GPX Realty Partners Goes Green throughout its Delaware Valley Portfolio
September 15, 2008

GPX embraces green and implements eco-friendly strategies across its commercial real estate and multifamily portfolio

Haverford, Pa.—September 15, 2008—One of the region’s leading real estate investment and advisory firms, GPX Realty Partners, L.P. (“GPX Realty Partners”), has launched a new green initiative to ensure its commercial and multifamily property portfolio are becoming more eco-friendly. The initiative includes five green components that GPX Realty Partners is striving to implement throughout its portfolio, including occupancy sensors for lighting, thermoplastic olefin (TPO) roofing, energy efficient HVAC units, environmentally-preferable-certified carpeting, and low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) interior paints.

“We feel very strongly about taking the initiative to perform a greener approach to development and investment. When performed successfully, these eco-friendly buildings can only benefit lessees and investors,” said Joe Conwell, Managing Director, GPX Realty Partners. “By incorporating our green initiative into our business practice, GPX further enhances our value proposition for stakeholders, while stepping up on their behalf to protect the environment.”

This initiative helps GPX do its part to positively impact our environment, while helping its investors earn higher returns. In fact, green-certified buildings generate 8.5 percent higher rents for an average size building, according to a recent study by the University of California, Berkley.

“The real estate industry is at a critical stage, where we’re trying to balance profitability with ecological sustainability,” says Christopher Canale, Vice President of Operations, GPX Realty Partners. “We’re approaching a tipping point, where best practices for green development will become standard protocols.”

Some of the new green building components that GPX Realty is striving to incorporate throughout its portfolio include:

• Occupancy lighting sensors to cut up to 90 percent of electricity use. These sensors detect when a space is occupied, shutting off shortly after everyone leaves the room, and turning on when someone enters. Energy savings from occupancy sensors varies from 13 percent in private offices to 90 percent in restrooms, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). GPX has installed these units in all newly renovated spaces. Of these sensors on all parabolic lighting in private offices, conference rooms, and storage areas in its buildings.
  
  
• Thermoplastic olefin (TPO) roofing to reduce cooling costs by 20 percent. Made from polymer (plastic) blends, TPO roofing is highly UV- and heat-resistant. This enables it to deflect 80 percent of solar radiation, reducing the amount of the heat absorbed through the roof and transferred into the building. Cooling costs are typically cut by 20 percent. The polymer blend also makes the roof durable under intense sunlight, and its smooth surface resists dirt and biological growth, which reduces degradation. TPO roofs can be recycled to produce manmade products like manmade slate roofing materials. GPX first installed TPO roofs on GPX FT Apartment Properties.
  
  
• HVAC units with 13 or 14 SEER to increase energy efficiency by 30 percent. SEER, or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, is a measure of how efficiently a HVAC unit operates over an entire season. Higher SEERs indicate higher efficiency, which lowers cooling costs. GPX is in the process of replacing all 9 and 10 SEER units in its buildings with 13 or 14 SEER units, which boosts energy efficiency by 30 percent. All new GPX investments will also have 13 or 14 SEER HVAC units.
  
  
• Environmentally Preferable-certified carpeting to support renewable resources. GPX uses Tandus brand carpeting, which is some of the greenest carpeting available. Tandus products are made of up to 37 percent from recycled products, and use 25 percent less yarn than the industry average. In fact, Tandus is the only commercial carpet brand to have all its recycled content product lines certified as Environmentally Preferable under the NSF-140 Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standards (SCAS) certification program. NSF-140 is the first certification program to evaluate the environmental impact of carpets, including manufacturing, installation, performance, and more. GPX has installed over 100,000 square feet of Tandus carpeting across in portfolio of properties.
  
  
• Low-VOC interior paints to reduce over 60 percent of toxic emissions. Indoor air is three times more polluted than outdoor air, and one of the top five hazards to human health, according to the EPA. Paints and finishes are among the leading causes because they release low-level toxic emissions known as VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) into the air for years after application. Low-VOC paints contain less than 200 grams per liter of VOCs, reducing pollution and making interior air safer to breath. GPX uses Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams’s Low-VOC paint in its buildings, which cut 60 to 65 percent of emissions without sacrificing durability.

These practices are only the latest green changes GPX has made to its business practice. The company has been increasing roofs’ R-values (insulation capability) by up to 50 percent at its properties since 2007. Higher R-values provides greater insulation to deflect exterior heat and reduce cooling usage and costs as well. GPX also recycles its construction debris wherever possible, including copper, aluminum, other metals, concrete, asphalt, tree and landscape waste. This has cut back on landfill contributions. GPX is continuing to explore additional green strategies and tactics, which it plans to roll out in the coming year, including an expanded recycling program.

About GPX Realty Partners, L.P.
GPX Realty Partners, L.P. is a private real estate investment and advisory firm, focused on the sponsorship, development and management of a diversified portfolio of real estate investments.

Learn more about GPX Realty Partners at www.gpxrealty.com or contact Joseph Conwell, Managing Director, at (215) 259-2500.

Press Contact:
Leigh Sperun
Senior Account Executive
Gregory FCA
(610) 228-2108

Company Contact:
Joseph S. Conwell
Managing Director    
GPX Realty Partners, L.P.
(215) 259-2500

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