by Shane Henson — March 30, 2012—Achieving LEED Gold is no small feat, but the Hearst Corporation’s Hearst Tower in Manhattan earned this coveted certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) after it was constructed and now has received recognition from the USGBC for taking the necessary steps to be awarded LEED Platinum.
This accomplishment by Hearst Corporation, one of the nation’s largest diversified media and information companies, made it the first commercial office building in New York City to be recognized by the USGBC for achieving both LEED Gold for New Construction and LEED Platinum for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance.
Established by the USGBC and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is a voluntary, consensus-based global rating system for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance. In 2006, Hearst Tower became one of the first “green” office buildings in New York City’s history, and now with this second certification, Hearst has been awarded USGBC’s highest possible rating for sustainable building operations and best maintenance practices of its existing facilities.
Through various measures, Hearst has reduced its total energy consumption by 40%—putting the company in the top 10% of efficient commercial office buildings in the country, it says. In addition, the company reduced total waste going to the landfills by 82% and became the first commercial office building in New York City to adopt an extensive composting program, which composts 100% of its wet food waste. Hearst also has 100% use of reclaimed non-potable rainwater for hardscape/sidewalk cleaning and controlled water usage throughout the building that has reduced water usage at Hearst Tower more than 30% annually, the company asserts.
In order to achieve Platinum using the LEED for Existing Buildings: O&M rating system, Hearst Tower went through an extensive three-month performance period process for the certification, which included: re-commissioning of all its major heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to identify all opportunities for improvements and addressing them; an energy audit to reveal low-to-no-cost energy efficiency measures and capital improvement measures; implementation of a high-performance green cleaning program; a waste audit to measure how much trash is going in and out of the building and to the landfill (composting and recycling programs); and an indoor air quality audit to identify areas to improve on air quality in the building. All audits were performed and more stringent policies were implemented in the areas of energy efficiencies, water efficiencies and indoor air quality.
