Coast Guard NMC obtains LEED certification

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center obtained the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification for their newly constructed building in Martinsburg, W. Va., Monday for an environmental, economic, and occupant-oriented friendly building.

LEED is a rating system for buildings that was designed to guide and distinguish high performance buildings that have less of an impact on the environment and are healthier for those working in the building. The NMC building achieved its silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council and was specifically recognized for conserving energy and for being a high-performance, sustainable building. This certification was obtained through the combined efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. General Services Administration, JDL Martinsburg LLC and their respective contractors, architects and engineers. Achieving the difficult to obtain silver certification far exceeded requirements for the building and narrowly missed LEED's gold certification.

Some of the unique features of this "green" building are the conservation of electrical usage, water consumption, and the use of eco friendlymaterials in the construction and operation of the building; combined with an aggressive recycling program actively supported by NMC's 225 employees. Additionally, low water usage plants were used for "green" landscaping and strategically placed large rocks from the building site's natural landscape form a physical security barrier for the building.

LEED concentrates its efforts on improving performance across five key areas of environmental and human health; energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, materials selection, sustainable site development and water savings.

The mission of the NMC is to issue credentials to qualified mariners and approve maritime training courses in the most efficient and effective way possible. For more information about the Coast Guard NMC visit their website at http://www.uscg.mil/nmc/.

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