LEED Platinum Buildings

leed-platinum What do the greenest buildings in the world look like? Where are they and what makes them special? We hear these questions all the time and until now, we’ve had no place to point anyone for the answers. The USGBC has the definitive rating system for green buildings (LEED) and their highest rating is Platinum. So, we gathered the names of all 114 Platinum LEED certified buildings in the world (excluding the 28 homes). Then, we searched the Internet for a Photo, Location, Rating, Significance, and a Link to more info. Enjoy!

Alaska

Denali National Park Eielson Visitors Center

eielson-visitor-center-denali

Arizona

Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute

biodesign_institute_asu_exterior

Lee H. Brown Conservation Learning Center

lee-h-brown-family-learn-ctr

Northern Arizona University’s Applied Research & Development Facility

ard-med

Arkansas

Heifer International Center

heifer-international-center

William J. Clinton Presidential Center, National Archives and Records Administration

clinton-library

California

Adobe Systems, Inc.

adobe-sf-office

Adobe Systems, Inc. Almaden Tower

almaden

Adobe Systems, Inc. East Tower

adobe

Adobe Systems, Inc. West Tower

adobe_west-tower-leed

Alameda County Waste Management Authority StopWaste Building

stopwaste

Audubon Center at Debs Park, National Audubon Society

audubon

California Academy of Sciences

caacademysciences

  • Location: San Francisco, CA
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/09/22/california-academy-of-sciences-unveiled/
  • Significance: “It is currently the only institution in the world to feature an aquarium, a natural history museum, a living rainforest, a planetarium, and world-class research and education programs – all housed under a 2.5 acre green roof.” You must follow this link to see how amazing this building is! It’s home to 38,000 live animals.

California Department of Education Building 049

049

Chartwell School

chartwell

Environmental Nature Center

enc

Inland Empire Utilities Agency

ieua

Joe Serna Jr. Cal/EPA Headquarters Building

Couldn’t find an image. Know of one? Drop us a comment below!

  • Location: Sacramento, CA
  • Rating: LEED EB Pilot
  • Link: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_June_19/ai_n16486181
  • Significance: The first local building to be outfitted with BSSonline(R), a proprietary Web-based life-safety training application that brings unprecedented consistency, standardization and always-on access to emergency preparedness measures.

Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies

kirsch

Lake View Terrace Branch Library

lake_view

Mills College’s Natural Sciences Building

mills-naturalscience

Natural Resources Defense Council’s Southern California Office

nrdc

Ohlone Community College’s Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology

ohlonenewarkcenter

The Ranch House at Del Sur

ranch-house-del-sur

  • Location: Black Mountain Ranch, San Diego, CA
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www.csrwire.com/News/9153.html
  • Significance: With a point score of 59 out of a total 69 points possible, the 3,000-square-foot Ranch House is the first private-enterprise, new construction building to achieve Platinum rating in California, and San Diego’s first Platinum-rated structure

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Customer Service Center

smud-css

  • Location: Sacramento, CA
  • Rating: LEED EB v2.0
  • Link: http://mognot.com/architecture/office_institutions/smud/
  • Significance: This project utilizes state-of-the-art workplace technology, including worker accessible controls for outdoor (operable windows) and indoor air flow, indoor air temperature, lighting, and access to varied work environments beyond the usual cubicle. Staff absenteeism was reduced by 33%.

Shangri La Entertainment’s Hangar 25

hanger25

TreePeople’s Center for Community Forestry

treepeople

University of California Santa Barbara’s Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management

ucsb2

  • Location: Santa Barbara, CA
  • Rating: LEED NC Pilot
  • Link: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/UCSB_Bren_School.html
  • Significance: Building Bren Hall with sustainable materials and methods is estimated to have added only 2% to the building cost, which will easily be offset over time by energy savings.

Vision Service Plan Headquarters

Could not find an image. Know of one? Drop us a comment below!

Water + Life museum

waterlife

Colorado

Carbondale Recreation Center

carbondale

Morgan Creek Ventures

morgancreek

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Science and Technology Facility

nrel

Rocky Mountain Institute Offices

Could not find an image. Know of one? Drop us a comment below!

  • Location: Boulder, CO
  • Rating: LEED CI v2.0
  • Link: http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid583.php
  • Significance: Completed on a budget of only $24/sq. ft. – which includes furniture, IT, security, and signage – the new facility is expected to cut energy costs by 30-50 percent over the bills of the previous tenants, saving RMI $25,000 – 35,000 over the three-year lease.

Seven Generations Office Park

seven-gen

Signature Centre

signature_centre_at_denver_west

Connecticut

Yale University Sculpture Building

yalesculpture

Florida

Highland Beach Town Hall

highland_beach_town_hall

Georgia

The Epsten Group, Inc., Edgewood Office

  • Location: Atlanta, GA
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.0
  • Link: http://www.theepstengroup.com/ouroffice.html
  • Significance: Smallest project in the world to pursue certification under LEED. And Atlanta’s first LEED-NC Platinum certified building.

Interface Showroom and Offices

Sweetwater Creek Visitor Center, Georgia Department of Natural Resources

  • Location: Lithia Springs, GA
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.0
  • Link: http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0523/environment_3-1.html
  • Significance: Various strategies combine to reduce potable water consumption by about 77 percent of that of a conventional building. Rainwater harvesting, low-flow fixtures, and on-site wastewater treatment combine to put the building nearly “off the grid” for water and sewage needs.

Hawaii

Hawaii Gateway Energy Center, Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii

  • Location: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www.jetsongreen.com/2008/02/hawaii-gateway.html
  • Significance: Selected as a AIA Top Ten project in 2007. HGEC is designed as a thermal chimney, capturing heat and creating air movement using only building form and thermodynamic principles. Outside air is moved through the building at a rate of 10 to 15 air changes per hour without the use of a mechanical system.

Idaho

Banner Bank Building

  • Location: Boise, ID
  • Rating: LEED CS Pilot
  • Link: http://www.jetsongreen.com/2007/04/skyscraper_sund_1.html
  • Significance: The development cost of the Banner Bank Building was average, allowing the Christensen Corporation to offer lease rates competitive with office buildings in downtown Boise that are 20-30 years old

Illinois

Center for Neighborhood Technology Renovation

Chicago Center for Green Technology, City of Chicago Department of the Environment

  • Location: Chicago, IL
  • Rating: LEED NC Pilot
  • Link: http://greenbuildings.cnt.org/overview?bid=2
  • Significance: The first rehabilitated municipal building in the nation to receive the LEED Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council.

Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center at Air Station Prairie

Exelon Headquarters

  • Location: Chicago, IL
  • Rating: LEED CI v2.0
  • Link: http://www.bdcnetwork.com/article/CA6436381.html
  • Significance: At the time of it’s construction in first quarter 2007 it was the largest office space to be LEED-CI certified at the platinum level.

FBI Regional Office

Greenworks Office & Storage Building, Christy Webber Landscapes

Couldn’t find an image. Know of one? Drop us a comment below!

  • Location: Chicago, IL
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link:
  • Significance:

Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation Synagogue

Indiana

Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, Reith Village, Goshen College

  • Location: Wolf Lake/Albion, IN
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www.goshen.edu/merrylea/
  • Significance: At it’s opening, it was the only LEED Platinum rated building in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio or Kentucky.

Kansas

5.4.7 Arts Center, Sustainable Prototype

Kentucky

Bernheim Visitors Center, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest

Maryland

CBF Philip Merrill Environmental Center, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Discovery Communications Global Headquarters

Massachusetts

Artists for Humanity EpiCenter

Genzyme Center, Genzyme Corporation

Harvard University’s Blackstone Renovation

Massachusetts Audubon Society

Michigan

Cascade Engineering’s Learning Community

The Christman Building

Kresge Foundation Headquarters

  • Location: Troy, MI
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www2.jmolson.com/WhoWeAre/GreenBuilding/Portfolio/Kresge/Default.aspx
  • Significance: Designated as one of Michigan’s historical landmarks, The Kresge Foundation sought to preserve these historic elements while adding a modern, low profile office facility that would not detract from the beauty of this historic site or the surrounding environment.

Minnesota

Great River Energy

Missouri

Alberici Corporation Headquarters

Lewis and Clark State Office Building, Missouri Department of Natural Resources

William A. Kerr Foundation Office

Montana

Home On The Range, Northern Plains Resource Council

Nevada

Las Vegas Springs Preserve’s Desert Living Center and Gardens, Las Vegas Valley Water District

Las Vegas Springs Preserve’s Visitor Center

las-vegas-springs-preserve-leed-certified-visitor-center-_-sparks-environments

Sierra Nevada College’s Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences

New Jersey

The Willow School Art Barn

New York

The Barton Group Headquarters

Cook + Fox Architects Office

Ecology & Environment, Inc. Corporate Headquarters

  • Location: Lancaster, NY
  • Rating: LEED EB v2.0
  • Link: http://www.greenprogress.com/green_building_article.php?id=1504
  • Significance: 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.

Ithaca College School of Business: Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise

National Audubon Society Offices

Queens Botanical Garden, New Administration Building

Solidarity House Housing Cooperative, Common Fire Foundation

common-fire

  • Location: Tivoli, NY
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www.upstatehouse.com/archive/article.php?issue=38&dept=68
  • Significance: “A necessary byproduct in the formation of PVC is dioxin, the most toxic substance on the planet,” Golden explains. “It’s been found in the fat of whales, in our bodies, and in the breast milk of Inuit mothers. It’s disposed of by large companies in poor communities in Texas and Louisiana. It off-gasses in the home. It’s not very biodegradable and not recyclable. We’re proud that our building is 99.9 percent PVC-free.” Despite their determination to exclude it, they have discovered belatedly that a few small items are made of PVC.

The Verdesian, Battery Park City

North Carolina

Cherokee Investment Partners Head Office

Couldn’t find an image. Know of one? Drop us a comment below!

Duke University’s Home Depot Smart Home

Proximity Hotel

Ohio

Fernald Preserve Visitors Center

Oregon

BOORA Architects Office Remodel

Burnside Rocket

The Casey Condominiums

Mint Dental Works, McMillan Family Dental

OHSU Oregon Health and Science University) Center for Health and Healing, Medical Office Building – Phase I

Portland Center Stage, Armory Renovation

  • Location: Portland, OR
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www.greenprogress.com/green_building_article.php?id=931
  • Significance: Originally built in 1891, the Gerding is now the first building on the National Register of Historic Places and the nation’s first performing arts facility to achieve Platinum status.

Pennsylvania

1 Crescent Drive, Liberty Property Trust

Armstrong World Industries Corporate Headquarters

  • Location: Lancaster, PA
  • Rating: LEED EB v2.0
  • Link: http://www.jetsongreen.com/2007/06/armstrongs-head.html
  • Significance: Armstrong’s headquarters, built in 1998, is only the sixth existing building – and the first outside of California – to achieve the highest certification offered.

South Carolina

Half-Moon Outfitters Distribution Center

Texas

McKinney Green Building, West World Holdings

Ronald McDonald House

Portola Valley Town Center

  • Location: Portola Valley, CA
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.2
  • Link: http://www.portolavalley.net/index.aspx?recordid=183
  • Significance: Through the years, residents and others have raised funds to preserve some 1900 acres of open space within the Town’s boundaries. Several fund-raising committees have worked at various times to achieve this goal, culminating in today’s Open Space Acquisition Fund (PVOSAF). This restricted fund, overseen by the Town Council, is composed of monies accrued from a special 2% utility tax approved by the voters in 1997, 2001, 2005, and 2009 and from private donations. The Open Space Acquisition Fund is used solely for the purchase and maintenance of open space within the Town.

Utah

Daybreak Corporate Center

Vermont

Middlebury College’s Franklin Environmental Center

Washington

Perkins + Will Office

  • Location: Seattle, WA
  • Rating: LEED CI v2.0
  • Link: http://www.djc.com/news/en/11186815.html
  • Significance: The Seattle office of Perkins + Will achieved the first LEED-Commercial Interiors platinum rating in Washington, the third project in the nation to achieve a LEED-CI platinum rating.

Shoreline Recycling and Transfer Station, King County Solid Waste Division

Washington Public Utility District

Couldn’t find an image. Know of one? Drop us a comment below!

  • Location: Olympia, WA
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www.arch1design.com/(WPUDA)_building.html
  • Significance: The WPUDA headquarters, which boasts the largest rooftop solar installation in the state, is the first new-construction office building in Washington to achieve Platinum certification – the highest possible rating under the LEED program.

Washington DC

Sidwell Friends Middle School

  • Location: Washington, DC
  • Rating: LEED NC v2.1
  • Link: http://www.sidwell.edu/about_sfs/greenbuilding.asp
  • Significance: It is the first K-12 school in the United States to have a LEED Platinum rating and the first LEED Platinum building in the District of Columbia.

USGBC National Headquarters

Wisconsin

The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, The Aldo Leopold Foundation

Hunzinger Construction H2 Training Center and Warehouse

Wyoming

Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, Grand Teton National Park

Puerto Rico

Standard Refrigeration Company, Inc.

Australia

Cundall Sydney Office Fitout

Couldn’t find an image. Know of one? Drop us a comment below!

India

ABN Amro Bank

  • Location: Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, India
  • Rating: LEED CI v2.0
  • Link: http://www.abnamro.co.in/India/PressRelea/Consumer-B/ABN-AMROs-/
  • Significance: ABN AMRO is the first bank in India to achieve the LEED Platinum rating for Commercial Interiors. It is also the first Platinum interiors certification to be awarded outside the USA and only the 7th Platinum interiors certification to be awarded worldwide.

BG House, BG Exploration and Production India Limited

bg_house__hiranandani-mumba

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre

Gurgaon Software Development Centre-Wipro Ltd., Gurgaon

Spectral Consultants Services Ltd. Corporate Office

Sri Lanka

Brandix Casualwear Ltd.

United Arab Emirates

Pacific Controls Headquarters

Feedback

Please let us know if we missed a building or made any errors on the buildings we did list! We didn’t include the 28 Platinum homes because they were hard to find info on them as they are private residences. We’ll continue researching the homes and make a page for them once that research is done. :)

Here’s what we know we still need:

  • Pic, link, and significance of Greenworks Office & Storage Building, Christy Webber Landscapes
  • Pic for Joe Serna Jr. Cal/EPA Headquarters Building
  • Pic for Vision Service Plan Headquarters
  • Pic for Rocky Mountain Institute Offices
  • Pic for Cherokee Investment Partners Head Office
  • Pic for Washington Public Utility District
  • Pic for Cundall Sydney Office Fitout
  • Significance for Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies
  • Significance for Lewis and Clark State Office Building, Missouri Department of Natural Resources
  • Significance for BOORA Architects Office Remodel
  • Significance for Spectral Consultants Services Ltd. Corporate Office