CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee announced today its certification as a LEED Gold campus, established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.
BlueCross’ headquarters, totaling 950,000 square feet of office space, is the largest LEED Gold corporate campus in Tennessee, and the second largest in the nation.
To earn LEED certification, performance measurements must be achieved in five key areas of environmental and human health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
According to Bob Worthington, chief strategy officer for BlueCross, the desire from the beginning was to incorporate certain sustainable design attributes in the new corporate campus.
“Our master planning goals always included sustainability, innovation and wellness,” said Worthington. “That translates into not only better controlling cost and increased efficiency, but it also means transforming our work environment to better meet the needs of our employees, members and the health care community.”
The Cameron Hill campus:
- Reduces energy costs by more than 20 percent or $265,000 annually than if the project had been built to minimum code standards.
- Saves 20 million gallons of water annually by using ultra low-flow plumbing fixtures, a water-efficient irrigation system and low water-use plants.
- Improves indoor air quality for employees by employing an underfloor air distribution system and specifying ventilation rates that are 30 percent higher than required by code.
- Decreases storm water runoff by 15 percent.
- Reduces global warming impacts and ozone depletion through the use of a more efficient cooling system that doesn’t use ozone depleting chemicals.
“BlueCross’ LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The urgency of USGBC’s mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and BlueCross serves as a prime example of just how much we can accomplish.”
Major partners responsible for the BlueCross corporate campus include architectural firms Duda/Paine, headquartered in Durham, N.C.; HKS, headquartered in Dallas, Texas; Artech Design Group, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn; tvsdesign in Atlanta, Ga.; Tune Design in Chattanooga, Tenn. and HGOR, a planning and landscaping design firm out of Atlanta, with local partnership from Sawyer Landscaping.
Green Building Services in Portland, Ore. served as the LEED consultant on the project.
Skanska, a world leader in green construction, along with EMJ Corporation and H.J. Russell & Company, served as the construction management team. Jones Lang LaSalle, formerly The Staubach Company, a national real estate consulting firm with significant LEED experience, served as the project manager for the entire building process.
About BlueCross
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee offers its customers peace of mind through affordable solutions for health and healing, life and living. Founded in 1945, the Chattanooga-based company is focused on reinventing the health plan for its 3 million members in Tennessee and across the country. Through its integrated health management approach, BlueCross provides patient-centric products and services that drive health improvement and positively impact health care quality and value. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc. is an independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.bcbst.com.
About USGBC
The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. With a community comprising 78 local affiliates, more than 20,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 100,000 LEED Accredited Professionals, USGBC is the driving force of an industry that is projected to soar to $60 billion by 2010. The USGBC leads an unlikely diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials and concerned citizens, and teachers and students. Buildings in the United States 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.
Related Stories
| May 6, 2011
“Net-Zero Energy Buildings and Homes” White Paper Q&A at AIA
“Zero and Net-zero Energy Buildings + Homes,” a 64-page White Paper that proclaims “the next frontier in the green building movement,” will be the topic of a 1-hr Q&A with 6 “NZEB” experts at the AIA Conference + Expo, Friday, May 13, 11 a.m. to 12 noon, at the Morial Convention Center (Level 2, Room R06), New Orleans.The 40,000-word report from Building Design+Construction provides a road map for the $350 billion design, construction, and real estate industry to develop “net-zero” buildings and homes that generate as much energy as they use, such as the new Research Support Facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, Colo.
| May 3, 2011
More jurisdictions adopting International Green Construction Code
More jurisdictions are utilizing the new International Green Construction Code (IGCC) as a tool to address sustainable construction for new and existing buildings. Fort Collins, Colo., and Kayenta Township, Ariz., are the most recent in a series of local and state governments that have adopted the IGCC,
| May 3, 2011
What green building types are most likely to get noticed?
The general public isn’t terribly aware of green buildings in their area, according to a TD Bank survey of 1,510 consumers within major metro markets in its Maine to Florida footprint. The bank conducted the poll to better understand consumers’ knowledge of green or sustainable buildings. According to the poll, these green buildings are most likely to get noticed.
| May 3, 2011
Green building materials in U.S. to exceed $71 billion in 2015
Demand for green building materials is projected to expand 13.0% annually to $71.1 billion in 2015, slightly outpacing the growth of building construction expenditures over that period, according to a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm. While the rising use of green materials will support gains, the most important driver for demand will be the expected rebound in the construction market.
| Apr 26, 2011
Ed Mazria on how NYC can achieve carbon neutrality in buildings by 2030
The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects invited Mr. Mazria to present a keynote lecture to launch its 2030 training program. In advance of that lecture, Jacob Slevin, co-founder of DesignerPages.com and a contributor to The Huffington Post, interviewed Mazria about creating a sustainable vision for the future and how New York City's architects and designers can rise to the occasion.
| Apr 22, 2011
GSA testing 16 emerging sustainable technologies, practices
The GSA is testing and evaluating 16 emerging sustainable building technologies and practices in select federal facilities under its Green Proving Ground program. Testing will determine the most effective technologies that may then be replicated on a wider-scale basis throughout the GSA inventory with the goal of transforming markets for these technologies.
| Apr 19, 2011
Is a building sustainable if it kills birds?
Migratory birds were flying into the windows and falling, dead or injured, to the foot of the LEED-Platinum FBI building in Chicago. The FBI building isn't the only LEED-certified structure to cause problems for migratory birds, however. Some of the more than 33,000 LEED-certified buildings in the U.S. use large amounts of glass to bring in natural light and save on energy—and all that glass can confuse birds.
| Apr 19, 2011
Philadelphia opens massive, LEED-Silver recycling center
The 60,000-square-foot single-stream material recovery facility (MRF) in Philadelphia will process around 20,000 tons of newspaper, cardboard, aluminum, glass, and plastic every month, and will simplify the collection of recyclable materials and increase recycling rates by 50%.
| Apr 19, 2011
AIA announces top 10 green Projects for 2011
The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment announced its Top 10 Green Projects for 2011. Among the winners: Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., and the Vancouver Convention Centre West in Vancouver, British Columbia.
