A Grand Opening

USGBC officially opened its new Washington, DC headquarters last week with a festive celebration. What a grand occasion it was, attended by so many of the visionaries responsible for USGBC’s founding and growth, current leadership, and the still-expanding staff.

The grandest moment of the evening was the presentation of Platinum certification by Sally Wilson (center), GBCI Board chair to Gail Vittori and Tim Cole, USGBC board chair and chair-elect – making the office the first project to certify under the latest version of the LEED Green Building Rating System, and it did so with a whopping 94 out of a possible 110 points - 80 points are the minimum for Platinum. View the press release here for a link to the scorecard and project photos.
 
The evening celebrated not only the 75,000 square foot two-story space but also the project team headed by Ken Wilson at Envision Design, GHT Limited Consulting Engineers and James G. Davis Construction – all chosen because of their extensive LEED project experience – as well as the sponsors that contributed products and furnishings: Ambius, Armstrong Commercial Ceiling and Wall Systems, Bosch Home Appliances, Convia, A Herman Miller Company, Crestron Electronics, Inc., Excel Dryer, Inc., Forbo Floorings, Haworth, Inc., Icestone LLC, Knoll, Inc., MechoShade Systems, Inc., Price Modern LLC, Sherwin-Williams, Sloan Valve Company, Teknion, The Mohawk Group. 

A standout feature of the offices, reflecting a core mission for USGBC, are the educational components embedded into the design. A Performance Dashboard display mounted in the reception area provides real time feedback on energy use. The Learning Pathway corridor illustrates the integrative sustainable design techniques of the new headquarters as well as a Material Wall (right) containing flashcards of every material used in the facility, detailing its origin and utility. A tree of favorite inspirational quotes submitted by staff is painted along the length of the wall entitled “What We Believe.”

“The vision for the new space was for it to look like an organization that has come of age,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, USGBC. “The design was intended to be sophisticated, classically modern and timeless. The space also needed to exemplify everythhing a LEED building is: healthy, productive and flexible to accomodate ongoing growth.”
 
What Rick said to me was, “It’s exactly right – I love it.” So do I.