SACRAMENTO-Marking a major milestone in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Green Building Initiative, the California Department of Education Building in Sacramento has become the first pre-existing, state-owned office building in the U.S. to achieve the nation's highest level of environmental efficiency and energy conservation. 

 

The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded the building its coveted LEED Platinum certification.  LEED is a green building rating system and stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  USGBC is the nation's foremost coalition of building industry leaders working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work.  

 

To mark the achievement, a special USGBC plaque designating the Education Building as "LEED-EB Platinum" was unveiled today at the facility at 1430 N Street, Sacramento, during a special ceremony, attended by governmental, business and environmental dignitaries.          

 

"The California Department of General Services is to be congratulated for achieving a LEED Platinum certification for its Education Building," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair of USGBC, in a written statement to mark the occasion.  "This project is one that both the community and its users can be proud of.  The Education Building will be a showcase for high-performance, energy-efficient, healthy buildings, and an inspiration for others."

 

"Even before it achieved the latest honor, this building was designed and constructed to meet the LEED gold standard of energy conservation and environmental design," said Rosario Marin, Secretary of the State & Consumer Services Agency.  "It was certified as LEED Gold back in 2003, shortly after it was built.  But we wanted better than gold.  So we kept on fine-tuning it with still more energy-saving and conservation techniques, and now I'm proud to say that we've taken it to the highest level.  Today it has been officially upgraded to LEED Platinum.  You can't get any higher than platinum. 

 

"It's precisely the sort of environmental breakthrough Governor Schwarzenegger was aiming at when he signed his executive order last year, launching his Green Building Initiative.  The governor wants to see lots more buildings like this one.  And not just state buildings.  He wants local government and private industry to join him in 'going LEED' -- to save more electricity and to make California more environmentally friendly."

 

The governor's December 2004 executive order threw the full weight of his administration behind an aggressive plan to reduce California's energy purchases for thousands of state-owned buildings by 20 percent by 2015, while conserving other scarce natural resources.  The executive order also urged local governments, K-12 schools, universities, community colleges and business organizations to adopt the same ambitious goals.

 

The governor proposed to achieve the 20 percent energy reduction by designing, constructing, operating and renovating state-owned buildings to meet the high standards of the U.S. Green Building Council's certifications.  His executive order directed that existing state buildings like this one and all future state construction and renovation projects should meet a minimum of LEED Silver certification to ensure they continue to save energy, conserve water and divert waste from landfills. So far, six state buildings have achieved various levels of LEED certification, with 22 more projects on the way. 

 

The governor also directed the State Architect, a division of the California Department of General Services, to adopt guidelines to encourage California schools built with state funds to be resource and energy efficient.

 

Part of the governor's Green Building Initiative calls for fine-tuning the operation of existing buildings.  After the Education Building was opened in 2002, additional operations and maintenance practices were launched to make it even more energy-efficient and even better at conserving scarce resources.  Earlier this year, those improvements earned the Education Building a federal EPA Energy Star rating of 95 out of 100 points.  And today, in addition to "LEED-New Construction Gold" certification for its original design and construction, it earned "LEED-Existing Building Platinum" certification for energy efficient building operations and maintenance.

 

"This building is the prototype," said Ron Joseph, Director of the California Department of General Services, which built and manages the Education Building in the capitol's sparkling new East End complex.  "Its certification proves that the governor's Green Building Initiative isn't just words.  It really is achievable.  In addition to preserving scarce resources, it also saves the taxpayers real money in the long-run."

 

"Today's event is especially appropriate as we head into the hottest portion of the summer, when California's electricity grid is often strained to the limit," said Secretary Marin.  "The Education Building was designed, built and is now operated to be 40 percent more energy efficient than required by the California Building Code. If government can slash energy usage that dramatically, so can business.  Commercial buildings use more than one-third of all the electricity consumed in California.  Just think what we could achieve working together if every building in California aimed at these energy savings."        

 

In addition to energy savings, the building's indoor environmental quality for employees and visitors has been improved through the use of efficient ventilation and air distribution.  Water efficiency has been increased by reducing the flow in plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems. The building's waste stream has been reduced through recycling measures. Policies have been implemented to purchase environmentally preferable products for the building and its occupants, containing recycled content. The building's heat gain has been cut through the maintenance of "cool roofing" and high-performance glazing, and its windows make maximum use of daylight.  

 

For more information on the governor's Green Building Initiative, go to http://www.green.ca.gov/.