City Center Achieves Top Energy Efficiency Score with Ryan Companies

THE CHALLENGE 

In 2018, an innovative multinational corporation purchased City Center: a 40-year-old building located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. Spanning 1,375,717 square feet, City Center had great bones—and the capacity to become one of the most efficient buildings in the market—but it ran on older HVAC systems and outdated technologies. This cutting-edge corporation enlisted the expertise of our Real Estate Management and Building Services (RBS) teams to increase the building’s efficiency and create a positive environmental impact through sustainability-focused implementations. The goal? Transform the 51-story building into an attractive, sustainable, future-focused office tower.   

THE SOLUTION 

Our team of experts knew it was critical to begin the process by having strategic conversations about long-term goals for the property. Our on-site engineering team, RBS team at large and construction management team collaborated to identify and incorporate thoughtfully approached initiatives that were both environmentally and sustainability conscious as well as effective in reducing operating costs.  

By focusing on the future, we prioritized getting ahead of large repairs coming down the line. As a result, we improved City Center’s environmental quality through numerous sustainability enhancements over the course of two years, including:  

• Replaced all motors, pumps and valves within the property to enhance heating and cooling efficiencies 
• Made upgrades to the building automation system for more precise control of heating and cooling  
• Installed LED lighting upgrades, motion controls and improved monitoring  
• Improved capacitor systems to facilitate more efficient electricity usage 
• Installed Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) on all major air handlers to improve intake precision 
• Updated the air filtration system through the installation of a MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values) 15 filter (MERV 13-16 filters are capable of trapping 90% or more of air particles, often improving overall indoor air quality) 

THE RESULTS 

• City Center was recognized as a leader in energy efficiency by earning an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Portfolio Manager Energy Star award score of 98, the highest score for buildings in this category, putting the building in the 98th percentile of buildings based on energy performance. 
• City Center is the largest property in Minnesota to earn the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’s (LEED) Platinum designation by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and the only building in the Minneapolis market to achieve LEED Platinum through recertification.   
• Thanks to our assertive efforts to lower utility usage, City Center’s overall operating expenses are now $1.27 per SF below average for downtown office towers.  
• From 2021-2023, utility usage has decreased across the board, including reducing steam usage by 17%, electricity by 17% and chilled water by 41%.   
• The new MERV 15 air filtration system reduced overall utility costs and improved air quality between 80 and 90 percent.  
• These lower utility costs and operating expenses resulted in a reduction of overhead costs to the client, and lower operating expenses make the building more attractive to tenants, providing a competitive advantage in the marketplace.  

THE PROCESS 

As a first step, our team focused on getting an accurate picture of how City Center was running in terms of energy and efficiency.  

We reviewed all the systems in place: the age, what was obsolete and what was new technologically that could be upgraded. We performed a cost/benefit analysis to identify what improvements would save the most money.  

Our team also contracted with the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) to conduct a commissioning study on the building. This helped inform numerous efforts where we could streamline operations, get more efficient and realize more “bang for our buck.”  

City Center had numerous aging pumps that were inefficient, and the motors were using significantly more power than they needed to use. 

As a result, our team identified our top three action items: 

1. Replacing all pumps, motors, and adding VFDs 
2. Replacing the building automation system. 
3. Replacing all valves with Belimo energy valves, which allows for tighter monitoring of usage.  

To improve and replace the outdated building automation system, an EcoStruxure Building Operation program was installed, which provides important efficiency data. The more data you have, the better you can control your building. The system improved our ability to monitor the building, and we made multiple improvements based on that data.  

Overall, our team focused on being creative and recognized that numerous changes—big and small—could make a significant difference. By empowering our experts, we successfully cut utility usage by nearly a third and currently have the lowest operations expenses within the largest building in downtown Minneapolis, creating a positive impact within the city.