Sustainability at Schlitz Park
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Sustainability at Schlitz Park
When developers first set out to revitalize the old Schlitz Brewery in 1983, they had a vision to build a community that would drive economic growth for all of Milwaukee while keeping the city’s historic legacy intact. More than 30 years later, that vision remains. Once a shuttered brewery, the 46-acre Schlitz Park is now a vibrant home to more than 40 companies and nearly 4,500 employees. Tenants include Milwaukee’s leading for- profit corporations and non-profit organizations that provide financial services, health care, employment, education, technology and other important services to Wisconsin and beyond.
Schlitz Park has a demonstrated commitment to sustainability and environmentally-friendly values and practices. The families that first purchased the Schlitz Brewery property as part of The Brewery Works, Inc. organization continue to own and manage the property today. This stable and secure leadership team has always been at the forefront of advances in commercial development and tenant amenities while respecting and protecting the heritage of our historic, riverfront location.
Tenants who choose Schlitz Park will benefit from a wide range of opportunities to pursue a sustainable work style.
Since first purchasing the property in 1983, Schlitz Park owners have always celebrated, respected and sought to preserve the history and heritage of the property while enhancing the buildings and grounds for future and sustained use.
The development of Schlitz Park has spurred more than $800 million in new investment in the property’s surrounding areas, more than any other area in the city of Milwaukee.
Schlitz Park’s success and the impact it has had on surrounding communities has been recognized with numerous local and national honors including the Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence for Large Scale Rehabilitation and the Urban Economic Development Association’s National Economic Development Partnership Award.
Most of the buildings in the former brewery have been renovated and today providing a modern workplace for some of Milwaukee’s most prominent companies and organizations that provide financial, health care, employment, education, technical and other important services.
The Brewery Works, Inc., 1555 N. RiverCenter Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212 414.272.6302 www.schlitzpark.com @schlitzpark (Twitter) 2
With more than $60 million in upgrades and renovations completed in 2014, Schlitz Park continues to rethink, invest, and transform the 46-acre landmark office community to offer space and amenities tenants most desire.
As part of its most recent renovation, Schlitz Park pursued sustainable construction practices including recycling nearly all construction waste generated and selecting environmentally- friendly building materials including low- and no-VOC paints, dual-flush toilets and auto activated faucets. The reuse of existing materials, where practical, included doors, frames, hardware, ceiling tiles, ceiling grid, toilet fixtures, toilet partitions and retrofitting existing lighting fixtures to high efficiency performance.
Renovated buildings, such as the Stock-House (including the former Executive Building), feature HVAC equipment with variable frequency drive (VFD) motors and variable air volume (VAV) systems. When the building is at “part load” (95% of the time when it isn’t super-hot or super- cold) the system uses VFDs on the fan motors and pumps to slow down the equipment and save energy (and indirectly power plant CO2 emissions). Additionally, occupant comfort is increased as the new electronic controls system adjusts the speed of the units and airflows/temperatures relative to the spaces.
Until 2014, the Stock-House was a massive, window-less building vacant since 2005. Now this former storage building features modern, open office layouts with 12-foot high ceilings. Large windows offer unique and expansive panoramic downtown views that deliver natural daylight deep into the building.
Outside, Schlitz Park has added more green and public spaces including the one-acre Brewhouse Square which opened in 2014.
Brewhouse Square occupies the footprint of the former Brewhouse. After concluding they could no longer preserve the building as it was, developers thoughtfully and reluctantly demolished the Brewhouse. Guided by an urban archeologist, crews meticulously salvaged thousands of building elements to memorialize the functional and architectural heritage of the former brewery. Nearly 98% of the Brewhouse materials were recycled or reused, including the salvage of nearly 1,500 distinct artifacts, many of which can be found reintroduced into the campus’ landscape architecture. Additionally, about 75,000 cream city bricks were reclaimed for Schlitz Park and other construction projects. Concrete was ground up and used as a base for adjacent street improvements and Brewhouse Square.
Current Sustainable Practices Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air named Schlitz Park its 2016 Commuter Champion for efforts to promote sustainable transportation to and from Schlitz Park.
Schlitz Park tenants are conveniently connected to miles of walking and bicycle trails including the Milwaukee RiverWalk.
The Brewery Works, Inc., 1555 N. RiverCenter Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212 414.272.6302 www.schlitzpark.com @schlitzpark (Twitter) Schlitz Park Sustainability/3
Schlitz Park’s central location provides easy access to public transportation, which helps reduce pollution from automobile use. In recent years, we lobbied and secured new Washington County Commuter Express and Ozaukee County Express stops at Schlitz Park. We also developed an interactive Schlitz Park Commuter Transit Map website to help tenants and visitors plan their non-automobile commuting route and developed the Schlitz Park Guide to Suburban Commuter Transportation Options to serve as a further resource. This guide is distributed to all key tenant contacts and available at the Schlitz Park website
Schlitz Park provides preferred parking for electric and alternative-fuel vehicles and in 2011 was the first corporate property in the state to provide a free electric vehicle (EV) charging station to make commuting by EV more feasible. While the service remains free for tenants, the station has become so popular non-tenants are charged a small cost for use to help ensure station availability for tenants.
In 2015, Schlitz Park became the first corporate office campus in the country to receive the League of American Bicyclists distinguished Gold level Bicycle Friendly Business (BFBSM) designation.
Schlitz Park’s extensive bike-to/at-work program provides parking for nearly 95 bicycles in more than a dozen locations including weather protected areas and facilities for showers and changing. Schlitz Park has worked closely with the Wisconsin Bike Fed since 2011 to develop and promote a bicycle-friendly workplace including providing resources and classes that offer route guidance and safe cycling skills.
Another key partner in Schlitz Park’s Bicycle Friendly program is the non-profit DreamBikes, which works with local youth providing both jobs and bikes. DreamBikes has partnered with Schlitz Park since 2012 to provide free daily bike rentals to tenants to help reduce the number of car trips used for short errands as well as encourage exercise breaks. In 2015, nearly 100 tenant bike tune-ups were performed.
For those who don’t commute to and from work by bike, or don’t have one, Schlitz Park has offered tenants free daily bike rentals since 2012. Nearly 60 tenants rented bikes in 2015, some even daily.
Schlitz Park was one of first Bublr Bike Share Stations to open in 2014, and in 2015 more than 900 Bublr bikes were checked out. Schlitz Park provides tenants with a free Bublr Bike Friday once a month.
Schlitz Park has expanded on-site dining options to reduce meal-time travel off campus and provide a wider variety of fresh, healthy food choices. In 2014, Schlitz Park re-opened the historic Brown Bottle restaurant in the recently renovated Stock-House as well as The Brew, a grab and go café. In the RiverCenter, the Schlitz Park Café sources many ingredients and products locally. The RiverCenter is also home to Coffee With A Conscience, a Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) social business venture.
The Brewery Works, Inc., 1555 N. RiverCenter Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212 414.272.6302 www.schlitzpark.com @schlitzpark (Twitter) 4
In June 2015, Schlitz Park began a partnership with Fondy Food Center, a well-known nonprofit whose mission is to connect neighborhoods to fresh, local food, to run a weekly pop-up farmers market from June to October. This partnership provides our tenants with the opportunity to shop at work for fresh, locally grown and affordable produce while also supporting our commitment to sustainability, tenant health and well-being.
To promote a healthy lifestyle, the property has three onsite fitness centers with private changing rooms and showers. The fitness centers have been outfitted with low-flow, dual-flush toilets to reduce water use.
Schlitz Park partners with the Milwaukee Y (YMCA) to provide free well-being services to tenants including onsite coaching.
Schlitz Park hosts several fitness events open to both tenants and the public with proceeds benefitting local charities including environmental and social service organizations.
Smoke-free buildings and grounds provide a healthier atmosphere for tenants and visitors.
A green cleaning program helps to protect occupant health by preventing potentially hazardous cleaning substances from being introduced into the building.
A comprehensive recycling program reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill.
For more than 20 years, Schlitz Park has used river water to cool the entire office campus and Golda Meier Upper Campus buildings. The water is fed through the HVAC system and then returned to the river, saving both fresh water and energy. This process also eliminates the need for a cooling tower, which also reduces both pollution and noise on the site.
Landscaping with a combination of native and adaptive plants to help reduce water use while trees shrubs and perennials help to clean the air and scrub out CO2.
Many tenant spaces have occupancy sensors to help reduce energy use and have purchased ENERGY STAR rated-equipment.
Tenant spaces are individually metered to allow more direct control of electrical expenses and provide direct financial benefits to tenants for conserving energy.
The Brewery Works, Inc., 1555 N. RiverCenter Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212 414.272.6302 www.schlitzpark.com @schlitzpark (Twitter) Schlitz Park Sustainability/5
Many tenants share Schlitz Park’s commitment to sustainability; for example, ManpowerGroup’s LEED Gold headquarters is located here, and new tenants, such as the Milwaukee Bucks, have configured their office spaces to maximize day lighting.
Look for updates to this document in the future. For more information about Schlitz Park’s sustainable practices, please contact Sam Denny at 414-316-5797.-
The Brewery Works, Inc., 1555 N. RiverCenter Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212 414.272.6302 www.schlitzpark.com @schlitzpark (Twitter)