CITADEL AWARDS, PRESS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1st EDITION
From inauspicious beginnings to sharing a small office in Venice, California to becoming one of California’s leading environmental, health, safety, and consulting businesses – Citadel has provided a blueprint for success.
CITADEL ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC. TURNS 20
Citadel Environmental Services, Inc. an environmental, health, safety and sustainability consulting firm, headquartered in Glendale, California, proudly celebrates its 20th birthday this month. Founded by its Principal Loren Witkin in 1993, just five years after the EPA’s passing of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), Citadel immediately began providing EHS&S consulting services to high-profile clientele such as UCLA, Stanford, Northrop Grumman (at the time TRW), UCSB, and the US Navy. Citadel helped create a trend whereby small to mid-size consultants represented large institutional clients at a time when national consultants dominated the field. Citadel’s formula of adopting what the nationwide firms did well and combining it with the strengths of small businesses, such as strong client and employee loyalty, allowed Citadel to develop a dedicated following of other notable clients such as GE, Target, Macy’s, and a host of others, all of which remain clients today.
During its first 20 years, Citadel expanded by opening offices throughout the state and crisscrossed the US (and a few foreign countries as well) providing EHS&S consulting services for such iconic projects as the Griffith Observatory, UCLA Powell Library Seismic Reconstruction, Farmer’s Field, the Century, and others. In 2003, Citadel furthered its dedication to its employees by becoming one of the first employee-owned firms (ESOP) amongst its competitors. Citadel was also a trend setter by rehabilitating a dilapidated, vacant commercial structure into a LEED Platinum structure to be their Los Angeles-area headquarters. The structure (CI Version 2.0) was only one of 10 in the state of California and one of 89 in the entire US at the time.
Early this year, Citadel was again honored to be recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Los Angeles, underscoring Mr. Witkin’s philosophy that, “It’s not what we say about ourselves, it’s what others say about us” that matters. Mr. Witkin added, “it’s been such an amazing ride with such incredible employee-owners, clients, and vendors, that I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years bring.”
Citadel Gives Back to Girls, Inc.
We are working with a local non-profit in Orange County called Girls, Inc.. Every year, Girls, Inc. collects donations of school supplies (pens, pencils, backpacks, etc.) to give to students within the community. This organization does wonderful things for girls aged 4-18 years, including after school programs, summer camps, and programs on a variety of topics designed to help girls become self-sufficient, educated, and empowered. Why girls only? Research has shown that gender-specific programs such as this one, really allow girls to learn about what their real interests are in a comfortable environment, free from distractions or comparisons. Ultimately, their goal is to build stronger communities by inspiring girls to be scientists, moms, leaders, entrepreneurs, CEO’s….anything they want.
Help make a difference in a young girl's life by donating your time, making donations and/or school supplies to Girl's Inc. All of their information is provided on the flyer below.
Nonresidential Building Energy Disclosure Rule (Assembly Bill 1103) Delayed Until September
The California Energy Commission on Thursday delayed energy-use benchmarking until September 1st of this year. Energy-use benchmarking will be required before sales, full-building leases and financing of California commercial buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, expanding to smaller buildings next year, under a new state law.
The postponement is due to the primary tool for compliance being offline for upgrades as the first phase of the regulations were to take effect.
Under the Nonresidential Building Energy Use Disclosure Program (www.energy.ca.gov/ab1103) — better known by its enacting legislation, Assembly Bill 1103 — building owners will have to give a prospective property buyer or full-building tenant three reports from the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager online software at least 24 hours before execution of the sale or lease. A prospective lender would have to receive those documents along with the loan application. Also, a compliance form is submitted to the California Energy Commission.
AB 1103 takes effect for 50,000-plus-square foot buildings on September 1st of this year, for those larger than 10,000 square feet on January 1st, 2014 and on July 1, 2014, for buildings larger than 5,000 square feet, the smallest for which Portfolio Manager will generate a 1–100 score. Multifamily housing is excluded from the compliance requirement.
What are the benefits for buyers/tenants:
- Make educated decision
- Compare benchmark ratings
- Estimate utility cost
What are the benefits for owners:
- Identify "energy hogs"
- Prioritize energy retrofit
- Cut costs
- Make efficient buildings more attractive
If you are interested in learning more about AB1103 and/or would like to inquire about setting up a consultation, please contact us at (818) 246-2707.