Calif. shopping center is first to earn BREEAM USA In-Use certification

The Oaks, a shopping center in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is the first property to earn certification of the new BREEAM USA In-Use standard certification.

Administered by BRE America, the new standard is an offshoot of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) rating system, which has been used in the U.K. for more than 25 years. The Oaks is a 1.3 million sf property anchored by Nordstrom, Macy’s, JC Penney, and Muvico Theatres.

The Oaks was built in 1978, and had renovations in 1993 and 2007. Environmental upgrades have included:

6,000 solar panels producing 1,652 kW of power
LED Lighting with control protocols
Upgraded HVAC system that minimizes energy usage
More than 500 tons of mixed recycling every yearIntegrated thermal controls in the common areas and mall offices regulated to save energy while providing a comfortable work environment

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.