30 Jun 2015

BALTIMORE, MD (June 30, 2015) — Blue Ocean Realty has earned the distinction of earning a re-certification for Baltimore’s only LEED-EB Gold certified office tower in the central business district. Located just blocks from City Hall and the Inner Harbor, 201 North Charles Street is a 28-story Class-A office building with 264,126 square feet of space.  201 North Charles Street was built in 1967 and is currently the 13th-tallest building in the city.

LEED-EB certification recognizes that 201 N. Charles Street has continuous sustainability improvement measures guided by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB: O&M), a rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). USGBC’s LEED-EB aims to maximize operational efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts. Since LEED-EB is based on actual building O&M practices, a LEED-EB certified building is considered to be actually performing more sustainably than its peers.

Achieving the LEED-EB Gold Certification at 201 N. Charles Street required a substantial effort and continuing financial investment by the building’s staff and ownership. The team implemented and maintained many sustainability actions to achieve the Gold Certification, including:

• Offering conveniences to encourage alternative transportation such as a bike room for tenants
• Demonstrating energy conservation initiatives such as retrofitting lighting with LED bulbs
• Installing advanced HVAC control systems to maintain proper temperatures while saving energy at opportune times
• Administering a green cleaning policy and a recycling program
• Achieving a 37% rate for visitors and tenants taking advantage of public transportation

“Addressing the operations phase of a building’s life is critical because that’s typically when most of the environmental impacts occur. Not only are the upgrades we have completed good for the environment, but they are good business.” says  Jonathan Ehrenfeld, Blue Ocean President.  “We look forward to the continued privilege of operating the building as a LEED Gold facility.”

About Blue Ocean

Located in Baltimore, Blue Ocean Realty is active in syndicating, purchasing and managing commercial real estate assets in the multifamily, office, retail and industrial sectors. The Company was founded in 2004. Since that time Blue Ocean has grown its portfolio to 45 properties valued at over $300,000,000. The Blue Ocean portfolio consists of nearly 3,500 apartment homes and approximately 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space.