Waterfront Technology Center Earns LEED-CS Designation
The EDA’s Waterfront Technology Center at Camden has become the first public project in the state to be certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.
The LEED-CS designation for core and shell pilot gold-level certification was awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders, which administers the national rating standards for high-performance, sustainable buildings. “Green” design and construction practices work to reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and occupants.
“We are thrilled to receive this certification for the Waterfront Technology Center, which recognizes the importance we place on sustainable design and construction,” said EDA CEO Caren Franzini. “It’s a significant milestone that is made all the more meaningful because ours is only the second project in New Jersey, public or private, ever to receive the gold designation.”
The five-story, 100,000-square-foot Tech One building at the Waterfront Technology Center is the first of several structures planned for the site, which is located along a burgeoning waterfront area that serves as a gateway to the long technology corridor that runs through New Jersey. Tech One has been designed to accommodate existing businesses in the biosciences, microelectronics, advanced materials, information technology and other high-technology and life sciences fields.
Core and shell construction covers base building elements such as structure, envelope and building-level systems, including heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems.
The Waterfront Technology Center received high marks in each of these categories. The building has been developed in an urban redevelopment zone on an underutilized brownfield site near mass transportation, utilizing existing infrastructure. It uses highly efficient mechanical systems, including central boilers, chillers and a custom air-handling unit with humidification and a total energy recovery wheel. This reduces the amount of energy needed for heating the building in the winter and cooling it in the summer.
The building also incorporates the use of sun shades on its south and west elevations to reduce solar heat gain and provide enhanced day lighting characteristics. Additionally, more than 98 percent of debris accumulated during the building’s construction was diverted from the landfill or solid waste stream.
Only about two percent of all residential and commercial buildings constructed this year will utilize green techniques, but the projection is for this percentage to rise five-fold by 2010, reports CNNMoney.com. The USGBC says that only about 500 structures nationwide now meet standards for its LEED rating for high-performance, sustainable buildings, but eight times that many currently under construction will eventually qualify.
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