Teknion’s Los Angeles Showroom is a 7,735-square-foot commercial interior project located in Los Angeles, CA. Verdical Group completed:

• LEED Project Management (ID+C v3 Gold Certified)
• CALGreen Commissioning
• LEED Fundamental Commissioning
• LEED Enhanced Commissioning

Teknion is an international designer and manufacturer of world-class office systems. The Toronto-based company recently completed their Los Angeles Showroom in the landmark Ernst and Young Plaza on 725 South Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, CA which was certified LEED Platinum as an Existing Building in 2012. The Teknion Showroom is a LEED Gold Commercial Interior project. The project covers 7,735 square feet (almost all of the 41st Floor) in the densely developed Downtown Los Angeles Area, where it is amply connected to community resources and transportation options. This promotes an active lifestyle, car-free-living, and the associated reduction in carbon emissions.

Ample windows allow occupants the benefit of views to the beautiful Los Angeles skyline from all spaces, and daylight in almost 90 percent of regularly occupied spaces. To marry the occupant experience and energy saving benefits of increased daylighting, the project installed daylight responsive controls; the visual information from views and natural light reduces fatigue and enhances occupant experience and productivity, while reducing energy use.

The project employed best practices during construction, including diversion of 80 percent of waste generated on-site (through recycling or salvaging), and reducing air quality problems related to construction, for the benefit of construction workers and future occupants. The project was designed to minimize occupant exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals during construction through the materials selected. The project included GreenGuard certified materials onsite, improving air quality by reducing Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, agrifiber, and furniture. The project team specified 32 percent total recycled content of total building materials on-site (by cost).

The project benefits from the energy efficiency of the base building, and goes above-and-beyond by making aggressive reductions in energy usage, through ENERGY STAR products (appliances, office equipment, etc), and reductions in connected lighting power. In part, this was achieved by giving all building occupants control of their lighting, and control of shared multi-occupant-spaces. The project further offset their energy use by purchasing Green Power, thereby supporting an accelerated renewable energy future, and reducing the project’s carbon footprint.

This Los Angeles Showroom for Teknion is a wonderfully designed Commercial Interior space, mindful of both indoor human health and broader climate change. The project team successfully achieved a 40 percent reduction in potable water use, gaining the maximum number of points for water efficiency, through high performance low-flow water fixtures. This is especially important for commercial buildings located in Los Angeles, a region prone to future drought problems stemming from climate change.