NAIOP Sustainable Development Award Honors Bissell for Boyle and Harris Office Buildings

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, today announced that it has selected North Carolina-based Bissell as the recipient of its annual Sustainable Development Award. Bissell is being honored for the Boyle and Harris office project, twin ten-story towers comprised of more than 500,000 square feet of Class A office space with associated structured parking on 11.96 acres located in Ballantyne Corporate Park, Charlotte, N.C.

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The award will be presented during a special ceremony on Wednesday, October 19, at NAIOP's Development '11: The Annual Meeting for Commercial Real Estate, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"This project exemplifies the dedication of our members to create innovative and sustainable projects that contribute value not only to the developments themselves, but to the community and people they serve," said NAIOP President and CEO Thomas J. Bisacquino.

The Boyle and Harris buildings were awarded LEED® Gold Certification for the project's unique green design and construction features which include:

• Use of non-VOC materials and low-flow water fixtures
• Higher levels of indoor air quality
• Use of 100 percent recycled steel materials
• Exposure to natural light
• Reflective roofs to reduce heat absorption
• Use of captured rainwater to reduce water usage
• Use of native and adaptable landscaping
• Use of solar heating panels

Founded in 1964, Bissell is widely recognized as the principal developer of Charlotte's Ballantyne and SouthPark developments – two of the Southeast's largest and most successful mixed-use communities. The company has had a primary focus during the past 15 years on the development of the 2,000-acre Ballantyne master-planned community. Ballantyne features numerous residential options in addition to schools, medical offices, childcare facilities, retail, restaurants, hotels, fitness facilities and more than 3.5 million square feet of commercial office space. Bissell's Ballantyne Corporate Park features more than one million square feet of LEED Gold certified office buildings, representing one of the largest commitments to the development of sustainable, fully speculative office space in the Southeast.

NAIOP established the Sustainable Development Award in 2005 to recognize the growing number of firms engaged in green development. Applicants were judged on a number of criteria, including company commitment to sustainability, project history, economic analysis, water efficiency, energy efficiency, accessibility, innovation and other sustainable attributes. Entries for the award were reviewed by industry leaders.

SOURCE NAIOP