LEED-certified "Green" building projects in Washington, DC

[revitalizer]

There is a growing number of LEED-certified projects in DC. I believe 15 projects have been certified in DC so far, and dozens more projects are registered and awaiting approval from the US Green Building Council.

The US Green Building Council link for DC LEED-certified projects is here: http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/Project/Ce...CategoryID=19&

The US Green Building Council link for DC projects that intend to seek LEED certification is here: http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/Project/Re...&CMSPageID=243

Plus, DC got its first LEED platinum project completed last year - The Sidwell Friends School. This is the highest level that a project can attain from US Green Building Council. Sidwell Friends School was also named a 2007 Top 10 Green project award winner from the American Institute of Architects.

http://www.sidwell.edu/about_sfs/greenbuilding.asp

Below is a photo I took of 1101 New York Avenue - a 393,000 square foot glass-facaded office building that was developed by Louis Dreyfus Property Group and designed by Kevin Roche. It is built to LEED Gold standards and is currently awaiting certification from the US Green Building Council. This building delivered in the first quarter of 2007.



1101 New York Avenue. Built to LEED Gold standards


While other cities around the country may get more press for this type of construction, DC is indeed a leader in this area, and I feel this fact is flying under the radar on the national scene.

Washington, DC is positioning itself as a leader in environmentally-friendly construction. DC also has the second largest amount of green roofs in the US, behind Chicago.

The largest building project under construction in DC that is being built to LEED standards is Constitution Center. Constitution Center, the former headquarters for the US Department of Transportation, is being renovated and will contain 1.4 million square feet of office space. It is being built to LEED silver requirements.



Constitution Center in SW DC. Being built to LEED silver standards
(Image courtesy of Davis Construction)


Closely following, in terms of size, is the new Nationals baseball stadium which is also being built to LEED requirements. It should be the first PRO sports stadium in the US to attain such a status. The new baseball stadium will contain over 1 million square feet of space.



New Nationals baseball stadium in Capitol Riverfront, DC
(Image courtesy of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission)


Here is a look at some other projects being built to LEED standards in DC. Both of these are already under construction.



Lafayette Tower in DC. Designed to LEED Gold standards. Occupancy in 2009.
(Image courtesy of the Louis Dreyfus Property Group)



1050 K Street. Designed to LEED Gold standards. Occupancy in 2008.
(Image courtesy of The Tower Companies)

I just wonder who will be cleaning the glass on all these new buildings...............

[PeterSmith]

Very cool. A recent newspaper article I read just named Seattle as the city having the most LEED certified buildings with over 1,100 in all. Portland has the most per capita with well over 1,000 as well. DC has a long way to go to catch up, but this is a start. Some of these look great.

[revitalizer]

Thanks for commenting PeterSmith. I was just on the US Green Building Council's website, and I counted 28 buildings in Portland, Oregon that were LEED-certified. Again, this is according to the USGBC. I know there is another competing organization certifying these new "green" buildings.

Look here:
http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/Project/Ce...CategoryID=19& and type in Portland, OR

Anyone familiar with this, please chime in. Is Portland following the other competing organization for certification and not the USGBC?

There are also hundreds of buildings in DC that contain green roofs, but they are not certified by the US Green Building Council.

[PeterSmith]

Nope, you're absolutely right, revitalizer. I mixed up the numbers in my head while recalling the article. The 1,100 number refers to number of LEED-unaccredited professionals in the city, not buildings. The number of buildings is somewhere around two or three dozen, but is expected to jump to potentially over 100 in the next few years.

Big difference there, sorry for the mistake.

[revitalizer]

No problem, PeterSmith! I appreciate your enthusiasm.

The reason why I say that DC's green movement is flying under the radar is because DC alone has 150 projects waiting to be LEED-certified right now. That is in addition to the 15 already approved.

I also did some more research and found that the DC community did not take to the Green Building Initiative because many organizations found them to be way too permissive.

The DC Council passed legislation last year requiring all new private commercial buildings over 50,000 square feet to be LEED certified starting in 2012. And, all city-owned commercial projects funded in 2008 and beyond have to be able to attain LEED certification. But, many developers are already making their projects LEED-ready in DC. The DC Council also went with the US Green Building Council LEED standards because they found them to be more stringent than alternative organizations like the Green Building Initiative.

[revitalizer]

And to show some Baltimore love, I counted four projects that have been certified by the US Green Building Council in Baltimore to date. There are about 30 more projects that are on the list to be certified at a later date.

[revitalizer]

For immediate release
NoMA BID news media contact: Leslie Braunstein
703/234-7762
info@lhbcommunications.com

DC’s NoMA Accepted into LEED Neighborhood Development Pilot

New Rating System Integrates Smart Growth, Urbanism, and Green Building Principles

Washington, D.C., August 8, 2007... The emerging NoMA (north of Massachusetts Ave.) neighborhood just north of Union Station and Capitol Hill has been accepted into the LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot program (LEED ND), being conducted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This new program integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building into the first national rating system for neighborhood design.

"We have a tremendous opportunity here in NoMA to literally build an entire neighborhood from scratch,” said Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. “And I am proud of the work that is being done to make sure what we create will be a model for sustainability in the 21st Century."

Many of NoMA’s major office, retail, and residential buildings -- a total of over 20 million square feet of space -- are being planned to meet LEED green building criteria. “NoMA ’s redevelopment embraces environmentally friendly building design and technology as well as smart growth principles, allowing people to live, work, and shop within walking distance of the U.S. Capitol and our city’s superior public transportation system,” said Elizabeth Price, President of the NoMA Business Improvement District (BID), which worked with the D.C. Office of Planning to secure NoMA’s participation in the LEED ND program.

Several of NoMA’s early development projects will participate in LEED ND on behalf of NoMA:

MRP Realty’s Washington Gateway, a project with one million square feet of office, apartment, hotel, and retail space, is slated to break ground in second quarter 2008. The office component will be built for Gold LEED certification and the other uses will be designed to LEED standards.
StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital will break ground later this year on the first phase of its 2.3 million square feet Constitution Square mixed-use development including office, residential, and retail space. The office component will be built for Silver LEED certification and the residential component will be designed to LEED standards.
A 218-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel, under construction for delivery in 2009, will have a green roof and other environmentally friendly features. It is part of Marriott’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40,000 tons annually.
Other NoMA projects have also made strong commitments to sustainable design:

The General Services Administration is seeking LEED certification for the new Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives headquarters.
Tishman Speyer’s 1100 and 1150 First Street projects, with a total of 670,000 SF of office space and 30,000 SF of retail space, are being designed to receive Silver LEED certification. 1100 First Street is scheduled to break ground this summer for delivery in 2009.
J Street Development is designing all three of its NoMA projects to meet LEED certification: a 90,000 SF office condominium building at 111 K Street to deliver in early 2009, a 200,000 square foot boutique office condominium at 100 K Street to deliver in 2010, and planned redevelopment of a warehouse located at 1111 N. Capitol Street.
The first phase of JBG’s Capitol Square is in the early planning stages to participate in the LEED program. Capitol Square will include up to 1.6 million square feet of mixed-use space.
Participation in the LEED ND pilot program is an opportunity for NoMA and other selected neighborhoods to receive third-party recognition for incorporating smart growth and green design principles. Feedback from the pilot program will be used to refine the rating system. LEED ND is a collaborative effort that includes the USGBC, the Congress for New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In addition to LEED ND, the District’s Office of Planning has launched the NoMA Sustainability Study (ecoNoMA), which will recommend neighborhood-scale strategies that promote sustainable design, including improved energy efficiency, water conservation, stormwater management, transportation, and recycling. Together, LEED-ND and ecoNoMA put NoMA on the forefront of the sustainable development movement that brings government, community, and business leaders together and looks beyond individual building impacts to neighborhood–wide solutions.

The NoMA BID is bounded generally by Massachusetts Avenue on the south, North Capitol Street on the west, and Q and R Streets on the north; it also extends eastward just beyond the CSX/Metrorail tracks. Centrally located within the BID is the New York Avenue Metro Station, situated near the new ATF headquarters building. Private developers are investing more than $1 billion this year with plans to develop over 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the 35-block area covered by the NoMA BID over the next 20 years. For more information about the BID, including a development pipeline map, see the BID Website at http://www.nomabid.org.

For more information on the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED Green Building Rating System, and the LEED Neighborhood Development pilot program, visit http://www.usgbc.org.

[revitalizer]

There are 238 projects in the US currently registered under the new LEED for Neighborhood Development program.

Here are the projects for DC:

Arboretum Place - 4.98 acres
ecoNoMA - 19 acres
Georgia Commons - 0.49 acres
Hill East Waterfront - 60 acres
Old Convention Center Site Redevelopment - 10 acres
Parkside Mixed Use Development - 15.50 acres
The Yards - 42 acres

Go to this website to check for projects in your city and state:
https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2960