Coretrust Capital Partners announced that FourFortyFour South Flower, its 48-story iconic tower in downtown Los Angeles, has achieved a Verified Healthy Building Mark for Indoor Environment from global safety science authority UL. Receiving the UL Verified Healthy Building Mark signals that the FourFortyFour site performs in five critical areas -- air, water, hygiene, light and acoustics.
Just over one year ago, FourFortyFour became the first building globally to earn the UL Verified Healthy Building Mark for Indoor Air and Water.
"We are pleased that our efforts to provide safer and healthier workplaces have been recognized once again by this global safety science leader," said Thomas S. Ricci, founder and managing principal of Coretrust. "We have implemented multiple state-of-the-art technologies for cleanest air and water quality, installed the latest building infrastructure for energy efficiency and carbon reduction, and adopted stringent operating controls, all to support the well-being and confidence of those who occupy and visit FourFortyFour."
Backed by decades of indoor environment testing based on science and data, the UL Verified Healthy Building program assesses the quality of a property's indoor environment, including air, water, hygiene, light and acoustics. It further verifies that a landlord has instituted policies and plans to maintain and advance indoor environment quality for the future.
UL notes the program's testing methods are aligned with industry-recognized, third-party organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
"Companies are returning to the workplace and health and safety issues are paramount to staff confidence," notes Ricci. "Today we know of no other office landlord that has the combination of sophisticated environmental technologies and stringent operational controls that we have at FourFortyFour." He points out that these are also in place at Coretrust's 2 Liberty Place in downtown Philadelphia and PASARROYO in Pasadena, CA.
"UL's Verified Healthy Building program communicates those indoor spaces provide a healthy environment for occupants in five areas: indoor air quality, water quality, building hygiene, lighting and acoustics. Once achieved, it's a distinction that demonstrates building owners, managers and corporations are committed to a built environment that supports occupant health, well-being and comfort, backed by UL's globally recognized expertise," added Sean McCrady, director, Asset and Sustainability, Real Estate and Properties at UL. "By achieving the UL Verified Healthy Building Mark for Indoor Environment, Coretrust has demonstrated its commitment to providing a healthy workplace for current and prospective building tenants. This is one of many ways that UL can help building owners, property managers and corporations earn trust from tenants and employees."
Case study
Coretrust has installed technologies and operating procedures to achieve exceptional indoor air quality at the 48-story FourFortyFour, and at its other properties. As noted in a press release, a powerful air-duct Ultraviolet C Germicidal Irradiation air purification system, Biowall MAX from Sanuvox, delivers maximum air quality, substantially reducing pathogens.
Along with the addition of MERV-14 air filters, via the platform the HVAC system is virtually eliminated as a source of virus transmission. Coretrust pumps maximum levels of outside air ventilation into its buildings and has increased operating hours and numbers of fresh air purges. Further, equipment rooms are deep-cleaned, and air handling unit coils are disinfected on a regular basis.
Further, Coretrust retrofitted elevators at FourFortyFour and added touchless destination dispatch systems, allowing tenants to use personalized access cards to call cars without touching buttons. Coretrust maintains continuous air purification in the cabs through bi-polar ionization generators that sit atop the elevator roof. (The company cited itself as "the only landlord in the U.S. to navigate complex governmental approvals and elevator manufacturers' concerns to install this innovative equipment.")
Among the smart technologies deployed at FourFortyFour are the ADIBOT UV-C Robots, placed in sensitive areas at night to disinfect air and surfaces against COVID-19 and other harmful airborne pathogens. The ADIBOT UV-C robots are the first to be deployed at any office building in the U.S.
Also to assure water quality, Coretrust has instituted rigorous flushing of water systems, replaced all water fixtures and aerators throughout the building, and regularly tests water quality to meet the highest drinking water standards.
"A major Coretrust innovation at the FourFortyFour tower is hacking the curtain wall of the sixth floor to create a 1,000-square-foot loggia terrace that brings fresh air and sunlight into the 22,500-square-foot Coretrust Workplace Innovation Lab. Similar indoor terraces are being created for tenants," Coretrust's Ricci said.
Coretrust also expanded and added to the outdoor plazas and spaces at FourFortyFour, creating healthy venues for meetings, dining and relaxing.
Noise has been abated by implementing Habitat Soundscapes, a new open office sound system directed by Plantronics algorithms that brings sounds of nature into office floors and senses and adjusts noise based on ambient volume.
A long-standing commitment to sustainability and safe building environments
Coretrust Capital Partners, LLC is a privately owned national real estate investment, development, and management/operating company, nationally recognized for over 30 years' work in development and redevelopment of well-located and architecturally distinct office properties.
Coretrust notes the company's dedication to sustainability and safe building environments dates back to the late 1990s when its team developed the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Sacramento, holding the distinction for seven years as the world's first and only high rise over one million square feet to be certified LEED Platinum.
Since founding Coretrust, its executives have sought to continually improved upon these environmental standards, most recently achieving carbon neutrality across the company's portfolio. "Coretrust believes its comprehensive commitment to health, sustainability and ESG distinguishes its properties and ensures a measurably superior customer experience as workers return to the office," Ricci concluded.
For more information, visit www.coretrustcapital.com.
