Arden Realty, Inc., a real estate investment trust, is the largest landlord of office buildings in Southern California. Arden's portfolio includes 120 properties consisting of 193 buildings and approximately 18.2 million net rentable square feet.

In 1996, Arden acquired a number of new properties. At the same time, Arden realized that changes in California's energy markets were driving costs up. In response, Arden convened a "swat" team of its best and brightest managers and engineers to develop best practices for operations at its buildings and a comprehensive energy strategy for the entire portfolio. The team also developed a proprietary methodology to assess each building. The results were so tremendous, Arden decided to formalize the role of this team, creating the wholly owned subsidiary next>edge, a turnkey provider of fully integrated energy efficiency and power generation solutions for commercial facilities.

The goal of next>edge is to maximize energy efficiency for commercial facilities.

Arden quickly became recognized as a leader in energy efficiency, winning the EPA's prestigious Commercial Real Estate Partner of the Year for three consecutive years. Today, Arden properties represent anout 50 percent of all ENERGY STAR labeled buildings in California. The net benefit of Arden's energy program equals the effect of removing 6,130 cars from California's roads each year, planting 8,397 acres of trees annually, or powering 4,086 homes for a year.

Programs Implemented by next>edge:

- 116 lighting retrofits covering over 12 million sq. ft.
- 67 installations of Energy Management Systems (EMS).
- Over $15 million in HVAC retrofits, including 12 chiller replacements.
- Design and construction of 10 cogeneration facilities, totaling 9 MW.
- Design and installation of 309 kW of solar photovoltaic systems.
- Worked with property owners to earn more than 300 ENERGY STAR labels.