SAN DIEGO — Hines, an international real estate firm, and equity partner J.P. Morgan Asset Management, announced that the 13-story, 415,000-square-foot building under construction at La Jolla Commons in San Diego will become the nation’s largest net-zero energy office building to date. The new building will achieve net-zero on an annual basis through a combination of high-performance building design, directed biogas and on-site fuel cells that annually are expected to generate more electricity than the building and tenant will use. While there are other small net-zero buildings in the U.S., LPL Financial at La Jolla Commons will be the largest net-zero office building in the U.S. developed for lease.

The building will be fully leased and occupied by LPL Financial LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. It is being developed and will be owned by a partnership of Hines and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Construction is scheduled for completion in mid-2014.

The building design incorporates a highly efficient under-floor air system, advanced curtain wall materials, and a number of other features that reduce the energy required to operate the building. The fuel cells, from Bloom Energy, will generate approximately 5 million kWh of electricity annually, which is above what the building will consume. Total on-site energy production will be roughly equivalent to generating the electricity required to power 1,000 San Diego homes. The fuel cells will convert methane into electricity in a non-combustion process. Sufficient methane for the system will be acquired from carbon-neutral sources, such as landfills and wastewater plants, and placed into the natural gas pipeline system. This system will contribute to California’s goal of deriving a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.