Tale of Two Green Buildings | Green Energy News

April 20, 2003 – Vol.8 No.4

THE TALE OF TWO GREEN BUILDINGS.

Both are certified (or in the process of certification) through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Both claim title as the largest LEED certified buildings ever. And both were announced in celebration of Earth Day 2003.

The newly opened campus headquarters of Toyota Motor Sales in Torrance, California has received a Gold Level Certification and is the largest yet Gold Level certified green building, with 624,000 square feet of office space, enough for 2000 employees.

In detail, Toyota’s new office building ...

--- is built with 95 percent recycled content - more than 250 miles of reinforced steel mostly from recycled cars, for example.

--- is powered in part with one of the largest solar electric systems in the world - enough power for more than 500 homes.

--- uses recycled water for cooling systems, restroom flushing and landscape watering.

--- incorporates energy efficient lighting, high efficiency insulation and insulated glass - the building complex beats State of California energy efficiency targets by 20 percent.

--- has a hydrogen fueling and service station for Toyota’s own fuel cell vehicles - one of six stations planned by the company.

Soon to be opened, soon to be LEED certified, the David L Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh,PA will be the largest LEED green building ever (but may not be Gold certified, that’s the difference)

In detail, Pittsburgh's new convention center...

--- will have its green attributes paid for in less than five years.

--- includes extensive use of natural light - up to 75 percent of exhibition space is lit by old sol.

--- makes use of daylight sensors to shut off interior lighting to reduce energy consumption, and low glare exterior lighting to reduce the disruption of urban wildlife and migrating birds.

--- is built on an urban in-fill site to be near existing mass transportation.

--- will be electrified with purchased green power.

--- has bike racks and showers for bicycle riding employees as well as racks for visitors who pedal to the center.

--- has provisions for electric vehicle recharging stations that can be added in the future.

Visit Toyota Media at http://pressroom.toyota.com/ (be sure to visit South Campus Partners and view photos), the David L Lawrence Convention Center at http://www.pittsburghpowersup.com/ and the U.S. Green Buildings Council at http://www.usgbc.org/ .