Hines' 101 California Earns LEED Platinum Certification

Scores #1 out of 7,307 LEED EB Projects Worldwide

 

(SAN FRANCISCO) – The San Francisco office of Hines, the international real estate firm, along with partner NLI Properties West, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Life Insurance Company), announced that 101 California has been certified at the Platinum level under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Rating System. With a score of 94 LEED credits, this architectural landmark, designed by Philip Johnson, has earned the highest score ever awarded in the Existing Building (EB) category throughout the world, an extraordinary milestone for a 30-year-old building, for the city of San Francisco and for the state of California.

This announcement was formalized at a festive outdoor ceremony on the building’s plaza during which Rick Fedrizzi, founder, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) will spoke about this achievement and presented 101 California with a plaque commemorating the milestone. Fedrizzi comments, “Green building makes an immediate and measurable impact on the environmental health of the planet and we have an especially large opportunity in the existing building sector. Hines’ certification of 101 California is a remarkable achievement. Their leadership is helping to change the way we build and operate our buildings and serves as a model for others."

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee added, “Congratulations to Hines and NLI Properties West, Inc. for earning LEED Platinum certification at 101 California, and the highest number of LEED points ever awarded to any building in its category. It is in large part due to the strong support of our business leaders that San Francisco is at the forefront of the clean energy economy."

Cal Academy of Sciences Receives Second LEED Platium Rating from USGBC

SAN FRANCISCO (September 27, 2011) — On September 27, 2008, the California Academy of Sciences unveiled the world’s greenest museum — an eco-friendly new home featuring a hilly living roof, recycled denim insulation, and many other green innovations. Three years and more than five million visitors later, the museum celebrates another symbolic color: platinum. The U.S. Green Building Council has presented the Academy with its second LEED Platinum award, making the California Academy of Sciences the world's first "Double Platinum" museum and the world's largest Double Platinum building..

Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the Academy building houses an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and world-class research and education programs under one living roof, standing as an embodiment of its 158-year-old mission to explore, explain, and protect the natural world.

"We couldn't be more proud of the Academy for its commitment to high levels of environmental performance, and for setting the example as a leader in the San Francisco green building community and around the world," said San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee. "Their Double Platinum rating is truly a remarkable achievement for our City."

State Advocacy Report

Contributed by Dennis Murphy, USGBC CAC Chair

The USGBC California Advocacy Committee (CAC), representing NCC, the seven other Chapters across the state and thousands of green building professionals, continues to build a public policy presence in Sacramento. We are proud to see our first two sponsored bills and a number of supported legislation becoming law.

The California Legislative calendar wraps up at the end of September. Bills that have traveled through committees and have passed both the Assembly and Senate go to the Governor for either the happiness of his signature or the heartache of one of his memorable veto letters.

Greenbuild 2011: WHAT’S NEXT

Contributed by Dan Geiger, Executive Director, USGBC-NCC & Jessica Uhl, Program Manager, USGBC-NCC

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will fix it.”
--Robert Swan: first person ever to have walked to the North and South poles, environmental leader and Greenbuild 2011 closing speaker

 

When 23,000 leaders who believe we can fix the planet come together, it's called Greenbuild 2011.

Greenbuild 2011 in Toronto was an inspiring three days packed with more than 100 education sessions, 900 exhibitors, numerous keynote speakers, networking with fellow green building enthusiasts, and of course, great parties.

What’s NEXT is Breaking Patterns

 

Throughout the week, the “NEXT” conference theme was apparent: education sessions about what’s next in the green building industry - from LEED 2012, smart buildings, LEED automation, apps and “the cloud”, building performance, net zero, public policy and so much more. There was even a little theater in the Master Series - ever wonder what LEED has to do with Shakespeare’s The Tempest? See Senior Vice President of LEED, Scott Horst, on breaking patterns. Also, check out www.gbig.org, USGBC’s new Green Building Information Gateway, to see your city’s statistics on LEED buildings, square footage, accredited professionals and more, and an app exchange market.

At the opening plenary Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC President and CEO, spoke powerfully about a time in the not-so-distant future where green building will be the norm, and the U.S. Green Building Council will have no need to exist. Plenary keynote New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman described the profound economic and environmental challenges the world and the United States face. He challenged companies to change or go out of business; he made the case to put a price on the true cost of carbon, and insisted that green must become ubiquitous.