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Thomas Properties Group, Inc. Selected as the 2011 Calibre Environmental Award Recipient

^{Published on 2011-08-06 08:50:21 - Market Wire}
 

LOS ANGELES--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--The Calibre Committee in concurrence with the International Interior Design Association has selected Thomas Properties Group (TPG) (Nasdaq: TPGI) the recipient of the coveted 2011 Calibre Environmental Award.

The Calibre Environmental Award seeks to recognize the outstanding commitment to environmental stewardship of organizations that not only are an integral part of the design community, but also have a profound impact on society as a whole. In acknowledgement that sustainable design has become the norm, the Calibre Environmental Recognition Award recognizes individuals or organizations that have not only adopted sustainable building practices for their facilities, but have successfully implemented programs that go above and beyond sustainable design and which establish new benchmarks that propel our industry and Southern California to new levels of excellence. Candidates for this award must demonstrate leadership in sustainable design that extends beyond their immediate environment to encompass the region if not the entire nation.

A pioneer in sustainable real estate, Thomas Properties Group is an industry leader in development and operations of high performance green buildings. Sustainability considerations are applied in all aspects of its business, including development, investment, leasing and operations.

Beyond environmental and economic advantages, rapid expansion of the number of high performance green buildings is also attributed to soft value creation factors such as: market differentiation, reputation, growing public awareness, increased tenant demand, reduced obsolescence, lower energy cost and compliance with local and federal government regulations.

With a Sustainability Mission ato make a positive and profitable contribution toward a sustainable future,a Thomas Properties Group understands that for sustainability practices to become widespread, they must make economic sense. This is made clear in the companya™s sustainability goals, which include reducing operating expenses, enhancing marketability, improving occupant productivity, minimizing environmental footprint, and increasing Triple Bottom Line Performance (people, planet, profit).

A pioneer in sustainable development, Thomas Properties Groupa™s first experience in green building and energy efficiency was with the development of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) Headquarters that started in 1998. This award-winning building was designed and constructed to incorporate sustainable, yet economically competitive building practices, and soon became the first LEED EB Platinum high rise in the nation. Certification was achieved with little cost premium, which was recouped in less than a year. The Cal/EPA Headquarters, in Sacramento, and the first LEED EB Platinum high rise building in the nation, boasts an ENERGY STAR rating of 99 and was designed and constructed incorporating design and engineering principles that conserve both energy and natural resources. Because of the buildinga™s efficient design, the State of California estimates that it saves more than $1.4 million in operating costs annually.

Following the completion of the Cal EPA Headquarters, Thomas Properties Group continued to incorporate high-performance green practices in the development and operations of its portfolio and is pursuing LEED EB Certification for its existing portfolio of properties, with more than ten million square feet having been LEED certified to date. The company has a goal for 100% of their eligible buildings to be certified by the end of 2012.

Thomas Properties Group has a fulltime Sustainability Manager who coordinates green efforts companywide, and each building has a Green Leader to lead sustainability initiatives and encourage staff to think green. Embedding a commitment to sustainability in its corporate DNA is part of the companya™s drive toward excellence in all it does.

The company also takes advantage of benchmarking tools such as Energy Star and LEED standards while leveraging its procurement power to drive supply chain compliance with company green building objectives. Key to its commitment is investing in educating the companya™s staff, tenants, vendors and stakeholders on sustainability issues and techniques. Thomas Properties Group believes that involving its entire circle of stakeholders is essential to successfully accomplishing its goal of ensuring that its properties are high performing, healthy and productive environments.

Green buildings are moving beyond increasing efficiencies and reducing negative impacts to having measurable positive impacts. Increased efficiencies reduce expenses in the short term, but the companya™s sustainability programs are targeted toward the long-term goal of ensuring sustainable and profitable buildings for its tenants and shareholders that also positively impact the communities around them.

About Thomas Properties Group

Thomas Properties Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: TPGI), based in Los Angeles, is a full-service real estate company that owns, acquires, develops and manages primarily office, as well as mixed use and residential properties on a nationwide basis. The companya™s primary areas of focus are the acquisition and ownership of premier properties, property development and redevelopment, and property and investment management activities. For more information about the Thomas Properties Group, Inc., visit [ www.tpgre.com ].

About International Interior Design Association

IIDA is a professional networking and educational Association of 13,000 Members in 10 specialty practice forums and 31 Chapters around the world. IIDA was founded in 1994 as the result of a merger of the Institute of Business Designers (IBD); the International Society of Interior Designers (ISID); and the Council of Federal Interior Designers (CFID). The goal of the merger was to create an international association with a united mission that would represent Interior Designers worldwide. Since that date, IIDA has worked to convene communities of Interior Designers across regions and specialties representing the interests for the entire community.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this press release or during the quarterly earnings conference call that are not historical may contain forward-looking statements. Although TPGI believes the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, these statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from TPGIa™s expectations include actual and perceived trends in various national and economic conditions that affect global and regional markets for commercial real estate services (including interest rates), the availability of credit and equity investors to finance commercial real estate transactions, our ability to enter into or renew leases at favorable rates, which can be impacted by the financial condition of our tenants, risks associated with the success of our development and property redevelopment projects, general volatility in the securities and credit markets, and the impact of tax laws affecting real estate. For a discussion of some of the factors that may cause our results to differ from managementa™s expectations, see the information under the captions aRisk Factorsa and aManagementa™s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operationsa in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and our subsequent Form 10-Q quarterly reports, each of which is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. TPGI disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.