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REGISTERED FOR LEED CERTIFICATION Click here to review the measures we’re taking to become San Francisco’s first LEED-certified speculative development. Today’s most noteworthy and effective commercial buildings are designed to maximize the conservation of natural resources, employ renewable materials and address the health and well-being of its occupants. They are commonly called green or sustainable buildings. They are environmentally responsible and healthy places to live and work. Structures that are green or sustainable (the terms are usually used interchangeably) are designed, built and operated in a way that uses resources with ecological and fiscal efficiency. This refers to the materials that are used in the building of the structure, such as steel, concrete and wood, as well as the resources necessary to operate the building, such as water, gas and electricity. Their construction also conserves natural resources by using building materials that are recycled and/or renewable, by salvaging the waste associated with building and by operating the structures using recycling rather than sending waste to landfills. Besides reducing a building’s negative impact on the environment, these types of structures are also designed to meet certain objectives, such as providing more closely controlled and healthier working conditions. To these ends, most green buildings have interior spaces that maximize natural light and outdoor views; employ highly efficient HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) systems; use low-VOC (volatile organic compound) materials like paint, sealants, carpet and furniture; and provide higher levels of filtered outside air to insure superior indoor air quality. These features have not only proven to decrease worker absenteeism, they have been shown to result in great increases in worker productivity and employee retention. This benefits both the workers and the businesses that occupy these buildings. Tishman Speyer, the developer of 555 Mission Street, has a highly experienced design and construction team at the forefront of the global green building movement. The company’s green initiative is led by Tom Scarola, Director of Engineering, who is considered one of the nation’s foremost experts on the sustainable development of commercial office buildings. Mr. Scarola has served on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Green Building Council and is vice chair of the LEED New Construction Committee. In the United States, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)—the nation’s foremost coalition of leaders from every sector of the building industry—was founded in 1994 for these reasons. Their purpose has been to steward the market transformation to sustainable design, offer expertise, provide tools, educate the industry and the public and provide a forum for industry dialogue. In 1996, they established the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System to provide third party validation of a building’s green design to classify the levels of sustainability and advise on the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Today, the LEED system has become an accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings all over the world. The LEED point system measures the design and building process in five key areas (sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality), promotes a whole-building approach and provides a roadmap to creating sustainable structures. Tishman Speyer is taking the following measures to make 555 Mission Street San Francisco’s first LEED-certified speculative development:
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