NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV
Deer Springs Town Center
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For more than 40 years, Regency Centers Corp. has been known for its innovative approach to retailing and its quality shopping center assets—two things that the Jacksonville, Fla.-based REIT collectively calls ingenuity. Recently, however, the shopping center developer and owner decided to focus its ingenuity on sustainability, creating a platform called greengenuity.
Regency Centers' greengenuity enables it to develop, operate, and partner in retail shopping centers that lessen its impact on the environment.
Earlier this year, Regency Centers launched its greengenuity program by hiring Mark Peternell as vice president of sustainability. Peternell is responsible for overseeing and expanding the company's corporate sustainability and green building initiatives.
Regency is pursuing LEED certification for 20 percent of its new 2008 projects. That percentage jumps to 40 percent in 2009 and 60 percent in 2010.
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The REIT, which owns approximately 450 retail properties across the nation, has partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council to provide resources to enable its developers and retailers to help it achieve higher levels of LEED certification in its shopping center developments. The basis of this program is to facilitate "point sharing" among the various stakeholders in a shopping center environment, ultimately making the LEED program more accessible to the retail industry.
Peternell explains that the REIT approaches sustainability with a three-pronged strategy that addresses new developments in its 60 million-square-foot existing portfolio; and corporate operations at the company's 22 regional offices.
Regency Centers was one of the first retail developers to roll out a sustainability plan with specific LEED certification goals for new developments and is pursuing LEED certification for 20 percent of its new 2008 projects. That percentage jumps to 40 percent in 2009 and 60 percent in 2010, Peternell says.
However, with such a large portfolio, Regency Centers' also is focused on adopting sustainable operating and maintenance practices for its existing centers. In fact, the REIT expects to pursue LEED certification for existing buildings, known as LEED-EB, at select centers, according to Peternell.
The company is considering reflective cool roofing, energy efficient site lighting, and pervious concrete, as well as looking at ways to generate on-site electricity with solar and other renewable energy technologies. Regency Centers also is rolling out environmentally-sensitive maintenance and operating practices that reduce harmful chemical use, conserve both energy and water, and minimize air pollution. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, the REIT is creating and distributing sustainable design guidelines for tenant improvements.
The company's commitment to sustainability doesn't end with its property portfolio. It is actively working to create a culture and awareness of sustainability throughout the organization. The greengenuity efforts within the REIT's corporate operations platform include waste management and recycling; sustainable purchasing, water conservation, efficient and renewable energy, alternative transportation and healthy living.
"There's a huge opportunity to minimize our overall environmental footprint," Peternell says. "We've definitely made that a mission."
— Jennifer D. Duell
