The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory recently received a green building designation for the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), specifically the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification. Constructed in 2007, CNM was designed and built to meet LEED standards. The building uses water efficient fixtures, resulting in 32.9% less water usage, and it has energy savings of 27.5%, partly as a result of waste heat recovery and use — heat that is generated by scientific equipment is reused to heat the CNM facility. The building uses natural lighting and local or regional recycled content materials, and it has environmentally friendly features, such as native landscaping and advanced storm water management that uses atural onsite retention and infiltration. In support of green commuting habits, the facility offers preferred parking for carpool and high-efficiency vehicles. Bicycle storage and changing rooms are also available for bicycle commuters.

Principal Facilities Specialist Ron Tollner said, ​“LEED certification is a great achievement and something that takes a team of multidiscipline individuals to reach.” Tollner and Argonne architect George Norek played key roles in gaining LEED certification for CNM, gathering documentation of the building’s sustainable specifications that support LEED standards.

The green building certification is part of the GreenLab Initiative, Argonne’s Sustainability Program, an effort to identify and implement energy and water conservation measures, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Argonne is working to meet U.S. Department of Energy green building goals, requiring that 15% of buildings greater than 5,000 square feet meet either LEED standards or HPSB guiding principles by 2015. (more »)