Eastman Corporate Business Center receives LEED Gold certification

Eastman’s Corporate Business Center in Kingsport, Tennessee, has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental  Design (LEED) Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable building and construction, with 65 points.

The office serves both sales and functional support activities in the region.

Facts and figures from the project include:

• during construction, more than 90 percent (about 149 tons) of construction waste was diverted from landfill to construction recyclers;
• more than 21 percent of materials were made of recycled content;
• an estimated 38 percent less water usage than a conventional building saved a projected 573,000 gallons per year;
• an estimated energy savings of 39 percent from a U.S. energy standard baseline;
• designed to earn the Energy Start (DEES) rating of 97; and
  
• more than 35 percent of materials sourced regionally (within 500 miles).

According to Mike Pappas, project manager, LEED certification was an important part of the project objectives, along with maximizing the use of Eastman products in the construction, both set at the beginning of the design. The team was challenged on how to achieve a gold certification in the most cost efficient manner possible.