by Brianna Crandall — December 2, 2013—Haworth, Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of furniture, recently announced that its innovative space located in Beijing’s landmark Parkview Green building has been recognized as the world’s first certified LEED project under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) updated Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design LEED version 4 beta program. LEED v4 was officially launched at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Philadelphia in November.
The USGBC awarded LEED Gold status after the project earned 71 out of the possible 110 points. In order to achieve the certification, everything from the location of the building and its energy performance to water efficiency and indoor air quality had to be considered. Parkview Green is located in the Chaoyang District of Beijing and provides tenants with access to quality transportation and bicycle facilities. The LEED Platinum (version 3) building is also home to a boutique hotel, commercial offices and premium retail.
Inside Parkview Green, Haworth has created the Club—an organic workspace concept that offers dynamic co-working and lounge spaces that can be used by the building’s tenants, hotel guests and members in the community. At the heart of the Club’s design was the concept of flexibility. Everything from partition walls, meeting rooms, huddle spaces and private focus areas can be easily rearranged to meet the day-to-day needs of its users.
“Haworth strongly believes that this type of adaptable workspace, coupled with activity- and workstyle-based areas, is the way forward for corporations to maximize the efficiency of its real estate and the effectiveness and innovation of its people,” said Frank Rexach, Vice President and General Manager of Haworth’s Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Latin America sector. Steve Kooy, Haworth’s global sustainability manager, added that a workspace that responds easily to changing business needs over time not only saves time and money but also reduces waste.
To complete the project, Haworth partnered with BEE inc., a Shanghai- and Hong Kong-based specialist for green materials, trading and LEED consulting. Director of strategic services for Haworth’s Asia Pacific sector, Iolanda Meehan, spearheaded the project, which is intended to underline Haworth’s global commitment to sustainability and to stand as a model for future workspaces.
“Throughout the construction process we reused 60 percent of non-structural interior elements,” said Meehan. “Additionally, 93 percent (by value) of the furniture in the space is either GREENGUARD certified or has been transferred from an existing showroom, and fresh air exceeds the required Indoor Environment Quality by 35 percent.”
Energy and water efficiencies also helped achieve the certification. Through the optimization of the HVAC system as well as efficient LED lighting design, fixtures and controls supplied by Philips, one of Haworth’s partners in the region, the showroom’s energy consumption was reduced by 59 percent (compared to ASHRAE energy requirements).
