The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently announced its 2021 USGBC Leadership Award recipients during its USGBC Live virtual conference. The USGBC Leadership Awards recognize the exemplary leadership of individuals and organizations contributing to the creation of sustainable, healthier, equitable and resilient buildings, cities and communities.
Awards were handed out across the various USGBC regions:
- East North Central region: IL, IN, MI and OH
- Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region: CT, DE, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI and VT
- Mountain region: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, and WY
- Pacific region: AK, CA, HI, OR, and WA
- West North Central region: IA, KS, MN, MO, ND, SD and WI
The 2021 USGBC Leadership Award recipients for the East North Central region are:
- Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125 in Lincolnshire, IL for the east addition to its campus and earning Platinum certification – BD+C Schools;
- University Hospitals of Cleveland Rainbow Center for Women and Children in Cleveland for becoming the first health care system in the state of Ohio to achieve a LEED Platinum Level certification;
- Catalyst Partners for its commitment and specialization in high performance, restorative design, construction, operations and education services and supporting over 100 LEED certified projects with 56 of them achieving Gold or Platinum status;
- Sol design + consulting for its global leadership in sustainability, affordable housing and historic preservation, with over 1,000 LEED projects to their credit, including the Sikes Residence- winner of USGBC’s 2020 Green Home of the Year;
- Peggy Matta from Troy, Mich. in recognition of her dedication to sustainability and her 16 years of work with USGBC and Green Schools;
- Mark Fisher, Vice President of Facilities, Planning and Sustainability at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens for his 15 years of sustainability work at the zoo.
The 2021 USGBC Leadership Award recipients for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region are:
- RUPCO, Inc for its work on the Energy Square, a five-story multi-family low-rise in Kingston, New York;
- Boston Properties for The Hub on Causeway, a 1.5 million square feet of mixed-use retail, office, hotel, and residential space and an expansion of TD Garden on the 2.5-acre site in Boston;
- Colgate-Palmolive Company for their Burlington, N.J., facility becoming the first site in the world to achieve LEED Zero certification in all four LEED Zero categories: Carbon, Energy, Water, and Waste;
- Citigroup for their global headquarters at 388 Greenwich St. in New York City, a 2.2-million-square-foot asset with LEED Platinum certification and the largest corporate certified office in 2020 on the East Coast;
- Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex, a LEED Platinum facility created with innovative architecture, use of advanced technology and building materials free of the most harmful chemicals;
- Stevens Institute of Technology for the Gateway Academic Center in Hoboken, N.J., a LEED Gold certified, 89,500-square-foot space comprising two buildings and recognized for exceptional sustainability in design;
- LG North America for its 360,000 square foot LEED Platinum certified headquarters in New Jersey’s Palisades Park;
- New York-Presbyterian, David H. Koch Center for its oncology center, becoming the first project to earn certification under the LEED Healthcare rating system in New York City, and the first project in New York State to earn LEED Gold under the Healthcare rating system.
The 2021 USGBC Leadership Award recipients for the Mountain region are:
- Clif Bar & Company, recognizing its Twin Falls, Idaho, facility for achieving LEED Gold certification in 2020 as well as TRUE Zero Waste Platinum certification, resulting in a LEED Zero Waste designation;
- Markel Homes Construction Company in Colorado for its work in creating 79 inclusive and multi-generational, LEED certified homes in 2020;
- Denver Water for its Administration Building, which was certified LEED-NC v2009 Platinum, and is part of a campus project which includes four LEED certified operations buildings;
- Salt Lake County Facilities Management, recognizing the organization as an outstanding leader in sustainability who embraces the philosophy of green building and its 17 LEED certified buildings in its portfolio;
- Amanda Timmons, President of Ampajen Solutions, for her enthusiastic work with LEED O+M and embracing Arc and ensuring her clients understand the value of the platform;
- U.S. General Services Administration, for its expansion of New Mexico’s Columbus U.S. Land Port of Entry, which is certified LEED Platinum and SITES Silver;
- L’Avenir Townhomes for its certified LEED 4.1 Residential Platinum four-unit development on a former brownfield and tiny urban infill site in Fort Collins, Colo.
The 2021 USGBC Leadership Award recipients for the Pacific region are:
- Nohona Hale, in recognition of the first micro-unit affordable housing project and one of the few LEED v4 projects in Hawaii;
- University of California, Merced for achieving carbon neutrality on its campus, two years ahead of its goal, and the first public research university in the country to achieve net zero carbon on a campus;
- Straus Family Creamery for its two TRUE® Zero Waste certified projects: the Marshall Creamery and Petaluma warehouse and offices;
- REI for its commitment to obtain TRUE Certification for all of their distribution centers and exploring opportunities for its retail stores;
- Scott Shell, Principal at EHDD, for his work as a leading voice among architects for decarbonization in California;
- Anthony Bernheim at the San Francisco International Airport for his work incorporating new leading technologies that continuously advance performance both in scope and degree;
- Kaiser Permanente, NFS Capital Projects – Marin Sonoma Service Area for its LEED Platinum certified medical office building, which is tracking to achieve LEED Zero Energy and LEED Zero Carbon certification;
- Meyer Memorial Trust for its headquarters in Oregon, achieving LEED v4 Platinum (BD+C: NC) while incorporating equity-centered design to its building that acknowledges the region’s Native American history.
The 2021 USGBC Leadership Award recipients for the West North Central region are:
- Washington University in St. Louis for its five buildings on the Danforth Campus achieving LEED Platinum certification at the same time;
- Posty Cards from Kansas City, Mo., a leading manufacturer of business-to-business greeting cards achieving TRUE Platinum certification;
- City of Madison, Wis., for being a leader in environmentally friendly gardening practices and for the Olbrich Gardens Learning Center addition, a LEED Platinum, 9,000 square foot space that celebrates and teaches the importance of plants in a sustainable world;
- The Spark, a project in the revitalized Madison, Wis., Capitol East District, boasting several certifications including LEED Gold v4;
- South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, for earning Silver LEED certification at the brand new, highly efficient campus in Aberdeen;
- University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., for the Tommie East Residence Hall, one of just a handful of dormitories throughout the country to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
The USGBC Leadership Awards featured at USGBC Live recognize these notable green building projects, companies and individuals in the region over the last year and recognize the hard work put forth to create healthy, sustainable spaces.
USGBC Live is a new event that combines the expertise of the largest community of green building leaders with the data, insights, stories and leadership from the thousands of LEED and green building projects around the globe to produce insightful and engaging conversations about the future of buildings, cities and communities. Held virtually, the three-day event features localized content channels across different regions in the U.S. and abroad, offering sessions on topics that provide innovative ways to push the industry.
