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TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate's One Boston Place Awarded First LEED-EB Gold Certification for Operations and Maintenance

TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate's One Boston Place Awarded First LEED-EB Gold Certification for Operations and Maintenance

Published 11-17-08

Submitted by TIAA-CREF

NEW YORK, NY. - November 17, 2008 - TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate announced today that One Boston Place in Boston is the first building to earn the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold designation from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance. LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance is a rating system that recognizes buildings with maximum operational efficiency and minimal environmental impact.

In addition to being the first building to achieve LEED-EB: Operations & Maintenance Gold certification, One Boston Place joins fewer than 100 buildings in the world that have earned LEED-EB certification. Since the building was acquired by TIAA-CREF and SITQ in 2002, and managed by CB Richard Ellis, water consumption has been reduced by 12,000,000 gallons per year or approximately 50 percent and the building's energy-related carbon footprint has been reduced by 3,000 tons per year or approximately 67 percent.

"We continually seek improvements to our properties that add value for our tenants and clients and reduce the impact on the environment," said Tom Garbutt, Managing Director and Head of TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate. "We are very proud to earn the first LEED-EB Gold certification in this area at One Boston Place and we remain committed to improving the energy efficiency of our 43 million square foot commercial real estate portfolio by ten percent by 2010."

"The partnership between CB Richard Ellis, TIAA-CREF and SITQ was integral to our success in improving the energy efficiency and operating performance of One Boston Place," added Emily Batchelder, General Manager for CBRE at One Boston Place. "We look forward to continuing our work to maintain and further improve upon the gains we’ve made to date."

To earn LEED-EB Gold certification, building staff performed a comprehensive review of building operations with a focus on occupant health and environmental sustainability. TIAA-CREF, with co-owner SITQ and property manager CB Richard Ellis, has incorporated green cleaning techniques, introduced a tenant recycling program, and performed a comprehensive re-commissioning of all base-building systems. In addition, the management team has offered in-house tenant sustainability consultations and established LEED-compliant standards for the construction of new office space within the building.

The USGBC's LEED Green Building Rating System(TM) encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. Commercial buildings, as defined by standard building codes, are eligible for certification under six different categories. These include the LEED for New Construction, LEED for Existing Buildings, LEED for Commercial Interiors, LEED for Retail, LEED for Schools and LEED for Core & Shell rating systems.

One Boston Place is the city's third-highest office tower, with more than 800,000 square feet of office space and nearly three dozen tenants, including Bank of New York Mellon, Boston Capital Corporation, Robinson & Cole and Wells Fargo.

One Boston Place is the 2008 Building Owners and Managers Association's Mid-Atlantic Office Building of the Year and received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR award in 2007.

About TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate
TIAA-CREF is one of the largest institutional real estate investors in America, managing a global portfolio of direct and indirect investments totaling approximately $68 billion (9/30/08). TIAA-CREF originated its first commercial mortgage in 1934 and began direct investment in commercial real estate in 1947. Today, TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate invests in and actively manages real estate on behalf of individual and institutional clients worldwide. TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate's property portfolio consists of over $22 billion (9/30/08) in equity investments in office, retail, industrial, and residential properties located across the United States, Canada and Western Europe. TIAA-CREF is a national financial services organization and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields with $398 billion in combined assets under management (9/30/08).

About SITQ
SITQ is a real estate investment, management and development firm with a portfolio specializing primarily in office buildings and business parks. SITQ owns real estate assets of CAD $12.4 billion, consisting of 122 properties representing more than 39.6 million square feet of leasable space. A leader in the Canadian real estate industry, SITQ also owns assets in the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Germany.

SITQ is a real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Quebec. Its other shareholders are five leading Canadian pension funds. The Company employs nearly 400 people in its head office in Montreal, as well as its offices in Calgary (Canada), Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany) and Brussels (Belgium). For more information: www.sitq.com.

About CB Richard Ellis
CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), an S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world's largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2006 revenue). In 2007, CB Richard Ellis was named one of the 50 "best in class" companies by BusinessWeek, and one of the 100 fastest growing companies by Fortune.

CB Richard Ellis's New England practice has offices in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire. The firm serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers by offering strategic advice and execution for: property leasing and sales, property, facilities and project management, corporate services, debt and equity financing, investment management, valuation and appraisal, research and investment strategy, and consulting.

Please visit our Web site at www.cbre.com.

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products.

(C)2008 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) New York, NY 10017

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TIAA-CREF is a national financial services organization with more than $380 billion in combined assets under management (6/30/06) and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.

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