EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY
From the beginning, the developers of Ballantyne have recognized the importance of creating environmental sustainability within our office environment as well as among customers and the community.
Over two decades ago, Ballantyne’s master planners began their commitment to creating a strong infrastructure from family farmland.
Long stewards of the environment, Ballantyne remains committed to sustainable business practices. Northwood continues to evaluate energy management, water conservation, recycling efforts and more to ensure we are implementing the most effective and environmentally-friendly practices.
2,500,000+
SF of LEED® Space
2
LEED Accredited Professionals
ALL
24
129,000
49,000
10
60+
Suspended Solids Eliminated from Storm Water Runoff
LEED® COMMITMENT
Ballantyne exemplifies responsible development. Since 2008, the developer has constructed buildings targeting LEED certification. Ballantyne features more than two million square feet of LEED Gold-certified office space. Northwood Office is compliant with LEED requirements regarding smoking areas’ distance from buildings and air intakes.
Northwood’s LEED team is comprised of four accredited professionals dedicated to continuous improvement in sustainability through further enhancing daily practices.
Ballantyne is dedicated to strengthening the energy efficiency of its buildings.
- All buildings are ENERGY STAR® certified facilities, signifying that the buildings perform in the top 25% of similar facilities nationwide for superior energy efficiency
- 24 electric vehicle charging stations in the Corporate Park
- Uses Mach Energy (energy management cloud-based software) for analytics and reporting for budgeting, cost savings, demand management, threshold alerting, enterprise management and measurement and verification
- Uses T-8 high efficiency 14-watt light bulbs, which have a superior rated life and reduced energy consumption than market standard and conserve 13% in energy usage
- All parking deck structures are 100% LED which reduced our energy consumption and have a much greater lifespan than fluorescents/metal halides.
- Replaced thousands of bulbs with LEDs campus-wide, significantly increasing the individual lifespan of bulbs and decreasing energy consumption by over 50%
- Occupancy sensors are used to control lighting in restrooms, janitor’s closets, telephone rooms and other areas
- Uses energy efficiency building glass to minimize heat transfer into each building from direct sunlight while allowing maximum daylight to enter to reduce the load on lamp fixtures
- Installed Tridium, an aggressive energy management system, in most of its buildings to examine the energy usage of outlets, lighting and core/shell HVAC energy using separate meters; monitoring enables us to make localized adjustments to conserve energy
- Uses Variable Frequency Drive in a large majority of its buildings to control motors to help gain more efficient use of energy; these are in place for the air handling units, pumps and other HVAC equipment. All water heaters are adjusted to the lowest possible temperature settings, and the hot water heaters are turned off in all unoccupied offices.
- At the LEED-certified buildings, the TPO roof systems also prevent the absorption of heat, keeping each building cool during summer months to reduce the cooling load necessary
Northwood significantly conserves water by using innovative water strategies.
- Uses storm water management plan to reduce water pollution and remove pollutants from storm water runoff, eliminating 85% of total suspended solids within the soil on-site and preventing contamination in local drinking supplies or natural ecosystems
- Storm water is captured and retained in detention ponds and then reused as irrigation water for landscaping around the area
- Selects native and drought-resistant plants, a process known as xeriscaping, to further reduce the amount of water needed for irrigation
- At the LEED-certified buildings, low flow toilet and water fixtures and metered faucets are used to reduce average building water consumption by over 35%
- Uses sink aerators to reduce water usage by 80% at these fixtures
- Uses Xeriscaping, a method which requires little to no irrigation.
Northwood is committed to assisting tenants in recycling efforts.
- Materials recycled in Ballantyne include white paper, colored paper, magazines, phone books, office products, cardboard, paper cups, glass, plastic bottles, stretch film, aluminum cans, e-waste, wood and metals; remaining waste is transported to the landfill
- Hosts Park-wide drives for secure shredding and electronic recycling
landscaping functions.
- Proud member of Audubon International, affirming our commitment to promoting sustainable practices that demonstrate good stewardship of the natural environment
- Selects plant material based on its growth habit for the Charlotte region. All plants in the Corporate Park are viewed as native plant species to the area.
- Ensures all fertilizer and pesticide programs are ecologically responsible
- Focuses on integrated pest management as a responsible operator
- Implemented an arboriculture program to improve and maintain the health and environment of treescapes
- Has planted thousands of trees to ensure a sustainable tree canopy for future generations
- Plants 80,000 annuals a year throughout the Park
Ballantyne is committed to maintaining a healthy ecosystem for animal life.
- Features eBird Hotspot to explore what birds have been seen and add bird sightings
- The Golf Club at Ballantyne is recognized as an official Certified Wildlife Habitat™ site by the National Wildlife Federation® (NWF).
Ballantyne is committed to educating its tenants about the importance of sustainability.
- Offers annual Earth Day Event featuring green vendors and free secure shredding and electronic recycling. Since the event started in 2010, Ballantyne has shredded nearly 129,000 pounds of paper and recycled more than 49,000 pounds of electronics. At 2017’s event, Ballantyne also collected 727 pounds of gently used household and clothing goods, two full boxes of used batteries and light bulbs, 100 pounds of old and unused medicine, and 1,000 pounds of ballasts.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Ballantyne is Buzzing
Ballantyne Bees are producing fresh honey in their new apiary in Ballantyne’s Backyard. Since moving to their new digs, the worker bees have produced 240 pounds of honey, available for purchase at future Ballantyne events.
Ballantyne Magazine’s featured story in the fall issue breaks down what’s special about this local apiary, the honey collecting process and more!