2025 California Green Building Awards
Honor in Carbon
At Prologis Nexus in San Leandro, the project team transformed a 1960s industrial site into a model of adaptive reuse and low-carbon redevelopment. Targeting LEED Platinum, the project achieved an estimated 40% reduction in embodied carbon through material reuse and low-impact design.
Collaboration was central to success. The project’s LEED and embodied carbon teams worked in close partnership with the owner, design team, and contractors from day one, treating sustainability goals as shared objectives, not add-ons. The carbon team’s early analysis informed the design and material strategy, while the LEED team aligned documentation and modeling to ensure credits reflected actual performance. Early collaboration with the structural engineer led to slab depth optimization and the use of insulated metal panels, while local suppliers provided low-carbon concrete and regionally sourced materials. The team reused 42% of the existing building structure - including roughly 65% of existing concrete walls and foundations and reducing slab thickness from nine to six inches through optimized, high-performance mixes - not only conserved materials but significantly reduced embodied carbon and cost, making the project essentially cost neutral compared to conventional new construction.