The Tower Companies

For three generations, the family-owned Tower Companies has maintained a commitment to responsible development and envisions a world where buildings inspire and enrich the lives of their occupants, and create positive social change. The green building leader owns, develops, and manages over 5 million square feet in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area consisting of office buildings, office parks, lifestyle centers, regional malls, eco-progressive live-work-play communities and hotels with over 8,000,000 SF in the development pipeline. By the mid-1990s, before “green” was mainstream, the company was already focused on smart growth and ecologically sensitive building practices, leading the market with innovative ideas and completely re-engineering how buildings are designed and constructed.

In 2004, The Tower Companies certified the first LEED® multi-family apartments in the U.S. called Blair Towns. Currently, 90% of their commercial and multi-family residential properties, which are both owned and directly managed by Tower, are LEED® certified and 85% are ENERGY STAR® certified with an average rating of 80. In addition, Tower publically reports GHG emissions to The Climate Registry and offsets 100% by purchasing renewable energy and carbon credits to support wind farms and other related projects around North America. Today, Tower Companies is humbled to be recognized as an international authority in the industry, and to have been honored for its commitment to sustainability and energy independence by numerous national organizations and federal agencies, including U.S. Green Building Council, U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Tower Companies is committed to meeting the Better Buildings Challenge energy and water reduction target of at least 20% by 2020 over a 2.5 million square foot portfolio. Tower will continue to implement innovative strategies, tools and resources to achieve this reduction, building off efforts like the 2012 installation of a real-time energy management system, the attainment of LEED® EBOM and ENERGY Certifications for all eligible properties, the addition of new high-efficiency boilers, the installation of VFD’s and sub-meters, and annual greenhouse gas inventory reporting to The Climate Registry. Tower will continue to set annual energy reduction targets, including a 2016 goal to reduce office building energy use by an additional 5% over the previous year through strategies like developing “green teams” and on-going building staff engagement. Their team will also pursue a 5% reduction in its multi-family residential portfolio through the installation of sub-meters and resident engagement programs to positively influence the energy use habits of residents.