Los Angeles to become LEED EB Certified and in 2010 they attained LEED EB Gold Certification. They installed solar panels on the rooftops of two parking structures that reduce daytime demand of energy by 29%. And recently they have installed Bloom Fuel Cell Power Generators that power 33% of the building’s power demand and reduced emissions by 30%.
When we look at what is wrong with America let’s put it into context of what is right with America. Hardworking people continue to improve patches of dirt into their highest uses. They get well paid for being risk-takers. We need to celebrate their accomplishments and encourage more of this sort of activity to get America back on track. Perhaps Judd Malkin, Jody Talintino, Vallery Hall, and Sarah Shaw are interested in running for a higher office… perhaps their plan for a better tomorrow is a good one and we should all get out of the way and let them continue doing what they have proven they can do… to perfection.
JMB Realty announced the reduction of Constellation Place’s carbon footprint by nearly 30 percent through the installation of Bloom Energy ServersTM. The state of the art fuel cell power generators will produce 400 kW of power and supply approximately one-third of the building’s electrical demand.
“JMB is excited to be Bloom Energy’s first high-rise, class A office installation. As the first of its kind in Los Angeles, Constellation Place continues to set a precedent in its ongoing commitment to green technology and reducing its carbon footprint,” said Sarah Shaw, Vice President Development and Operations for Constellation Place. “These servers, combined with the existing photovoltaic system, enable JMB to offer its tenants a greener office environment while generating significant savings.
Bloom Servers, adapted from NASA technology, each occupy a space equivalent to the size of an average parking space and contain thousands of Bloom fuel cells - flat, solid ceramic squares made from a sand-like powder- which convert air and natural gas into electricity via a clean electrochemical process, while reducing carbon emissions.
Bloom Energy is a Distributed Generation (DG) solution that is clean, reliable and affordable all at the same time. Bloom’s Energy Servers can produce clean energy 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, delivering faster payback and greater environmental benefits. And while other DG systems may require lengthy installations, sunny locations, or demand for consistent heat load, Bloom Energy systems are easy and fast to install, practically anywhere. “JMB is demonstrating that building owners and operators can create value from clean and reliable sources of energy,” said Bill Thayer, Executive Vice President Sales and Service at Bloom Energy. “Serving its tenants and its own environmental goals affordably makes this a perfect project for Bloom Energy. We are proud to work with a leader like JMB.”
With this energy-producing initiative, JMB Realty joins an elite list of Fortune 500 Bloom Energy customers including E-Bay, Fed-Ex, Google, Staples and Walmart.
About Constellation Place
Located in the heart of Century City on Constellation Boulevard, Constellation Place was built by an affiliate of Chicago-based developer, JMB Realty Corp. In June 2008, Constellation Place became the first high rise office building in Los Angeles to receive the USGBC LEED® Silver certification in the existing building category. Constellation Place has since gone through the recertification process and achieved LEED® Gold Certification.
