USAA Real Estate Company is serious about continuously improving the
performance of their buildings. Their property managers improve their buildings’
energy efficiency by benchmarking through the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager and
have incorporated LEED-EBOM high-performance credits within their preventive
maintenance program to institutionalize improvements to their sustainability
efforts. USAA seeks a five percent improvement in their ENERGY STAR ratings on
both an asset by asset basis and on an overall portfolio-wide basis. Next up in
their performance improvement process: earning the BOMA 360 Performance
designation for their entire office portfolio.
USAA Real Estate Company has already started putting buildings through the
BOMA 360 Performance Program®, including the FBI Chicago Regional Office and the
Denver Financial Center. “By putting our entire portfolio through the BOMA 360
program, our goal is to reaffirm what we believe we are already doing onsite,”
says Brenna Walraven, managing director, USAA Real Estate Company. “We think
we’re providing world-class asset management and service delivery for the
benefit of our parent company USAA and our co-investors. This is a way to get
third-party verification of that.”
Having earned the ENERGY STAR label and LEED certification for many of their
buildings, the leadership at USAA decided the BOMA 360 Performance Program’s
comprehensive focus would augment their efforts. Adds Walraven: “We really see
the value in third-party verification for everything that we do. It was the same
with ENERGY STAR and LEED; we believed we were running an energy efficient,
sustainable ship so we had that verified. We also think we’re managing
high-performance assets, and the BOMA 360 designation reinforces that.”
Walraven finds that the designation is also a boon for tenant relations. “We
see value in that it helps communicate to our tenants that we are committed to
providing best-in-class service. It is one thing to believe and say that you are
doing a good job; it’s another to have it measured and verified,” says Walraven.
The designation also helps demonstrate that USAA is driving value in a down
economy. “We have done a great job of providing returns while operating in a
very tough environment. This designation helps us show that it’s a collaboration
of quality asset management and excellence in property management.”
While the BOMA 360 Performance is relatively new, USAA Real Estate Company
sees the momentum growing and seeks to be one of the first to have their entire
portfolio designated. “This program just makes sense. It fits with our
philosophy in terms of service and quality operations,” explains Walraven. “We
think having this designation will be part of what it means to be a quality
property owner and operator. We want to be on the leading edge of doing that
portfolio-wide by making it a standard going forward.”
Learn more about
the BOMA 360 Performance Program.
By Lindsay Tiffany
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