LEED Roundup: Owens Corning, Bayer, More

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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.

Owens Corning’s global headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, have achieved Gold certification under LEED for existing buildings (LEED-EB). The building, designed by Cesar Pelli and built in 1996, won silver under LEED-EB in 2007.

The company manufactures insulation, roofing and other building materials, much of it energy efficient.

The Kent Denver School, a prep school for grades 6-12 in Englewood, Colo., has achieved what it says is the first LEED Platinum free-standing dining facility in the world. The majority of the facility’s waste is fully composted or recycled, and the dining hall uses about half the energy and water of a typical building, according to food service company Sodexo, which worked on the project with Kent Denver.

The hall will also serve up fruits from the school’s 100-tree orchard, vegetables from its outdoor garden and herbs from its living herb wall.

Iowa-based Frontier Natural Products Co-op has won LEED Silver status for a 7,200 square foot renovation at its manufacturing facility. The renovation included a re-finished concrete floor, energy-efficient envelope lighting and more efficient heating, venting and air conditioning (HVAC), consisting of water-source heat pumps and commercial roof-top units.

The company said the measures will conserve more than 77,000 kWh compared to a similar, conventional building.

Flush and flow fixtures in restrooms achieve 35 percent water efficiency compared to conventional fixtures, Frontier said. Bio-swales, detention basins and an on-site wetland will capture and filter more than 90 percent of the site’s average annual rainfall.

The project also reused 100 percent of the existing building’s skin, roofing and flooring. The project includes a rapidly renewable bamboo-plank stairway, uses cradle-to-cradle certified furniture and features a reflective thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roofing membrane.

Finally, Bayer is aiming for Gold-level LEED for commercial interiors (LEED-CI) certification for a $17 million renovation project (pictured) at its U.S. headquarters in Pittsburgh. The planned improvements focus on two buildings that house 825 of the 1,500 employees at Bayer’s suburban Robinson Township campus.

The buildings will feature open-area work spaces using Bayer MaterialScience’s Makrolon MAK clearn polycarbonate, which allows natural light to filter throughout the workplace. LED fixture lenses and architectural panels will also use polycarbonate, which Bayer invented.

Another Bayer MaterialScience product, Technogel, will be incorporated into seating throughout the buildings. Bayer says this polyurethane material improves ergonomics. The buildings will also use GThurm energy efficient windows, recently launched by Graham Architectural Products. These use a Bayer polyurethane resin to offer thermal insulation.

And low-flow plumbing will reduce water usage by 20 to 40 percent, Bayer said.

Environment + Energy Leader