Real Estate

Three White Flint North Gets LEED Gold

The White Flint building into which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving received high marks from the U.S. Green Building Council.

One of White Flint's gleaming new buildings recently received LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the building's environmentally-friendly design and features.

It's the 14-story, Three White Flint North building, located in real estate company LCOR's North Bethesda Center, by the White Flint Metrorail station. It will be used as offices for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The building's features include a reflective roofing surface and vegetated roof areas, systems to reduce water usage by 41 percent and efficient mechanical systems including three frictionless chillers, a water purification system, a fully integrated building automation system and four emergency generators. More than 35 percent of materials used in its construction were regionally sourced, according to a LCOR statement.

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"Developing green buildings is a corporate-wide initiative and every building LCOR develops has some level of LEED certification," Michael Smith, senior vice president and principal of LCOR, said. "Through the collaborative efforts of our project team members we were able to exceed the lease obligation to deliver a LEED-NC Silver building, instead achieving a LEED-NC Gold certification." 

"NC" stands for "new construction" in LEED terminology. The LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification system ranks buildings of a variety of building types according to how environmentally-friendly they were built and how ecologically they function. There are four levels of LEED certification: Platinum, Gold, Silver and a basic Certification level.

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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to lease space in this building has come under scrutiny, The Business Journal reported. The lease is triple the amount Congress authorized in 2007, when it thought the commission would need to hire hundreds of employees to process a wave of applications to build nuclear reactors. When the utilities backed out, the need to hire more workers was no longer there, according to The Business Journal’s account.

LCOR recently decided to sell the building, however, The Gazette reported late last month. The building is valued at $131 million, The Gazette added.

Two other buildings across the street—at 11601 Landsdown St.—also serve as offices for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, The Gazette reported.


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