Bacardi, one of the world’s best known alcoholic beverage producers, announced today that the headquarters of its American office in Coral Gables, Florida has earned LEED Gold Certification in Commercial Interiors. The green building received 36 LEED credits for its unique green design.
Bacardi’s Headquarters: a Gold LEED Green Building
The areas the Bacardi Americas Headquarters received LEED points in are Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality. The specific achievements the green building has achieved are a reduction in its water use, energy efficiency, improved indoor air quality, development density, alternative transportation availability, waste management in its construction, and innovation in its green design.
How LEED Points are given
If you’re not familiar with LEED credits, they are earned by achieving points for environmental improvements to a building, across eight categories. While earning Gold LEED certification (as Bacardi’s 207,630 square foot office did) is a great achievement, the Platinum LEED Certification is the ultimate achievement. Bacardi Americas Headquarters earned a total of 36 LEED points, while it takes 41 or above to earn Platinum LEED certification.
Green buildings going forward
These days, LEED Certification is becoming the standard for a building. It just makes sense to build green, nowadays – not just for the environmental stamp of approval, but because it is more cost-effective over the building’s lifetime to make it more energy efficient, have it consume less water. Even though it may not be possible for every building, buildings such as the Bacardi Americas Headquarters should be aiming higher.
Considering Bacardi’s offices are in Florida, it seems like a natural place for a great green roof, or better yet, one covered in solar panels to offset the building’s energy bills.
Bacardi certainly deserves credit for constructing a green building worthy of a Gold LEED Certification, but they also are a business who is in a position to one-up their LEED certification and reach the Platinum – so why didn’t they?
