Green Building & Sustainable Development
E & E's HQ is World's Oldest Existing Building to be Awarded LEED Platinum
Ecology and Environment, Inc's (E & E's) worldwide headquarters building, located just outside Buffalo, NY, has been awarded Platinum-level LEED certification for existing buildings by the US Green Building Council. E & E's headquarters facility is the tenth in the country, the first in New York State, and the oldest existing building in the world to be awarded this highly sought-after designation. Achieving this highest level of certification further underscores E & E's role as a leader in corporate sustainable philosophies and practices.
"E & E's founders, Frank Silvestro, Gerry Strobel, Ron Frank, and my father Gerhard are visionaries in a lot of ways," says Kevin Neumaier, E & E's senior vice president of sustainability. "More than 20 years ago, before LEED existed or 'green building' was a common term, they designed our worldwide headquarters to embody the environmental ethics that we practice. We have always used sustainable and green practices. Receiving the LEED Platinum status just reaffirms that we are a leader in our field and their vision."
The LEED Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for design, construction, and operation of sustainable buildings. LEED provides an independent, third-party verification that a building meets the highest standards in green building performance, measuring five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. The certification process required a stringent review of E & E's corporate operations. When E & E applied for certification, the company already had established a number of green practices, including recycling and waste reduction, green building design elements, power and water conservation measures, transportation-reduction programs, and employee-awareness and behavioral change initiatives. Most importantly, notes Neumaier, "Due to our original design and operational procedures, we did not have to significantly retrofit our building in order to qualify for this certification."
Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council personally congratulates E & E, saying that, "Ecology and Environment is a premier example of a company that truly practices what they preach. The efforts taken by the company to attain Platinum-level certification are nothing short of exemplary."
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