National Life Group building earns LEED-EB silver certification

National Life Group has announced today that it has received a Silver Certification in Leadership in the Energy and Environmental Design, Existing Building (LEED-EB) program, sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council. National Life is both the largest and the oldest building in Vermont to receive LEED certification of any kind is the second existing commercial building in Vermont to receive a silver LEED-EB certification.
Located in Montpelier, Vermont, the three-building campus was certified LEED-EB Silver based upon a review of documented best practices that met and exceeded high-performance and environmental requirements. Across the nation, LEED-EB is a benchmark for environmentally responsible, energy efficient operations and maintenance in existing buildings. The LEED Green Building Rating System is consensus-based standard for the development of high-performance buildings, and is fully voluntary.
Among the many steps taken by National Life employees to make the building environmentally sound, the staff recycle 2,500 lbs. of paper and compost 2,500 lbs. on a weekly basis. Fully 73 percent of the company's solid waste is recycled, and more than 20% of employees use alternate forms of transportation to get to work. In addition, the building was also equipped with water-saving fixtures in the Main Building restrooms, energy-saving light ballasts and bulbs, a highly insulated membrane roof, and a 73 kilowatt photovoltaic system to power the campus.
This is the culmination of a five-year campaign that has involved every single employee at National Life, said Mehran Assadi, president and CEO of National Life Group.
This was a very ambitious goal, he said. Few people thought it was attainable. When we started we had no idea how we would do it. But we knew that we had to try and that it was the right thing to do.
Governor Jim Douglas joined Assadi at the announcement, saying that the National Life building stands as an example for other businesses that want to reduce their carbon footprint.
At National Life we take great pride in our environmental stewardship. We view it as an outgrowth of our deep Vermont roots, said Tim Shea, second vice president for facilities management who, along with Fred Barnett, director of facility operations, and Donna Householder, contracts administration, coordinated the LEED application.
National Life joined the U.S. Green Building Council in 2007 and is a member of its Vermont chapter, the Vermont Green Building Network.
The project was registered with USGBC in January of 2007. Work began in earnest in March 2008 on reviewing operations, modifying processes, implementing new green programs, and gathering the statistics and documentation necessary for the certification application. Partners in this effort included Hallam ICS, Capital Engineering and Dubois & King. The application was submitted to USGBC in December of 2008.