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At M+NLB, we seek to transform the thinking of the industry. Our goal is to educate, inform, and inspire. We strive to develop advanced methods and solutions that can cope with the challenges we face now and in the future.
One could say that our commitment to energy efficiency began with an early landmark project—the 1970s Altamont Pass Wind Turbines. But truth be told, M+NLB has always been committed to designing the most progressive solutions to last well into the future. Over the past few years, we have been specifically focusing on projects that include alternative methods of ventilation, solar power, greenhouse gas measurement, energy benchmarking, and energy audits that provide recommendations and incentives.
With Kaiser Permanente, we have implemented a variety of energy efficiency and demand reduction efforts, including the Kaiser Solar Initiative and Photovoltaic Installation. M+NLB developed an on-site Renewable Energy Portfolio for 500+ facilities, exploring various energy solutions including solar thermal and photovoltaic, cogeneneration, and fuel cells. The project has included economic analysis, negotiation of terms with financial partners, and survey of over 50 medical centers.
M+NLB has been the strength behind California’s Healthcare Energy Efficiency Program (HEEP) that offers cash incentives for completing energy-saving retrofits of equipment/systems in hospitals or medical office buildings. We first began the program with Southern California Edison, and have since expanded to include San Diego Gas & Electric. The program occurs in three phases: 1) energy audits; 2) recommended energy demand reduction; and 3) implementation and design build.
These contributions are only a small part of what M+NLB is doing to help fulfill our vision of creating better environments.
Initiatives we are doing companywide to reduce our energy footprint and lend our expertise to developing nations include:
- Developed and implemented an overarching corporate sustainability plan that outlines our corporate commitment and includes an office-by-office plan to reduce energy and water, minimize waste, and encourage employee public/alternative transit options by providing subsides. The plan also includes an environmental purchasing plan that identifies products and services that are environmentally preferable, and a statement that our offices will continue to seek new ways to procure preferable products/services. This plan also formalizes our commitment to the AIA 2030 Challenge.
- Tested and installed water fixtures for efficient water use, which helped us achieve the San Francisco Green Business certification for low flow and high efficiency use. These fixtures are now the current standard we specify for our healthcare projects, where applicable.
- Exploring the development of on-site renewable energy systems at our facilities, wherein we serve as the for-profit investor in a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), with the buildings as our energy buyers.
- Researching opportunities for using Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) municipal financing for energy retrofits of our facilities.
- Launched the Sextant Foundation, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to performing pro-bono sustainable development work for healthcare facilities in developing nations and doing research to remove barriers and provide greener buildings.
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