LA Better Buildings Challenge Honors Jonathan Rose Companies’ Properties with Portfolio of the Year Award for Strides in Building Sustainability

At its 6th annual Innovation Awards on April 29, the Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge (LABBC) presented the city’s most prestigious sustainability prize to water and energy efficiency leaders whose 2019 achievements were unmatched. Among the awardees was Jonathan Rose Companies, this year’s recipient of the top award for Portfolio of the Year.

Jonathan Rose Companies received Portfolio of the Year for the owners’ work to drastically reduce energy and water use by a projected 40 percent across their two Los Angeles low-income housing properties. Their Casa Panorama Apartments property is one of the first high-rise residential buildings in the LA metro area to electrify a large central water heating system with a centralized heat pump water heater, a critical strategy to decarbonize the building sector.

Their second LA property, Miramar Towers, underwent an energy retrofit that aims to reduce energy by 53 percent, occurring alongside a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit rehabilitation that will infuse capital improvements into the property to enable long-term affordability. The high-level energy retrofit, coupled with electrification and distributed energy generation, is a model for affordable housing preservation in California and beyond.

“Persistence, patience, and a holistic approach can unlock deep energy savings. Only by bringing in the right team, continually advocating for our project to earn incentives, being flexible on the scope and approach, and truly thinking of the scope as interconnected measures, were we able to make the project a success,” said Lauren Zullo, Director of Environmental Impact at Jonathan Rose Companies.

In a virtual awards ceremony, LABBC presented six awards in the following categories: Energy Performance Project of the Year, Affordable Multifamily Residential Project of the Year, Water Performance Project of the Year, Portfolio of the Year, and Walk the Walk Awards for Energy and Water. Visit LABBC’s website to learn more about all finalists and awardees.

“As we manage our way through the COVID-19 pandemic and adjust to living and working virtually, much remains uncertain about how we will recover, but our recovery plans will need to address both economic and environmental issues in order to put us on the path to long-term prosperity and health”, according to LABBC. “While the country grapples with the effects of the pandemic, California communities face the increasing effects of climate change, with one of the most devastating fire seasons on record just one year ago.”

“Climate change mitigation strategies, including long-term GHG reductions and maintaining a reliable power grid and safe drinking water are vital to the region’s economic prosperity and community health.” said David Hodgins, Executive Director of LABBC. “With 40 percent of the region’s GHG emissions coming from the buildings sector, modernization of existing properties is critical component of a successful strategy. We will need to rely on recovery strategies that provide a dual benefit of economic and environmental progress.”

The energy and water use reductions achieved by this year’s nominees and awardees bring Los Angeles closer to achieving the goals set forth by the City of Los Angeles’s Green New Deal Sustainability pLAn. As a part of this sustainability blueprint, Los Angeles has already passed the most sweeping city-level water efficiency and energy efficiency law that applies to existing buildings. The Award winners show us it is possible to cost effectively reduce energy and water usage in existing buildings and meet LA’s ambitious goals.

“By recognizing the most exceptional achievements in efficiency, we are providing a roadmap for other owners to achieve similar savings,” concluded Mr. Hodgins of LABBC.