First international buildings among 700-plus certified by BOMA 360 Performance Program

In the first quarter of 2014, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International certified 66 properties in the BOMA 360 Performance Program for commercial real estate markets across the U.S and, for the first time, abroad. The Hongo Segawa Building in Tokyo and Bankers Hall and the Exchange Tower in Canada were the first such properties to achieve certification outside of the U.S.

The BOMA 360 Program has expanded to nearly 60 markets worldwide. It evaluates commercial properties in six major areas: building operations and management; life safety/security/risk management; training and education; energy; environment/sustainability; and tenant relations/community involvement. Since the program’s inception in 2009, more than 700 commercial properties demonstrating best practices in these areas have earned the BOMA 360 label.

Several surveys and studies have found that buildings with the BOMA 360 label have higher tenant retention and satisfaction scores, higher rental rates, and documented operations and management savings and efficiencies, BOMA says.

(http://www.BOMA-360-Performance-Program-Designates-First-Buildings-in-Canada-and-Japan.aspx)

The Harvard studies on the unintended effects of open office defines it as space where 'one entire floor was open, transparent and boundaryless… [with] assigned seats,' and the other had 'similarly assigned seats in an open office design, with large rooms of desks and monitors and no dividers between people's desks.'