Late last year, Arlington County was honored to earn the title of “Platinum Level Community.” This was the first community to earn the title with the U.S. Green Building Council’s new LEED for Communities program.

The Arlington County press release stated, “‘Arlington County understands the value of LEED and its ability to help set goals and deploy strategies that can improve the quality of life for residents across the community,’ said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of USGBC. ‘Arlington’s LEED for Communities Platinum certification demonstrates a commitment to improving performance and creating a more resilient and sustainable future.’

‘It is truly an honor, and a validation of Arlington’s commitment to sustainability, to be the first to earn LEED for Communities Platinum certification,’ Arlington County Board Chair Jay Fisette said. ‘This has been a community effort, achieved by having a vision of combating climate change and promoting energy efficiency on a local level, and putting in place innovative policies and practices to achieve it. Now, more than ever, the responsibility for progress on climate change rests with local and state governments and with the private sector.'”

With that news, we thought it would be helpful to take a look back at one of our properties, Two Liberty Center, and expand on what LEED means.

Two Liberty Center, located at 4075 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington, previously received LEED Gold Certification. As we’ve stated in previous articles, LEED stems from the U.S. Green Building Council and as their website states:

“LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is changing the way we think about how buildings and communities are planned, constructed, maintained and operated. Leaders around the world have made LEED the most widely used third-party verification for green buildings, with around 1.85 million square feet being certified daily… LEED-certified buildings are resource efficient. They use less water and energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As an added bonus, they save money.”

Based on the number of points received, a project is awarded with one of four LEED rating levels: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Two Liberty Center received GOLD and was ranked on:

• Sustainable sites
• Water efficiency
• Energy & atmosphere
• Material & resources
• Indoor environmental quality
• Innovation
• Regional priority credits

It is a great achievement to earn any of the LEED certifications, something we at The Shooshan Company have been honored with in many of our projects including The View at Liberty Center, Residence Inn by Marriott, GSA Headquarters – DARPA and more.

You may see all of the details on the official U.S. Green Building Council website here, and be sure to visit the official Two Liberty Center website, www.twolibertycenter.com, to see availability, features, amenities, photos and more.

Source:

LEED. (2018). U.S. Green Building Council. Source: http://www.usgbc.org/leed