Mark-Taylor’s Chandler multifamily San Palacio community is the first multifamily community in Arizona to earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) lucrative ENERGY STAR certification, meaning that the building performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency, and meets strict energy efficiency performance standards set by the EPA.
“This is an awesome achievement,” said Mark-Taylor Residential President John Carlson. “Clearly we’re lowering our energy costs, but more importantly we’re learning how to be better stewards of our environment and our residents can experience this evolution alongside us.”
San Palacio is the first of eight communities that will ultimately have ENERGY STAR certification, and the first multifamily community in Arizona to achieve the moniker for energy efficiency.
Other Mark-Taylor communities soon to follow are San Cervantes (also in Chandler), Azul at Spectrum and Borrego at Spectrum (both in Gilbert, Ariz.). The company will evaluate the potential to transition up to four other properties this year, and more in the future.
Commercial buildings that earn EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A community is required to meet minimum ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality, thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy and illumination levels.
Mark-Taylor retained a registered professional engineer to prepare a Statement of Energy Performance, which is a required component of the application for the EPA ENERGY STAR® label. San Palacio’s rating of 97 considers the overall energy consumption per square foot, per year. Mark-Taylor improved its energy performance by managing energy strategically and making cost-effective improvements, including switching to LED bulbs throughout the property, which reflected a lower kilowatt consumption, and incorporating high-efficiency heat pumps with hot water heating.
Built in 2005, San Palacio encompasses 372,128 square feet of gross floor area, 352 apartments and a total of 624 bedrooms.
“Improving the energy efficiency of our nation’s buildings is critical to protecting our environment,“ said Chief of the ENERGY STAR Commercial and Industrial Branch Jean Lupinacci,. “From the boiler room to the board room, organizations are leading the way by making their buildings more efficient and earning EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification.”
Mark-Taylor is the first multifamily manager to obtain the certification not only in Arizona, but also in Nevada and Utah. The closest multifamily community in the southwest with certification is in New Mexico. This is the second “first” Mark-Taylor has accomplished in recent months, on the heels of this summer’s roll-out of Amazon lockers at nearly all of its communities, a program that streamlines the often cumbersome task of ensuring secure package delivery to residents.
