Carrier’s world headquarters, the UTC Center for Intelligent Buildings, is the first commercial building in Florida to earn LEED Platinum v4 certification.
The Platinum rating is the highest designation. It was awarded under the version 4 LEED green building program for building design and construction from the U.S. Green Building Council® .
Carrier is a global provider of innovative heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies. The company is a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
“Earning LEED Platinum certification is a significant achievement, as sustainability is a core value of our organization and our portfolio of products,” says Bob McDonough, president of Carrier. “We designed the UTC Center for Intelligent Buildings to push the boundaries of sustainable building design and provide our employees and customers with a model of what’s possible when Carrier’s best technologies are deployed in green buildings. Earning LEED Platinum is a testament to what can be accomplished when advanced building technologies are integrated into intelligent building design.”
Carrier’s new award-winning building was designed to show what’s achievable through technology integration to increase efficiency, protect people and property, and improve the occupant experience.
Carrier’s product integrations also provide a scalable and repeatable model for total green building design. Examples of sustainable integrations and solutions include: automated Logic’s WebCTRL building management system can use occupancy data from LenelS2 OnGuard to self-adjust air flow and temperatures of the Carrier HVAC systems for optimal comfort and efficiency; and the MyWay app, based on LenelS2’s BlueDiamondTM technology, which eliminates the need to carry a traditional plastic employee badge and allows employees to unlock doors, call elevators, control heating and lighting and much more.
See Also: USGBC receives funding for LEED for Cities and Communities Program
Carrier’s AquaEdge 23XRV chillers operate in a proprietary series-counterflow configuration, and are continuously monitored to ensure optimized performance, increased efficiency and proactive identification of potential issues.
LEED certification also helps with employee productivity and wellbeing. The UTC Center for Intelligent Buildings was specifically designed to COGfx standards – indoor air quality specifications found by Harvard University researchers to double occupants’ cognitive function test scores compared to a conventional building environment.
Carrier’s sustainability leadership began in 1993, when it helped launch the U.S. Green Building Council.
“The innovative technologies found at the UTC Center for Intelligent Buildings are an inspiring example for future sustainable buildings in Florida and beyond,” says Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council and Green Business Certification Inc. “Carrier continues to be a valued member for our organization, paving the way for a future where buildings can harmoniously coexist with the environment.”
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum
(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.
| Feb 11, 2011
Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork
Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.
| Feb 10, 2011
Zero Energy Buildings: When Do They Pay Off in a Hot and Humid Climate?
There’s lots of talk about zero energy as the next big milestone in green building. Realistically, how close are we to this ambitious goal? At this point, the strategies required to get to zero energy are relatively expensive. Only a few buildings, most of them 6,000 sf or less, mostly located in California and similar moderate climates, have hit the mark. What about larger buildings, commercial buildings, more problematic climates? Given the constraints of current technology and the comfort demands of building users, is zero energy a worthwhile investment for buildings in, for example, a warm, humid climate?
| Feb 9, 2011
Fortune 1000: Despite moral obligation to sustainability, cash is still king
Eighty-eight percent of Fortune 1000 senior executives feel business has a moral responsibility, beyond regulatory requirements, to make their companies more energy efficient, according to a new poll released today by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Schneider Electric. At the same time, the vast majority (61%) of respondents say that potential cost savings are their biggest motivator to save energy at the enterprise-level, outranking environmental concerns (13%) or government regulations (2%).
| Feb 9, 2011
Businesses make bigger, bolder sustainability commitments
In 2010, U.S. corporations continued to enhance their sustainable business efforts by making bigger, bolder, longer-term sustainability commitments. GreenBiz issued its 4th annual State of Green Business report, a free downloadable report that measures the progress of U.S. business and the economy from an environmental perspective, and highlights key trends in corporate culture in regard to the environment.
| Feb 7, 2011
President Obama cites PPG glass, coatings in Penn State speech
President Barack Obama yesterday acknowledged PPG Industries as a leader in the development of high-performance glass and coatings for energy-efficient buildings during a visit to Penn State University that kicked off the U.S. government’s “Better Buildings Initiative.’
| Feb 7, 2011
GSA Unveils New Sustainable Workplace Design Tool
The U.S. General Services Administration launched its Sustainable Facilities Tool on Monday, Feb. 7. The innovative online tool will make it easier for both government and private-sector property managers and developers to learn about and evaluate strategies to make workplaces more sustainable, helping to build and create jobs in America’s clean energy economy of the future.
| Feb 4, 2011
U.S. Green Building Council applauds President Obama’s Green Building Initiative
The U.S. Green Building Council applauded a key element of President Obama’s plan to “win the future” by making America’s commercial buildings more energy- and resource-efficient over the next decade. The President’s plan, entitled Better Buildings Initiative, catalyzes private-sector investment through a series of incentives to upgrade offices, stores, schools and universities, hospitals and other commercial and municipal buildings.
| Feb 4, 2011
President Obama: 20% improvement in energy efficiency will save $40 billion
President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative, announced February 3, 2011, aims to achieve a 20% improvement in energy efficiency in commercial buildings by 2020, improvements that will save American businesses $40 billion a year.
