IKEA Expects Long-Term Savings from Rooftop Solar Rollout
	Hines’ 333 W. Wacker Tower Earns LEED Silver Designation
	San Francisco Earns Greenest City Honors

IKEA is pursuing a massive clean-energy program with the installation of solar panels on at least 20 of its 44 U.S. locations. In addition to slashing its need for power generated by fossil-fuel-fired power plants, the home furnishings retailer expects to reduce its long-term operating costs with lower utility bills.

“About a year ago, IKEA made the decision to begin evaluating every location around the world for sustainability,” says Joseph Roth, the company’s national director of public affairs. “We looked not just at stores, but at offices, distribution centers and vacant pieces of land to see what was feasible.”

In years past, IKEA has leased rooftop space to third parties for solar panel installation. Privately held IKEA has more than 320 stores in 38 countries, including 37 in the U.S.

The company began experimenting with purchasing and installing a system of its own last summer at an IKEA store in Tempe, Ariz. The success of that prototype convinced the retailer that similar systems at some of its other locations would be a good investment, according to Roth.

The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded its LEED Silver designation for existing buildings to a Hines office building in Chicago.

The 36-story structure, 333 West Wacker, was built in 1983. The 867,821-square-foot office building is in Chicago’s West Loop submarket and in the city's central business district, on a bend fronting the Chicago River. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the property includes four levels of subterranean parking.

Hines’ U.S. Core Office Fund acquired the asset in April 2006 and Hines' engineering and management teams have improved the property’s operating efficiency, earning the Energy Star label in each of the past three years.

With a current rating of 80 on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star scale of 1-100, the building is 32% more energy efficient than the national average for office buildings. A building that scores a 75 or above on the scale places among the top 25% for energy performance among similar buildings, and can earn an Energy Star label.

There’s a green hue to the Golden Gate City, which ranks No. 1 among 27 U.S. and Canadian cities in a recent study.

The U.S. and Canada Green City Index, published June 30, ranks cities’ performance in nine categories including CO2 emissions, energy, land use, buildings, transportation, water, waste, air quality and environmental governance. Electronics engineering firm Siemens Corp. commissioned the study by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research firm within the Economist Group, publisher of The Economist magazine.

New York, Seattle, Denver and Boston rounded out the top five U.S. cities. San Francisco and Vancouver were the only cities to place in the top 10 of all nine categories. Researchers chalk up the Bay City’s high marks to a comprehensive, community-wide approach to protecting the environment.