Veolia ES Earns LEED Certification for Landfill Building
The new building at Veolia's Evergreen Landfill in Valdosta, Ga., will be used as a scale house for weighing all waste streams entering the landfill and as an on-site administrative office.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded LEED certification to Veolia Environmental Services Solid Waste for a new building at its Veolia Evergreen Landfill, Inc. in Valdosta, Ga. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating SystemTM is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. This is the first LEED-certified building constructed in Valdosta, Ga.
“As part of our commitment to developing sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions for the city of Valdosta and Lowndes County, we intentionally pursued LEED certification standards in the development of our new building,” said AJ Rodgers, area manager for Veolia ES Solid Waste Southeast, Inc. “As a result, we expect to see lower operating costs, increased efficiencies, and a healthier work environment for our employees.”
The Veolia building was designed to achieve LEED certification for energy use, lighting, water, and material use, and also incorporated a variety of other sustainable strategies. Certification was based on a number of green design and construction features, including:
- Being 28 percent more energy efficient than a similar non-LEED design building.
- Operating with 35 percent more water efficiency than a similar non-LEED design building.
- Diverting 75 percent of all waste and construction scrap generated by construction to a recycling facility for re-manufacturing or re-use.
- Using 10 percent of building material that contains post and pre-consumer recycled content.
- Utilizing 44 percent of all building materials that were extracted and manufactured locally.
“Buildings are a prime example of how human systems integrate with natural systems,” said Denise Grabowkski, chair of USGBC's Georgia Chapter. “The Veolia project efficiently uses our natural resources and makes an immediate, positive impact on our planet, which will tremendously benefit future generations to come.”
Veolia’s new building will be used as a scale house for weighing all waste streams entering the Evergreen Landfill, and as an on-site administrative office.
LEED certification is an important element of Veolia’s own sustainability strategy. The company recently celebrated the LEED certification of its North American headquarters office in downtown Chicago’s Aon Building. That project was awarded Gold Level LEED certification in June 2010.
Veolia ES Solid Waste, Inc. operates 72 collection facilities and 29 solid waste sanitary landfill facilities in North America.
Source: Veolia ES