February 20, 2015, BALTIMORE, MD – The Dolben Company, Inc. and Atapco Properties, Inc. are proud to announce that Verde at Howard Square, a LEED Platinum certified property, has won the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC Maryland) People’s Choice Award, and was also a finalist for the Residential Project Award. The awards ceremony, held last evening at Baltimore’s Horseshoe Casino, celebrates projects, businesses, members and partners demonstrating excellence in high performance and healthy building design, environmental stewardship and community impact.
A joint venture project between The Dolben Company, Inc. and Atapco Properties, Verde at Howard Square is a 299 unit luxury apartment community located in Elkridge, Maryland. Verde at Howard Square is Maryland’s first LEED Platinum apartment community. Verde is part of the larger Howard Square project, a 47 acre mixed-use development which at full build-out, will be made up of approximately 409 424 townhomes and 600 apartments along with retail and commercial components, as well as six acres of amenity and park space.
The project team has carefully designed the site to include multiple sustainable initiatives which include 100% of on-site storm water is captured then stored and treated by underground Storm Tech technology, a 220 KW Photovoltaic solar panel array on the roof of the parking garage providing approximately 11% of the building's total energy consumption, and the building uses 40% less water and electricity than standard apartment buildings.
The nominations for the awards were judged based on a series of sustainable measures, including innovation in sustainable design, environmental impact, social benefit, community involvement and achievement within green building rating systems. Atapco Properties’ Vice President of Acquisitions and Development, Russ Powell, was on hand to receive the award and notes that “Verde at Howard Square is a testament to Atapco’s commitment to sustainability. At the end of 2014, we increased our green properties by a factor of 11, Verde being one of them, and this helps us to continue our goal of a fully sustainable portfolio.”
Andrew K. Dolben, Executive Vice President of The Dolben Company, Inc., added, “We are very proud of our team’s efforts in bringing our collective vision for this project to life. The Verde team has gone above and beyond in every way, and receiving the People’s Choice Award is a tremendous honor.”
About the United States Green Building Council Maryland (USGBC Maryland)
Established in 2004 as the Baltimore Regional Chapter, the U.S. Green Building Council Maryland Chapter is a 501(c)3 non-profit, charitable organization, committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for the State of Maryland through cost efficient and energy saving green buildings. USGBC MD is the premier forum and network for a diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations, nonprofit organizations, elected officials, concerned citizens, teachers, students and more.
About Atapco Properties. Inc.
Atapco Properties is a Baltimore-based, full-service commercial development company that has been in the real estate business for over five decades and currently owns and operates properties in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Atapco’s mission at all of its properties is to create environments for success through delivering and managing high quality real estate projects that provide exceptional value to customers, stakeholders and the community at large. For Atapco, sustainable development means developing and operating properties in environmentally and socially responsible ways that create shared long-term value and growth for all stakeholders. Atapco is committed to this concept and looks at each new project as an opportunity to incorporate integrated “green” approaches that can maximize both economic and environmental performance. For more information on Atapco Properties, please visit www.atapcoproperties.com.
About The Dolben Company, Inc.
With offices in Massachusetts and Maryland and more than 12,500 residential units throughout the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions, The Dolben Company, Inc. is built on a deep heritage of performance and stewardship. Since 1929, four generations of the Dolben family have upheld a proud tradition of unparalleled success and profitability, fulfilling the property and investment needs for a wide array of businesses, financial institutions, organizations and private investors. For more information on The Dolben Company, visit www.dolben.com.