First Office Building Certified Under LEED v4 Operations and Maintenance

The office building at 1800 K St. in Washington, DC, is the first building in the world to earn certification through the LEED v4 Operations and Maintenance: Existing Building rating system.

The 224,000-square-foot office building owned by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management and managed by Transwestern is only the second project worldwide to obtain any of the 21 various rating system adaptations available under LEED v4, which officially launched last week.

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) simultaneously awarded the DC office building with LEED Gold certification for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance through v2009, USGB’s most recent green building rating system prior to LEED v4.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management says it pursued the LEED certifications for 1800 K St. as part of a market-driven portfolio improvement program. Transwestern’s sustainability services team oversaw the certification process.

The building earned 64 points in the LEED v2009 and 52 points in the newer v4 system. Property improvements include:

• Installation of minimum efficiency rating value (MERV) 13 filters at all outdoor air intake locations;
• Upgrading all plumbing fixtures to meet WaterSense requirements;
• Achieving an Energy Star rating of 81;
• Offsetting 27 percent of electrical usage with sustainable power;
• Recycling 61 percent of office waste; and
• Implementing a sustainable purchasing program for all cleaning products and equipment.

Last month the USGBC awarded LEED Gold status to Haworth’s showroom in Beijing’s Parkview Green building, making it the world’s first certified LEED project under the new LEED v4 beta program.

Photo Credit: Loop.net