Blog

January 16, 2014

Sustainability Roundtable Inc. Recognized Karen Cochran of PG&E as SBER’s Outstanding Executive 2013

At SR Inc’s Q4 Executive Symposium on Sustainable Optimization and Innovation: Advanced Sustainability Strategy held at Member-Client Nokia’s campus in San Diego, Karen Cochran was recognized as the “Sustainable Business & Enterprise Roundtable’s Outstanding Executive 2013,” for her outstanding leadership as Real Estate Sustainability Strategist at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). Ms. Cochran has continued her work to aggressively pursue reductions in energy use to reduce the environmental impact of PG&E’s commercial buildings and facilities, and to align PG&E’s corporate goals with ENERGY STAR and LEED frameworks. 

SR Inc chose Ms. Cochran as Outstanding Executive 2013 due to her continued work to reduce the environmental impact of PG&E’s commercial buildings and facilities, specifically her leadership in developing life cycle replacement and design standards, which require all of PG&E’s projects to meet a minimum level of energy efficiency (based on LEED). The performance of these guidelines will be monitored with sub-metering and bill management systems, which are already in place. Additionally, this year, Ms. Cochran oversaw the remodeling of PG&E’s 145,000-square-foot San Francisco Service Center Garage, which was awarded a LEED Platinum certification. Sustainable design features of the Center include:

• A solar power array that produces 165,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually
• Seismic reinforcements that utilize a new design technique requiring 65 percent less material
• Mechanical system upgrades that include new digital controls, energy efficient equipment, and outside air ventilation
• Materials, including paint, adhesives, flooring, ceiling tiles, and countertops that emit low to no greenhouse gases
• Water from a natural underground stream that is redirected to cool mechanical systems and flush toilets

If you are a corporate executive who is seeking to become a leader in the realm of sustainability, we’d love to hear from you. Please check out our Digital Library for full reports of related research, or reach out to your SR Inc advisor directly. To find out about SR Inc membership, please contact us.