6.1.11 | Los Angeles, CA | Syska Hennessy Group, a leading engineering, consulting and commissioning firm, has announced it will be moving its Los Angeles office, and leasing a new 24,569 square-foot space at 800 Corporate Pointe in Culver City, Calif. The company will be pursuing LEED Gold certification for its new location, which will serve as a regional office for the company, supporting approximately 125 employees.

Jones Lang LaSalle Senior Vice President, Christina Noonan, and Associate, Blake Searles, represented Syska Hennessy Group in the completion of its 10-year lease. The property owner, Spear Street Capital, was represented by Carl Muhlstein, Andrew McDonald and Hayley Blockley of Cushman & Wakefield.

“We chose this site specifically because of its sustainable design features, as we wanted a new office space that reinforced our collaborative work teams, while attaining LEED certification,” explained Gary Brennen, Co-President of Syska Hennessy Group. “We are a sustainable company and have worked on numerous LEED and sustainable design projects for our clients. For Syska Hennessy Group, it is important for us to practice what we preach. Therefore, having LEED status for our own Los Angeles office was our first priority when choosing a new space.” The office campus that holds Syska Hennessy’s new space was originally developed by Symantec and features two LEED Gold certified buildings. The space that the firm leased is raw space and will be converted by Syska Hennessy’s engineers to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Syska Hennessy project manager, Michael Adebanjo, is part of the design team that is incorporating high performance design into the space. This includes an Under Floor Air Distribution (UFAD) system, in which the office air is supplied under the floor rather than through overhead vents. While this design is popular in Europe, it is still considered unique in some parts of the United States, and it is particularly rare within the Los Angeles office market, according to Adebanjo.

“A UFAD system allows greater thermal control for our team members and clients, while using less energy. Because the temperature does not need to be as low as conventional overhead systems require, the system itself does not have to expend as much energy attempting to cool the air before it enters the system. The UFAD system also improves air quality and allows the office to have higher ceilings, as overhead ducting is not needed,” Adebanjo noted.

An active Chilled Beam system will also be built into the new office space in order to regulate temperature in the office training room. In its simplest form, a chilledbeam is a type of HVAC system designed to heat or cool spaces in large buildings. Pipes of water are passed through a "beam" (a heat exchanger) suspended a short distance from the ceiling of a room. As the beam chills the air around it, the air becomes denser and is distributed to the floor. It is replaced by warmer air moving up from below, causing a constant flow of convection and cooling the room. Chilled beam technology saves energy, reduces mechanical noise and improves indoor air quality with less impact to both the surrounding environment and its occupants.

Other design elements that will be implemented by Syska Hennessy include the use of daylight and daylight harvesting throughout the open office, integrated with the use of high efficacy furniture-mounted lighting.

“Our lighting solution creates a dynamically lit work space that benefits from the generous natural light available. Sensors monitor the natural light throughout the space at all times during the day, and automatically adjust the artificial light level. Each workspace also has its own lights mounted on the workstation itself, allowing the user to adjust light accordingly and turn lights off when not in use. These technologies not only save energy, but they also have positive effects on workers, as natural light is proven to increase productivity and satisfaction in the workplace,” Adebanjo explained.

Syska Hennessy Group expects to complete its move into the new location and begin operations out of the new space by the end of June.

About Syska Hennessy Group

Syska Hennessy Group, Inc. is a global leader in consulting, engineering and commissioning. The firm has helped engineer some of the world's most innovative, technically sophisticated, and energy efficient buildings. Clients include leading corporations, fast-growing and high-tech companies, educational institutions, architectural and interior designers and commercial developers, as well as state, local and federal government agencies. With offices in 14 locations throughout the U.S., as well as an office in China, and projects around the world, Syska Hennessy Group’s market specific solutions are based on local knowledge and access, supported by global staff resources and specialized expertise.

About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) is a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate. The firm offers integrated services delivered by expert teams worldwide to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. With 2010 global revenue of more than $2.9 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle serves clients in 60 countries from 750 locations worldwide, including 180 corporate offices. The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of approximately 1.8 billion square feet worldwide. LaSalle Investment Management, the company’s investment management business, is one of the world’s largest and most diverse in real estate with more than $41 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit our website, www.joneslanglasalle.com