Transamerica Pyramid Earns LEED Gold

Marc Intermaggio, BOMA San Francisco's Executive Vice President, addresses the media with Mayor Gavin Newsom (at right); Dan Geiger,USGBC-NCC Executive Director (to the left of the Mayor); and, the Cushman &Wakefield Management Team at the Transamerica Pyramid.

Marc Intermaggio, BOMA San Francisco's Executive Vice President, had the honor of participating in this morning’s ceremony to celebrate the Transamerica Pyramid's (now known as The Pyramid Center) momentous achievement of LEED Gold Certification.  Mayor Gavin Newsom acknowledged BOMA San Francisco's leadership in support of green codes and operating practices, and Jared Blumenfeld, currently the Director of the San Francisco Department of Environment, and next week taking the position as Western Regional Administrator with Environmental Protection Agency, gave BOMA kind remarks as well:  He citied the association's Commercial Recycler of the Year awards program that has evolved into the multidimensional Earth Awards Program, and noted the strong and long-existing partnership between BOMA and the city’s Department of Environment.  Blumenfeld said "BOMA San Francisco is at the absolute forefront of environmental leadership and education of its members”.  It was wonderful to hear the kudos from our local public sector leaders about the achievements of the BOMA San Francisco membership.

In his brief remarks to the media, Mr. Intermaggio took the opportunity to note that the majority of local office buildings registering for certification and/or obtaining a LEED rating are members of BOMA San Francisco, and one reason so many of the association's members are participating is that they are no strangers to the practice of performance improvement.  Indeed, BOMA has been benchmarking operational excellence for 90 years (through BOMA's Experience Exchange Report - EER).  Intermaggio acknowledged the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for shining the light on what can be done in the arena of sustainability, and cited BOMA’s partnership with USGBC.

While it is relatively easier to design and build a new building to LEED standards, it can be a challenge to take an existing property, such as The Pyramid Center, to that level.  It is certainly doable, but it requires a committed owner/investor, some capital expenditure, effective implementation by the property management team, supportive vendors, and tenants who are willing to change some of their behaviors to help sustain the environment.

BOMA San Francisco congratulates Aegon and the Cushman & Wakefield Management Team for their outstanding achievement!