Water Replenishment District Awarded LEED Gold Certification

The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) was awarded LEED Gold Certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).

LEED is the nation's preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. The Los Angeles Green Building Council Executive Director Jorge Partido will present the LEED Gold plaque to WRD at the 2012 State of the District Address.

The U. S. Green Building Council awarded the WRD with a LEED Gold certification for its administration building. It is the only LEED gold-certified building in the City of Lakewood.

"Building operations are nearly 40% of the solution to the global climate change challenge," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council. "While climate change is a global problem, innovative companies like WRD are addressing it through local solutions."

LEED certification of WRD was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively impact the project itself and the broader community.

WRD has implemented the following major improvements to its administration building to enhance the sustainability of the building, and subsequently achieved the LEED Gold rating.

• Replaced the outdated air conditioning (AC) system with a high-efficiency AC system to increase the EnergyStar rating required by LEED
• Installed and optimized a computer control system to automatically shut down the AC system during afterhours and weekends to minimize energy usage
• Installed occupancy light sensors in rooms and offices throughout the entire building
• Implemented several "green" policies and programs, through continuous execution by all WRD employees, to maximize the recycle of waste materials and the usage of green products.

Source: The Water Replenishment District of Southern California