2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard Awarded LEED Platinum CS 2.0 Certification

World’s first and largest multi-tenant commercial office property to achieve this designation

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard, co-developed by The Tower Companies (www.towercompanies.com) and Lerner Enterprises (www.lernerenterprises.com) has been officially certified LEED(R) Platinum Core and Shell 2.0 — by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), making it the first and largest multi-tenant commercial office property to achieve this designation in the Washington, Maryland and Virginia area. The LEED(R) (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System(TM) is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operations of high performance green buildings.

The 200,000 square foot exquisite commercial office building was designed by Kishimoto.Gordon.Dalaya PC (KGD) (www.kgdarchitecture.com) and is the world’s largest application of Fortune-Creating(sm) architecture, built on the Vedic principals of orientation, placement and proportion, to improve the occupant’s health, enhance job performance and success. The building features 22,000 SF floorplates with 9′-3″ ceilings and 6′-6″ high continuous windows offering beautiful 360 degree panoramic views in all directions. The stunning daylight-filled lobby is finished with polished Tennessee Pink marble floors and Lacewood walls, accented with a luminous onyx freestanding sculpture wall and stainless steel planters. Tenant amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness room, including lockers, showers and yoga/Pilates room, luxurious bathrooms, and organic cafe. The partially underground 4-level parking structure, with dedicated parking for hybrid and low-emission vehicles, forms a pedestal, supporting sustainable landscaped terraces around the building, with serenity fountains and plaza in front of the building. Over 17,000 drought resistant native plantings of trees, ornamental grasses and flowering bulbs compliment the buildings’ landscape in the park-like setting located within minutes of our Nation’s Capital and just off the I-270 Tech Corridor in Rockville, Maryland.

The building’s green efficiencies are “Designed to Earn ENERGY STAR” and reduce energy consumption by 28%, water consumption by 41%; the HVAC system is 39% more efficient than for typical offices; a four-stage air filtration system circulates 25% more outside air than required by code, turns over every 51 minutes, controls odors and removes over 90% of airborne contaminants before it reaches tenants. Furthermore, 90% of occupants have outside views, 74% have natural daylight, CO2 monitoring increases fresh air when necessary and there is “night sky” protection; no light pollution leaves the site; electromagnetic field (EMF) shielding. Eighty percent (80%) of all electric equipment is Energy Star-rated, 22% of the materials were manufactured within a 500-mile radius; 85% of the construction waste was recycled.

Over 900 people — including public officials, business/civic organizations, schools and media — have toured the building because it goes beyond green to increase workforce success and business growth.

The Tower Companies has 25% LEED accredited professionals on staff and is the largest green builder in the Nation’s Capital. Recent awards include 2009 Peerless Rockville Preservation Award, 2008 USGBC of the National Capital Area, Member Firm of the Year, 2008 Washington Business Journal Green Company of the Year, 2008 Washingtonian Magazine Corporate Green Award.

CONTACT: Elizabeth Oliver-Farrow
The Oliver Group, Inc./202.494.1977
SOURCE The Tower Companies