Parts of Treasury Building are more than 170 years old, but it’s also energy efficient for modern times. (Photo by Jim Hamann)
The District led led the United States in 2012 in the amount of buildings and space for certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, which rates structures on how efficiently they consume energy.
More than 22 million square feet of space in D.C. was awarded one of the Green Building Council’s four levels of LEED certification last year, or about 37 square feet per capita, putting D.C.’s average of energy-efficient buildings well ahead of any state’s. The buildings that received the certifications ranged from structures that date back to the founding of the District to new, gleaming office towers.
The Treasury Department’s headquarters at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW won LEED certification, making it the oldest building to receive such a designation. Various components of the hulking building date back to 1836. More modern buildings awarded included the U.S. Mint’s building at 801 Ninth Street NW, which was certified Gold, and the office building at 1152 15th Street NW, which was certified Platinum, the highest rating. (Somewhat appropriately, the building is home to the National Resources Defense Council.)
Ashley Katz, a spokeswoman for the Green Building Council, says the LEED system reviewing not just a structure’s materials and electricity usage, but other environmental factors such as water consumption, location and proximity to public transportation.
“We’re creating a nutrition label for the building,” she says.
In the case of the U.S. Mint building, which is only 13 years old, the LEED Gold certification came after an extensive retrofit that included upgrades like the installation of motion sensors to operate new high-efficiency lighting and a new heating system.
As a whole, the D.C. region placed highly in the Green Building Council’s rankings. Virginia beat all other states in the amount of space per capita awarded LEED certification, 3.71 square feet, while Maryland was sixth with 1.9 square feet per capita.
Despite D.C.’s disproportionate per capita amount of LEED-certified space compared to states, Katz adds that the Green Building Council only issues rankings along state lines, not cities.
