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Carlson World Headquarters Earns LEED EB Silver

By: Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group |  1,014 Shares     82 Reads

December 21, 2011 // Franchising.com // Minneapolis, Minn. - Carlson, a privately held, global hospitality and travel company, today announced that its World Headquarters earned the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Silver level certification for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED EB O&M®) certification. LEED is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

Carlson is the 40th LEED EB certified property in Minnesota; of which, two are rated Platinum, 15 are rated Gold, 11 are rated Silver (including 701 Tower) and 12 are rated Certified. The project was completed in 11 months and was a joint effort by several departments within Carlson: Facilities Planning & Design, Building Services, Information Technology, Procurement, Bon Appétit, Media Technologies, and CBRE’s Sustainability Programs Group who partnered with Carlson throughout the project.

“This certification is the result of a lot of hard work and the collective dedication of the project team over the past 11 months and now it is up to all of us to sustain it,” said Brad Lis, chair of the project and vice president of Real Estate & Administrative Services, Carlson.

The building achieved LEED certification for operational best practices and superior environmental performance, including: a perfect score of 48 LEED credit points; an ENERGY STAR score of 87 placing the property in the top 15 percent of all comparable buildings nationwide; implementation of an interior pest management program to reduce toxicity of pesticides; replacement of all high-flow restroom fixtures with water-saving models; ENERGY STAR-rated IT equipment; and sustainable food purchases through the Farm-to-Fork program initiated by the building café’s service provider, Bon Appétit . “The green building movement offers an unprecedented opportunity to respond to the most important challenges of our time, including global climate change, dependence on non-sustainable and expensive sources of energy and threats to human health,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, chief executive officer and founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The work of innovative building projects such as Carlson’s World Headquarters 701 Tower is a fundamental driving force in the green building movement.”

About Carlson

Carlson is a privately held, global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Carlson encompasses 1,070 hotels, including, Radisson®, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM, Park Inn by Radisson and Park Plaza®; 909 T.G.I. Friday’s® restaurants; and a majority stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel®, the global leader in business travel management. Carlson operates in 164 countries and its brands employ more than 170,000 people. http://www.carlson.com

About U.S. Green Building Council

The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy saving green buildings.

With a community comprising 80 local affiliates, more than 18,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 167,000 LEED Professional Credential holders, USGBC is the driving force of an industry that is projected to contribute $554 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product from 2009-2013. USGBC leads an unlikely diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials and concerns citizens, and teachers and students.

Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs.

About LEED

The USGBC’s LEED green building certification system is the leading program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. Over 100,000 projects are currently participating in the LEED rating systems, comprising over 8 billion square feet of construction space in 50 states and 114 countries.

By using less energy, LEED-certified buildings save money for families, business and taxpayers; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community.

USGBC was co-founded by current President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi, who spent 25 years as a Fortune 500 executive. Under his 15-year leadership, the organization has become the preeminent green building membership, policy, standards, influential, education and research organization in the nation.

For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

Contacts:

Joan Cronson or Ben Gardeen, Carlson | +1 (763) 212-1418 or +1 (763) 212-8129 | jcronson@carlson.com or bgardeen@carlson.com

 

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