America’s greenest buildings
Green building is a growing trend, in part because companies have realized they can actually save money by making a few environmentally friendly upgrades.
Go to original by Hannah Clark, Forbes
Does your office environment get you down? Then you might want to consider working with Tom Hicks. A vice president at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which awards ratings to buildings that achieve environmentally friendly targets, Hicks has the fortune to work in a building that has achieved “gold” status, and on a floor that has gone platinum.
In buildings that receive USGBC’s “platinum” certification, its highest rating, natural light permeates the entire floor. Sometimes, cubicles have their own thermostats, so employees can control the temperature. The roof of Hicks’ building, at 1800 Pennsylvania Avenue, has a garden so workers can take a relaxing break at lunch. Oh, and by the way, the urinals don’t flush. But Hicks promises they still smell fresh and clean. “They work wonderfully,” he says. “I know it’s hard to imagine.”
Green building is a growing trend, in part because companies have realized they can actually save money by making a few environmentally friendly upgrades. Adobe Systems, for example, says it has spent $650,000 since 2001 to upgrade two San Jose buildings, and saved $728,000. The California Environmental Protection Agency spent $500,000 to make its building environmentally friendly, and is saving $610,000 a year. The upgrades also increased the building’s value by $12 million, according to the USGBC. “The return on that investment is really high,” Hicks says.
