Menlo Gateway To Meet And Exceed New Calgreen Standards

MENLO PARK, CA, February 4, 2010 — In the wake of passage of the California Building Standards Commission’s Green Building Standards Code (CALGREEN), the Bohannon Development Company today announced that its Menlo Gateway project will meet and exceed California’s highest level of performance, CALGREEN Tier II. Currently under review by the City of Menlo Park, Menlo Gateway is expected to exceed California’s new standards for energy performance, water usage, construction waste management, and other sustainability measures.

From inception of the project, the Menlo Gateway team has planned to maximize the project’s sustainability. This work has focused on targeting the Gold and Silver certification levels of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, which encompass everything from ensuring a sustainable building site to certifying the design and construction process itself. LEED Gold and Silver certification not only exceeds these new California standards, but also provides the assurance of third-party validation.

Because the office buildings are designed to achieve the more rigorous and comprehensive requirements of LEED Gold certification, Menlo Gateway will exceed CALGREEN’s Tier 2 aggressive energy efficiency benchmark. As currently designed, the project already exceeds California’s 2008 energy code standard by 27 percent and, when the building systems are fully designed, the project is certain to deliver additional efficiencies. The project already exceeds potable water reduction targets for indoor water use by at least 40 percent and outdoor landscaping water use targets by at least 50 percent.

The CALGREEN Tier 2 target for diverting construction waste from landfills is 80 percent, and Menlo Gateway will meet and likely exceed that target. The project is expected to divert 85 to 90 percent of waste once construction is underway. The project will also meet or exceed voluntary and elective measures for fuel-efficient vehicle on-site parking, bike parking and changing rooms, cool roofs, recycled content materials, resilient flooring, thermal insulation, and indoor environmental quality.

"Passage of the CALGREEN standard is an important step for the state, and we applaud the move to creating a green building code for California," said David Bohannon, senior vice president of the Bohannon Development Company. “Menlo Gateway has been designed from its inception to be a standard-bearer for green development on the Peninsula and to meet the more stringent LEED standards. Based on our current conceptual designs, the project already meets CALGREEN standards, and as our designs are refined, Menlo Gateway is expected to exceed even the tougher LEED standard.”

The CALGREEN standards also mandate meaningful local inspection, which is often difficult to achieve due to understaffed municipal building departments. Rather than relying on local inspectors to validate compliance, Bohannon Development Company will apply for third-party LEED verification through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Building Certification Institute.

About Bohannon Development Company
The Bohannon Development Company, based in San Mateo, has owned property and invested in the Peninsula since 1930. Launched by David D. Bohannon in 1928, the firm began its projects in residential real estate, later launching its commercial development activities with the Hillsdale Shopping Center in 1941. Since its founding, the Bohannons have worked hand-in-hand with elected leaders and community representatives to plan for Menlo Park’s successful future.

For additional information:
Corman Communications, LLC
Patrick Corman
650-326-9648
patrick@cormancom.com