One World Trade Center has officially become one of the largest buildings in the world to receive LEED Gold certification, and is the tallest LEED certified building in the Western Hemisphere.
But, as Curbed New York reports, this certification did not come without its difficulties. When Hurricane Sandy went rumbling through New York City almost four years ago, nine fuel cells, purchased for $10.6 million and which were supposed to help heat and cool the building, were among the $32 billion of total damage the city faced. As hundreds of gallons of water flooded the One World Trade Center basement and irreparably damaged the fuel cells, it seemed as though the hopes for LEED Gold had been washed away.
But the 1,776-foot-tall Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed building is nothing if not resilient. Thanks to a bevy of sustainable features incorporated into the construction, design, and daily operation of the tower, it managed to achieve LEED Gold certification all the same.
One World Trade Center was built using over 40% post-industrial recycled content, uses a design that allows for over 90% of office areas to receive natural light, and has a glass façade with a special coating meant to block excessive heat from ultra-violet rays. The structure also captures 100 percent of its stormwater runoff on-site to maximize water efficiency.
One World Trade Center joins other skyscrapers such as Shanghai Tower (LEED Platinum), Taipei 101 (LEED Platinum), and Kingkey 100 Tower (LEED Gold) as some of the tallest LEED certified buildings in the world.
Related Stories
Resiliency | Oct 29, 2024
Climate change degrades buildings slowly but steadily
While natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires can destroy buildings in minutes, other factors exacerbated by climate change degrade buildings more slowly but still cause costly damage.
Sustainable Design and Construction | Oct 10, 2024
Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure
Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.
K-12 Schools | Sep 30, 2024
The importance of selecting healthy materials for K-12 projects
Clark Nexsen interior designers Anna Claire Beethoven and Brittney Just, CID, IIDA, LEED Green Associate, share why it is imperative to specify healthy building materials in K-12 schools.
Sustainability | Sep 18, 2024
3 living buildings made by a living practice
Prompting humans to reexamine our relationship to the environment, architecture creates the opportunity for us to physically experience ideas of beauty, performance, and structure through the distinct lens of place.
Office Buildings | Sep 6, 2024
Fact sheet outlines benefits, challenges of thermal energy storage for commercial buildings
A U.S. Dept. of Energy document discusses the benefits and challenges of thermal energy storage for commercial buildings. The document explains how the various types of thermal energy storage technologies work, where their installation is most beneficial, and some practical considerations around installations.
Industrial Facilities | Aug 28, 2024
UK-based tire company plans to build the first carbon-neutral tire factory in the U.S.
ENSO, a U.K.-based company that makes tires for electric vehicles, has announced plans to build the first carbon-neutral tire factory in the U.S. The $500 million ENSO technology campus will be powered entirely by renewable energy. The first-of-its-kind tire factory aims to be carbon neutral without purchased offsets, using carbon-neutral raw materials and building materials.
Government Buildings | Aug 19, 2024
GSA posts new RFI for enabling energy efficiency, decarbonization in commercial buildings
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, recently released a new Request For Information (RFI) focused on enabling energy efficiency and decarbonization in commercial buildings. GSA wants to test innovative technologies through GSA’s Center for Emerging Building Technologies.
Adaptive Reuse | Aug 14, 2024
KPF unveils design for repositioning of Norman Foster’s 8 Canada Square tower in London
8 Canada Square, a Norman Foster-designed office building that’s currently the global headquarters of HSBC Holdings, will have large sections of its façade removed to create landscaped terraces. The project, designed by KPF, will be the world’s largest transformation of an office tower into a sustainable mixed-use building.
Sustainability | Aug 14, 2024
World’s first TRUE Zero Waste for Construction-certified public project delivered in Calif.
The Contra Costa County Administration Building in Martinez, Calif., is the world’s first public project to achieve the zero-waste-focused TRUE Gold certification for construction. The TRUE Certification for Construction program, administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), recognizes projects that achieve exceptional levels of waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.
Energy Efficiency | Aug 9, 2024
Artificial intelligence could help reduce energy consumption by as much as 40% by 2050
Artificial intelligence could help U.S. buildings to significantly reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, according to a paper by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
