LEED Points for Platinum: A Quick Profile of Green Buildings and Spaces

Say what you want about the ongoing arms race in LEED points, but there will always be a good and valid reason why these buildings and spaces are awarded with a Platinum rating, the highest credential given by USGBC.  Take a quick look at some of the greenest buildings and spaces today.

Pixel Building
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Builder: Grocon
Completed: 2010
LEED Points: 105/110

The Pixel Building in Melbourne. Photo from Greensource.construction.com

Don’t be fooled by Pixel’s gaudy appearance.  It’s not just some outrageous jellybean-hued shrapnel-studded installation art covering this entire four-level complex in Melbourne.  Those panels are actually there for a purpose: to harvest daylight, reduce glare, and provide shade from the sun’s heat.

Meanwhile underneath those colorful trappings is a high-performance interior that’s completely carbon-neutral and water-balanced (very important in drought-ridden Australia).  The building collects and filters rainwater for use in every floor, and through its innovative “Living Edge” planted beds, filters its own graywater as well, before dispersing it into the city’s sewer.  Blackwater is processed as well, through anaerobic digesters that produce methane gas for use as fuel for heating.  Finally, cooling terrace gardens, wind turbines on the roof, and a combo of fixed and tracking solar panels complete Pixel’s eco suaveness, making it a multi-awarded building in many green certification programs in Australia.

Jones Lang LaSalle
Location: Hong Kong
Completed: 2011
LEED Points:  95

Earning a total of 95 LEED points for Commercial Interiors, Jones Lang LaSalle’s Hong Kong renovated office is home to some 250 employees.  Their green solutions for a healthier and more productive workplace include optimal use of natural daylight, efficient layout, reduced energy use, and better indoor air quality through low-VOC materials.  The office, comprisig just two floors (27,068 square ft) of Three Pacific Place, actually surpassed USGBC’s own headquarters by one LEED point.

1315 Peachtree Street, Atlanta. Photo from www10.aeccafe.com

1315 Peachtree Street, Atlanta
Location: Georgia, U.S.A.
Builder: Perkins + Will
Completed: 2012
LEED Points: 95

1315 Peachtree Street may have been classified under New Construction in LEED but it’s actually a retrofitted building originally constructed in 1985.  Its ultragreen credentials: daylight and rainwater harvesting, and extensive LED lighting.  This modest building’s main green feature though is its trigeneration system that takes care of electricity, heating, and cooling.  To achieve this, gas microturbines were installed on the roof to generate both electricity and heat.  Those same turbines also are responsible for the building’s cooling.  Energy and water consumption is reduced by as much as 58 percent and 78 percent respectively.  Not yet fully carbon neutral and water-balanced as we would like it to be, but Perkins + Will innovative building re-use is certainly applaudable.

The very sustainable Helenowski Residence in Chicago. Photo from Jetsongreen.com

Helenowski Residence
Designer: Mariusz Bleszynski
Location: Chicago, U.S.A.
Completed: 2010
LEED Points: 119/136

The 3,300 sq feet Helenowski residence in Chicago is one of America’s greenest homes.    The renovation required a major overhaul that replaced all its inefficient systems with sustainable ones.  Needless to say, the obligatory solar panels and wind turbine were installed on the roof, which was also designed to collect rainwater.

For lighting, the house proudly relies on cold-cathode—the homeowner Jacek Helenowski happens to own a lighting fixture company that uses cold cathode, reputedly more durable than the already green LED lighting.   On top of that, only reclaimed materials like lumber, stones, and copper, and recycled content materials such as tiles and drywall were used for the house.

The Philip Merrill Environmental Center, the first ever LEED Platinum-awarded Building

The Philip Merrill Environmental Center
Location: Maryland, U.S.A
Operated by: Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Completed: 2001

Back in 2001 when LEED was still unheard of, a small two-storey building quietly and harmoniously situated itself in the Chesapeake Bay area.  Thus, the Philip Merrill Environmental Center in Maryland has the distinct honor of being the first building to be awarded the Platinum rating under the pilot version LEED-NC v.1.0.

Aside from its impressive low-impact and fully-harmonious siting, the Philip Merrill Environmental Center was constructed using recycled materials and renewable resources.  The building also scores points for its energy efficiency through passive and active solar panels, water conversation of up to 90{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab}, and optimal use of natural ventilation (a climate sensor lets building occupants know when its okay to open windows and let air in).

Despite the many revisions to LEED, it’s still safe to say that the Center is still one of the greenest buildings ever built, especially with its humble mission to protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Vestas
Location: Singapore
Builder: Space Matrix
Completed: 2001
LEED Points: 93

The Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas is first to achieve (Commercial Interior) CI Platinum in all of Singapore, thanks to renowned architecture firm Space Matrix.  Vestas’ commitment to green building is also echoed in their other offices worldwide.  For its Singapore branch, a 34,444 square ft office space, Vestas has instructed Space Matrix to make the workplace sustainable and yet fun, tech-savvy, and collaborative too.  On top of its already eco-friendly credentials courtesy of its power generating wind turbines, the Vestas office extensively uses recycled content material.  Natural daylight and wind are also maximized.  Meanwhile strategic use of plants and bright colors help create a positive working atmosphere.