THE ALAIRE, ROCKVILLE, MD—Executives of the U.S. Green Building Council and Smart Growth America convened with others today in Rockville and Chicago to announce a new LEED certification program aimed at making green communities a core focus. Twinbrook Station, a new mixed-use, multi-family housing community, hosted the Washington, D.C., launch and was cited as a trend-setting example of a LEED for Neighborhood Development project. A development of The JBG Companies, Twinbrook Station is a 26-acre project next to a stop on the Washington region's subway system that will feature 2.2 million square feet of mixed-use space, including 1,595 multi-family residential units. Under a USGBC pilot program, the project was among the first in the nation to be evaluated for LEED-ND certification, earning the highest gold rating.
Since 2000, USGBC and its supporters have worked one building at a time to transform traditional built environments. "During this time, the green building movement has experienced a surge so great that no longer can we only focus on single buildings," S. Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of USGBC wrote in announcing Thursday's launch. "As humans, we spend more than 80 percent of our time indoors, but spend 100 percent of our time in communities," Fedrizzi said. "Neighborhoods and communities are where our kids go to school. They're where we go to work each morning, and they're the places we come home to each night. … . There is an undeniable connection between accessibility among these important places and our collective environmental and economic well-being.
"That is why I am proud," Fedrizzi continued, "to announce the public launch of our seventh LEED rating system and the first international benchmark for green communities: LEED for Neighborhood Development, which joins a suite of rating systems that has already seen over 5,000 certified commercial and institutional projects, another 5,000 certified homes, over 28,000 project registrations, over 9 billion square feet, and projects across all sectors in over 100 countries."
In evaluating Twinbrook Station for LEED-ND certification, the USGBC noted the project "will connect and anchor the sprawling and segregated retail, office and residential areas that currently surround the Twinbrook Metro station," according to the council's project profile. "The dense mix of uses that will emerge adjacent to the station should help to reduce the area's vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by making public transportation—which provides over 1,000 trips daily to the site—more accessible and more attractive."
The profile also notes that developer JBG has made green building an integral part of Twinbrook Station as 80 percent of the buildings will pursue LEED ratings. In addition, green operations and cleaning plans will be put in place, such as the machine-room less elevators at The Alaire, the 279-unit luxury apartment and retail first phase of Twinbrook Station, which opened last month. And "new buildings will feature energy- and water-efficient design strategies, projected to use 30 percent less water than comparable conventional projects. Waste management and recycling programs throughout the development will further lower its environmental impact," according to USGBC's November 2008 certification plan.
By raising the bar on green building and focusing attention on green communities, USGBC and its partners, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Congress for the New Urbanism, believe they can "bring economically prosperous and environmentally sustainable communities to all within a generation," Fedrizzi said.