Historic Art Deco building wins USGBC-LA's sustainability award for preserving over 95% during its renovation process
Thrilled to announce that USGBC-Los Angeles presented the Sustainable Innovation Award in the Zero Waste and Circular Solutions category to the Trust Building last week. Gaia proudly worked with Rising Realty Partners to preserve the embodied carbon and restore this Art Deco masterpiece — achieving LEED Gold.
Historic preservation is also carbon preservation.
The team also includes Architectural Resources Group, Gensler, and Morley Builders.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA– December 16, 2021 – The historic Trust Building in downtown Los Angeles has won USGBC-LA’s 2021 Sustainable Innovation Award in the Zero Waste and Circular Solutions category. Rising Realty Partners purchased and redeveloped this building with an interdisciplinary team involving involving ARG, Gensler, Morley Builders, and Gaia--a high-performance building consulting firm, helping the building achieve LEED Gold certification.
The Trust Building's renovation process preserved over 95% of the historical Art Deco masterpiece while holding the embodied carbon, giving it a second life. According to McKinsey and Company, embodied carbon is a significant percentage of global emissions and requires urgent action to address it because it contains “all the greenhouse gas emissions associated with building construction, including those that arise from extracting, transporting, manufacturing, and installing building materials on-site, as well as the operational and end-of-life emissions associated with those materials.”
"Historic preservation is also carbon preservation," says Ryan McEvoy, Principal at Gaia, who has contributed to more than 450 international projects. Gaia provides sustainability guidance to real estate developers, architects, contractors, owners, and managers. Gaia provided data that supported Rising Realty Partners' decision to keep the building instead of demolishing it. Furthermore, revitalizing the Trust Building aligns with Los Angeles City's goals in the Bringing Back Broadway strategic development plan to restore the historic corridor in downtown Los Angeles.
The Carbon Leadership Forum has conducted studies that show that over the next 30 years, embodied carbon and operational carbon will be roughly equivalent. With energy modeling software, high-performance lighting and HVAC, and low-cost solar, it's now easier to design, build, and operate buildings that are carbon neutral.
The Trust Building is one of few historic buildings in Los Angeles to achieve LEED Gold certification. USGBC (United States Green Building Council) created the LEED rating system (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the most widely used green building rating system in the world.
As of 2013, LEED began giving points to building life cycle impact reduction and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs); This change has driven manufacturers to disclose the environmental impact of their building materials, allowing design teams to consider embodied carbon and make informed decisions associated with their projects. By conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) early on, a project can evaluate potential savings in the carbon footprint from renovating a building compared to demolition and new construction. The structure and enclosure of The Trust Building are mainly concrete and reinforced steel, two of the highest embodied carbon footprint materials. Concrete and steel are the most carbon-intensive materials by weight and form on average 70-80% of this project's structure and enclosure.
Gaia and Rising Realty Partners will be coordinating public tours and sustainability workshops at the Trust Building starting in 2022. Follow Gaia on Linkedin for future announcements.
From left to right: Jenny Whitson, ESG-Sustainability Director at IQHQ; Grant Waldron, Head of Sustainability at Gaia and recipient of USGBC-LA's Emerging Professionals award. Chris McKinley, Principal at Gaia. Jeff Herrera, Senior General Manager at Rising Realty Partners holding the Sustainable Innovation award. Kayce Hawk, Executive Vice President, Property Management and Kira Perez, General Manager at Rising Realty Partners. Ryan McEvoy, Principal and Alejandro Manilla, Project Manager and Pablo Milberg, Permaculture Manager at Gaia; USGBC-LA Green Gala 2021 event on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. (USGBC-LA)
Congratulations to Gaia’s Head of Sustainability Strategy Grant Waldron for receiving USGBC-LA’s Emerging Leaders Award.
ABOUT THE TRUST BUILDING | Constructed in 1928, the old Title Insurance & Trust Company building is an Art Deco masterpiece (originally designed by prolific Los Angeles architects John and Donald Parkinson). Now labeled The Trust Building, it is getting a second lease on life and has been retrofitted to appeal to modern creatives—while retaining its historic character and architectural details—offering newly enhanced retail spaces, rooftop with city skyline views, as well as expansive creative offices amid across its historic 11 floors. The restoration of The Trust Building is just one of a few currently part of the buzzing revival of downtown’s Historic Core, thanks to a slew of recent acquisitions and investments. Owned and managed by Rising Realty Partners, The Trust Building stands alongside the city’s Art Deco landmarks such as the Eastern Columbia Building, the Wiltern Theatre, and The CalEdison DTLA. Several leading names are involved in the project’s redesign: Gensler is the repositioning architect, while Architectural Resources Group (ARG) is focusing on the restoration of the building exteriors and key character-defining features. Additionally, Barbara Bestor of Bestor Architecture—named among Architectural Digest’s “AD100” list—serves as an “Architect in Residence” available to liaise on interior design direction for tenants looking to customize their creative office. The Trust Building is the recipient of the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) 2020 Architectural Award for Preservation.
ABOUT GAIA | Founded in 2005, Gaia is a sustainability consulting firm providing guidance for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance buildings. Gaia promotes cost-effective, energy-efficient, and innovative strategies to developers, architects, owners, contractors, and managers. The core business provides LEED, Energy Modeling, and Commissioning for public and private sector clients. www.gaiadevelopment.com
MEDIA CONTACT | Jennifer Lo, Director of Marketing at Gaia jen@gaiadevelopment.com