Citadel Relocates Corporate Offices to Sustainable Facility; Seeking LEED CI Platinum Certification

1725 Victory Boulevard 

Glendale, California, 91201

Citadel is proud to announce the relocation of its corporate headquarters to 1725 Victory Boulevard, Glendale, California 91201.  The 8000 square foot structure was originally built in 1973 for light manufacturing use, and was eventually occupied by Knucklehead's Inc., the retail licensing arm of the firm founded by The Three Stooges.  The tenant space 1725, which occupies 4,446 square feet of the building, has been vacant for an extended period of time, and upon purchase was neglected and in despair.  Citadel has invested $2.5 Million to transform the space into a first class sustainable office building, re-designing it into an inspirational landmark that both complements and improves the up-and-coming, mixed-use neighborhood.

The goal of the building renovations was to demonstrate to the business community that "going green" makes sound economic sense.  The office space features many innovative sustainable design solutions that reduce operating costs, energy use, water consumption, and carbon footprint; which enhance marketability, increase employee productivity and well-being, and serve as an asset to the entire building and neighborhood-at-large.  The sustainable vision was incorporated in every aspect and area of the re-design, including the tenant space at 1727 Victory.

Because of this vision, Citadel is currently seeking the highest possible certification level for LEED for Commercial Interiors (version 2.0), Platinum Level.  If awarded, Citadel's building will be the first privately held LEED certified building in Glendale, the highest LEED-level certified building in Glendale, and only the 5th Platinum level Commercial Interiors Version 2.0 certified building in the State of California.

Major improvements and sustainable design features include:

• A solar array forecasted to provide 45,000 khw of power per year (enough to power all of Citadel’s and their tenant’s space, and net meter an additional 16% back to Glendale Water and Power to supply the community 
• New energy efficient double-paned exterior windows and storefronts for both tenant spaces 
• Skylights over both tenant spaces for increased daylight  
• Low-emissivity cool roof 
• New energy-efficient lighting design to reduce lighting power density by more than 35% below the standard 
• Native, drought-resistant landscaping with drip irrigation system 
• New packaged air handling systems (SER 14) to reduce utility costs, increase building operational efficiencies by 37% and provide improved interior air quality and climate control 
• Use of low-VOC paints, adhesives, and carpet systems 
• Abatement and removal of existing asbestos 
• New water-efficient interior plumbing and bathroom fixtures including waterless urinals able to reduce the water use for the Citadel space by 62.69%  
• New designated preferred parking for carpools, low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles  
• Awnings to reduce urban heat island effect  
• Though Fundamental Commissioning is a prerequisite on a LEED project, Citadel decided to also go through Enhanced Commissioning because it can detect MEP systems that were designed to be highly efficient but were either not installed or are not working to full design potential  
• Recycled Content - 20%-30% of the materials used on this project are comprised of recycled content. Additionally, between 50‐95% of the waste created during the construction process was recycled 
• At least 10% of materials used on the project were extracted and manufactured locally within 500 miles of the site  
• Between 50‐95% of the wood used on the project was FSC certified  
• Above And Beyond LEED True Sustainability - Whole Building Improvement‐ Went above and beyond LEED by actually doing improvement on entire building including tenants, not just Citadel space 
• Achieved more points than able to use‐ SSc1 allows for 3 points. We achieved more than 4 points because the building was designed to be as efficient and sustainable as possible, regardless of how many of these points were being used for LEED purposes 
• Located within a 0.25 mile radius of two bus routes, and eight different stops, to encourage alternative transportation  
• Green Power‐ Though the highly efficient design of the building coupled with the installation of such a large solar array will create all of the power needed for the entire building, Citadel is still purchasing Renewable Energy Credits for 50% of the power needs for 2 years
  

Call us to schedule a viewing of our new facility today!  818-246-2707

Citadel's New Space!

Citadel is excited to announce the recent acquisition of an 8,000 square foot office building in the City of Glendale. The site was previously the headquarters for Knuckleheads, Inc., the retail licensing and merchandising arm for the Three Stooges.  Renovations are currently underway, with an estimated completion date of November, 2009.  The goal of the building renovations is to achieve certification at the LEED-CI v2.0 at "GOLD" or "PLATINUM" level.  Upon completion, Citadel's building will be the first privately held LEED certified building, and the highest level certified building, in Glendale, California, Los Angeles County's third-largest city.

Major planned improvements include increases to building energy, water, and overall operational efficiency.  Stay tuned for more detailed information on this exciting project, as well as a tentative open house to be held in November, 2009.

August, 2009 - Citadel Named 18th Best Company To Work For in LA, by Los Angeles Business Journal

Citadel was named the #18th Best Place to Work in LA, by the Los Angeles Business Journal.  The award's intent is to identify the best places of employment in Los Angeles County, benefiting the region's economy, its workforce, and businesses.

Citadel was recognized in the medium-sized category for excelling in:

• - Employee Satisfaction
• - Employee Growth Opportunities
• - Employee Benefits
• - Employee Training

The first part of the award was an evaluation of each nominated company's workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics and the second part consisted of an employee survey to measure employee experience. "To truly be considered a great place to work, a company must do more than give its workers generous benefits and a good salary," said Richard Clough, LA Business Journal. "The Best Places to work often foster an environment of respect and recognition rooted in interpersonal relationships among employees at all levels."

Best Companies Group managed the survey process with assistance from ModernThink LLC, who analyzed the data to determine the rankings. Citadel was honored at the Best Places to Work in LA awards reception on August 5, 2009, hosted by the Los Angeles Business Journal at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

Citadel Awarded GSA Environmental Services Contract

Citadel was recently awarded a contract for the United States General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule to offer selected environmental services.

The GSA Schedule establishes government contracts with commercial firms, which helps federal government offices order services directly from GSA Schedule firms, creating a link between customers and the services they require at predetermined pricing. Approval for the supplier requires an extensive and rigorous screening process to ensure that a company can provide both superior quality and competitive pricing.

"By earning GSA certification, we are now positioned to offer government agencies the ability to purchase and utilize our services without having to jump through hoops" said Loren Witkin, Principal of Citadel. "Completing the certification process is a win-win situation for us and government organizations who need our services. We benefit by appearing on various schedules saying that we are approved to supply government organizations and these agencies benefit from shorter lead-times, optimal convenience and lowest available pricing."

Suppliers who wish to do business with over 1,000 U.S. government agencies can use this schedule as a means to facilitate and streamline the procurement process.

Citadel E-Learning

Does your firm have a training system in place that effectively covers all aspects of Environmental, Health, and Safety, and Human Resources compliance? Does the system in place effectively educate the employee, and document completion of training? If your firm does not have a system like this in place, then look no further.

"CITADEL E-LEARNING" is an internet-based Learning and Management System featuring interactive, self-paced course modules and an integrated tracking and reporting infrastructure powered by PureSafety. Citadel E-Learning offers a cache of powerful tools to assist with implementation of your training programs that includes:

• Course Series options that help change behaviors, enhance workplace safety, culture initiatives, and prevent injuries; improve workforce performance; reduce your exposure to employment and labor law claims; and reduce exposure to regulatory citation and fines by providing a turn-key solution for implementation of compliance training programs. 
• More than 380 courses covering all aspects of Environmental, Health and Safety and Human Resources compliance, with the option for custom course modification and creation to best meet your needs.
• Effective and efficiently designed courses; the average course length is just 30-45 minutes, most are available in both English and Spanish for application in bilingual work environments.
• Continuous review and improvement; course content and images are updated routinely to maintain relevancy, regulatory compliance, and help meet your ever-changing training requirements.
• Turn-key compliance solutions that meet and exceed regulatory requirements for training; every course includes engaging learning activities designed to reinforce Employee knowledge of the subject matter, test that accurately measure retention, and completion documentation and certification.
• Citadel E-Learning, as a stand-alone solution, offers a level of flexibility that is unmatched in the world of traditional classroom and computer-based training. With simply computer and internet access, courses can be instantly added to a Library, assigned to an employee, and completion tracked and documented. As long as your employee has internet access, the training can be completed anywhere, anytime, and at their pace.
• In addition, the integration of Citadel E-Leaning into traditional Safety and Compliance programs greatly enhance effectiveness and efficiency. Engaging and relevant course modules easily supplement any existing training programs by invigoration employee interest. The comprehensive Learning Management System (LMS).

If you're interested in learning more about this program for your firm, please contact Kelley West at (818) 246-2707 or via email.