LORD Corporation announced today that it received Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the Richard L. McNeel Business Center, a 50,000-square-foot building honoring the company's former president and CEO, Rick McNeel. The U.S. Green Building Council approves projects for LEED certification through a rating system that offers points to projects that contain various sustainability features. Within each of the LEED credit categories, projects must satisfy prerequisites to earn points in order to determine the level of LEED certification.
With the capacity to accommodate 165 employees, the new facility supports LORD Corporation's plans for future expansion at its world headquarters in Cary. The Richard L. McNeel Business Center was approved for the Gold certification for its many sustainability features, including:
- Fully integrated lighting controls incorporating both motion and daylight sensors to provide constant illumination levels regardless of the time of day and exterior conditions.
- High-efficiency LED and fluorescent lighting.
- Building energy management system which uses indoor air quality sensors to modulate fresh air supply.
- Closed-loop water chiller to eliminate cooling tower water usage (estimated at 2,000 gallons per day during peak cooling months).
- High-efficiency condensing boilers for building heating applications.
- LEED Gold Certified for new building construction.
The contractor incorporated minimal site disturbance activities and separation of waste streams during the construction process to minimize waste generation and maximize recycling of any waste generated.
The building contains many other sustainability features, such as bike storage and exterior bricks that are made from 80 percent recycled material. In addition, LORD harvested and repurposed wood from the building site and used it aesthetically in the interior design of the main building entry wall and ceiling.
The Richard L. McNeel building also received an AIA Triangle Merit Award for the "Built" category. The AIA Triangle Merit Award recognizes individuals, institutions, associations or companies outside the profession of architecture who, in collaboration with AIA Triangle members, have made significant contributions to the improvement of the built environment.
The Freelon Group served as architect for the Richard L. McNeel Business Center, and Clancy & Theys served as general contractor.