Saint Ann Court is a LEED registered 26-story high rise office project being developed by Dallas-based Harwood International. Saint Ann Court is located in the Uptown area of Dallas, Texas, adjacent to Dallas\' Central Business District. The Saint Ann Court project team is currently expecting to acquire 38 LEED points on the Core and Shell v2.0 Registered Project Checklist. At the completion of design, the building was in full compliance with LEED Standards and received a building permit prior to June 26, 2007. Due to escalating construction costs and negotiations with the general contractor, the project was not registered with the USGBC after June 26th. The energy modeling for credit EAc1 Optimized Energy Performance was completed last week and the building is currently only 8% more efficient than the baseline design. The first thought was to change the glass since 65% of the building is glass. This solution may no longer be an option, as the Owner has also made move-in date commitments to tenants that do not allow time for losing our production slot at the glass manufacturer should a change in glass be necessary. The mechanical/electrical design engineer is in the process or reviewing efficiency of the HVAC systems to see if additional reduction in energy consumption is possible. This high profile urban project attempting a Gold level certification is in jeopardy of not achieving any certification level with the additional energy performance requirements becoming effective after design and permitting of the project was completed. We believe we can reach the 10.5% in Eac1 with additional insulation installed behind the glass and precast concrete spandrel panels and modifications to the HVAC equipment. We are, however, respectfully requested a variance for this project to continue attempting Gold level certification under the pre June 26, 2007 date allowing 1 credit minimum to be met under Eac1. Harwood International has always constructed developments under strict guidelines to create high performance green buildings. Harwood has made LEED certification a standard requirement in the Harwood Master PD as well as other PD\'s within its Uptown holdings. At completion, the Harwood master planned development will encompasses 8 million square feet of city approved, LEED Certified square footage in 20 development projects. Among the five operating buildings located in Uptown Dallas that Harwood has developed, many have received awards. The Rolex building recently won the Dallas Toby "Office Building of the Year" Award, and the Centex building received the EPA Energy Star award as well as it being rated the most energy efficient office building in the U.S. Harwood International has never taken tax dollars from the city, and continues to beautify the area by planting their own trees and incorporating 6.5 acres of parks on private property at owner\'s cost.