Here’s the latest roundup of businesses that have earned the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
ConAgra Foods has won the LEED Platinum certification for its Lamb Weston processing facility in Delhi, La. ConAgra says this is the first frozen food manufacturing plant in the world to be certified LEED Platinum.
The plant opened in September 2010, and primarily processes sweet potatoes. Its environmental features include carpeting, cleaning products and paints low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs); more than 100 acres of open space; native plant species; priority parking for low-emission vehicles; and equipment projected to reduce energy consumption by 40 percent, compared to a typical plant.
The plant is also expected to reduce its natural gas demand by about one fifth by using biogas produced from wastewater.
Maryland-based ezStorage Corporation has won a LEED Gold rating for its newest self-storage location, in Elkridge, Md. It is the second LEED certification for the company.
SJP Properties has received LEED Gold certification for Eleven Times Square, a 1.1 million sq ft office and retail tower in Manhattan, the World Interior Design Network reports. The biggest tenant will be law firm Proskauer Rose, with 400,000 sq ft.
Sustainability features include an advanced air filtration system, glass curtain wall exterior and rainwater collection and recycling system.
The Marine Biological Laboratory's Loeb Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. has won LEED Gold status, the New England Business Bulletin says.
The $25 million renovation involved a complete gutting of the 66,000 sq ft building. It was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.
Sustainability features include envelope insulation and air barriers, reflective white roofing, efficient lighting design, energy-efficient heating, venting and air conditioning, waterless urinals, dual-flush toilets, low-flow faucets, materials low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and a water treatment system that reduces the volume of water needed to operate the cooling towers.
The project recycled 98 percent of construction demolition waste.
The Marine Science Research Building (pictured) at the University of California – Santa Barbara has also won LEED Gold status. The building originally achieved LEED certification in the New Construction category in 2006. Since then, engineers have been able to reduce its energy use by 44 percent, the university said, and have now won LEED certification in the Existing Building category.
The 60,542 sq ft building includes an efficient lighting system and controls, extensive energy and air quality metering, waterless urinals, low-flow sinks, drought-tolerant landscape, water reclamation for irrigation, passive ventilation in perimeter offices and renewable materials in carpet, wood fixtures and concrete.