Prescott, Arizona – The Highlands Center for Natural History announced that it has been awarded LEED Gold certification for the James Learning Center by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is the USGBC’s leading rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient, and high performing buildings.

“We are honored to have achieved the LEED Gold certification. This achievement furthers our mission in the community of helping children and adults discover the wonders of nature and become better caretakers of the land” said Dave Irvine, Executive Director for the Center.

The James Learning Center was designed locally by Catalyst Architecture and built by Haley Construction to achieve LEED certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies. LEED verifies environmental performance, occupant health and financial return. LEED was established for market leaders to design and construct buildings that protect and save precious resources while also making good economic sense.

“The Highlands Center for Natural History is to be commended for achieving LEED Gold certification. This facility is one that the community can be proud of,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO, Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The James Learning Center will be a showcase for high-performance, energy-efficient design and an inspiration for others.”

The project received many of its points for being completely “off the grid”, the building generates all of its own power. Many passive solar features are also incorporated into the building, minimizing the amount of total energy needed. “This was a learning process for everyone involved with this project.” said Cindy Scott, Outreach Coordinator for the Center. “We had to learn how to recycle construction waste, and to think in a whole new way about what it means to be a “green” building. We are very aware of the elements of the building after occupying it for a year. We turn off the lights when we leave a room. We open and close windows to regulate the building temperature and over all have a closer connection to our environment.” To view the final LEED Project Scorecard for the James Learning Center, visit the Center’s website at www.highlandscenter.org.

About the U.S. Green Building Council

The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. Since UGSBC’s founding in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 13,000 member companies and organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED green building rating systems, and expansive educational offering, the industry’s popular Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (www.greenbuildexpo.org) and a network of 72 local chapters, affiliates, and organizing groups. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

About LEED

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is a feature-oriented rating system that awards buildings points for satisfying specified green building criteria. The six major environmental categories of review include: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation and Design. Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels of LEED green building certification are awarded based on the total number of points earned with each LEED category. LEED can be applied to all building types including new construction, commercial interiors, core and shell developments, existing buildings, homes, neighborhood developments, schools and retail facilities. LEED for Healthcare is currently under development and is expected to be released in early 2008.

Incentives for LEED are available at the state and local level and LEED has also been adopted nationwide by federal agencies, state and local governments, and interested private companies. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org/LEED.

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