Public Works Achieves Gold Standard for its Green Headquarters 

A two-year project to upgrade and improve the forty-year-old Alhambra headquarters tower of

LA County Public Works has been recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council with one of its highest awards.

The Council announced recently that the building has earned its Gold Level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the category of Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance.

The LEED rating system helps building owners and operators to measure operations, improvements and maintenance on a consistent scale, with the goal of maximizing operational efficiency and minimizing environmental impacts.  According to County Public Works Director Gail Farber, the tower is the first pre-existing County building to achieve the coveted gold level certification.

“To achieve LEED Gold, Public Works effectively reduced the footprint of its headquarters energy consumption by 15 percent,” Farber said.

Measures adopted to achieve the reduction included the use of more efficient air filters; installation of a Green Cleaning Entryway System; new plumbing fixtures, faucets, and aerators; improvements to the outside air introduction system; new gas and water meters; and CO2 sensors in the conference rooms.

Along with the prestige associated with a LEED Gold Certification, the project has provided practical and important benefits to the Department and its employees, including cost savings from more efficient energy and water use; positive environmental impacts related to material selection and sustainable purchasing, waste disposal, and waste reduction; and improvement to the health, safety, and comfort of building occupants.

The tower was originally built for Sears-Roebuck to serve as its western regional headquarters. Ground for the new building was broken in 1969, and construction of the 400,000 square foot tower was completed in 1971. The Department acquired the complex the following year and moved in to the tower in 1988 following an extensive remodel. The Annex Building was added in 1989, and in 2006 work was completed on a seismic retrofit of the tower.

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