HOUSTON—CBRE announces that Memorial Hermann The Woodlands, Medical Plaza 1 received top honors in the Environmental Protection Agency's 2013 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition, which evaluated the energy performance of 3,000 buildings around the country. The CBRE-managed facility prevented 99 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and reduced utility consumption by 18.7% in 2013, placing it at the top of 96 competing properties in the Medical Office Building category.

Memorial Hermann The Woodlands, Medical Plaza 1 employed several strategies throughout the year to reduce its energy use, including the enhancement of equipment maintenance and optimization of building control features to minimize operational hours.

Matt Hatchett, CBRE's associate director of engineering, tells GlobeSt.com how the building keeps its energy efficient performance. “We do tracking and benchmarking of all utility uses so we can focus on where the needs are greatest. We turn things off when they're not needed—computers, lights—it's simple, but it saves a whole lot of money. We calibrate air handling units and cold deck controllers and sensors, and we also ensure the building is not cooling and heating at the same time, which is not uncommon for a medical office building.”