Gwinnett Business Journal
January 2008

As more and more commercial developers go green with more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly enhancements, one Savannah base developer is showing how this can be applied to an existing property that already has tenants. 

The Crestwood Building, on Crestwood Parkway in Duluth, has been certified as a green building by the U.S. Green Building Council, as part of it’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Existing Building program.  The building is owned by Melaver, Inc. Crestwood is the third building, and the only multi-tenant office building in the state of Georgia to earn the LEED-EB designation.  Nationally, only 60 buildings have achieved LEED-EB certification. 

The five-story building has 94,000 square feet of office space and in 2005 earned the Energy Star designation from the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy. 

“To achieve LEED-EB certification is a significant achievement because it requires us to retrofit an existing building to be more energy efficient,” explains Scott Doksansky, CPM, director of portfolio management for Melaver.  “Today we use less electricity and less water than the norm.  We use only Green Seal certified cleaning products.  We closely monitor the paint, carpet and other building materials used in the building.  We have access to mass transit, encourage car pooling and benefit from the fact that a variety of services are available within walking distance.

The building, which has approximately 20 different tenants, was purchased by Melaver in 1998.  Doksansky says some of the changes to the facility included remodeling the restrooms with water efficient hardware, making changes to the landscaping and overhauling the building’s purchasing of housekeeping products. 

Achieving LEED-EB certification means that a third party has examined the Crestwood building and its operational practices and verified that the owners are adhering to a strict standard established for environmentally friendly commercial buildings. “Crestwood’s LEED-EB certification is indicative of Melaver’s commitment not only to the environment, but also to providing the highest quality workplace for their tenants,” said Jud Bass, president of Bass Commercial Realty, who handles leasing for the Crestwood building. 

“It is becoming increasingly important to tenants that a building is energy efficient as well as a healthy place to work.” Doksansky says Melaver has made the use of green techniques a major part of its business strategy and notes that Crestwood tenants so far support the changes. “We’re committed to sustainable and green building practices,” he says.  “Our goal is to have our entire portfolio be green facilities.”