Suffolk Construction Company

Suffolk Construction Company's COMMONWEALTH ii PROJECT rECEIVES LEED PLATINUM CERTIFICATION
Commonwealth II is the first office building in Northern Virginia to acheive this top level of LEED certification…

Suffolk Construction Company's COMMONWEALTH ii PROJECT RECEIVES LEED PLATINUM CERTIFICATION

Commonwealth II is the first office building in Northern Virginia to achieve this top level of LEED certification, the fifth in the state of Virginia

FALLS CHURCH, VA, February 15, 2011 - Suffolk Construction Company’s recently completed Commonwealth II project has received LEED Platinum certification. Commonwealth II is a five-story, 162, 000 square-foot office building and neighboring 262-space parking garage at Commonwealth Centre at Westfield’s, located in Chantilly, Virginia. The $24 million building was designed by Hickok Cole Architects for BPG Development Company, L.P.

The project team exceeded the original goal of LEED Silver to earn 45 points, and was subsequently awarded the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) CS 2.0 Platinum level certification. Upon earning Platinum certification, the highest recognition possible for energy and environmental design excellence, Commonwealth II is now recognized as the first office building in Northern Virginia to achieve this level of LEED certification, the fifth in the entire state of Virginia.

Based on the willingness of the client and the dedication of the project team, the following strategies helped to achieve LEED Platinum level certification:

• Covered bicycle racks
• Site-wide storm water management that captures a great portion of the storm water in BMP swales, ponds, and rain garden
• White (high albedo) roof
• Low flow irrigation funded by non-potable sources
• Preferred parking for low-emitting vehicles and car/van-pools
• Highly efficient plumbing fixtures including 1.28gpf toilets and waterless urinals
• Intelligent building system with Measurement & Verification capability and policy
• 100% of house panel power offset with green-e RECs
• Low-emitting materials throughout
• Views for 90% of regularly occupied spaces (based on test fit)
• Reduced materials use (IT)
• Suffolk contributed with 80.5% waste diversion, 25.3% recycled material, 39.1% regional materials, and 77% of all wood products FSC certified

“At Suffolk, we understand that sustainable building practices can have a positive effect on our natural environment, regional economy, and the health and productivity of building occupants, ” stated Michael DiNapoli, Vice President and General Manager of Suffolk’s Mid-Atlantic Office in Falls Church, Virginia. “I am proud of the entire team’s efforts to exceed the project’s expectations for a sustainable LEED Platinum facility.”

Suffolk Construction employs over 200 LEED Accredited Professionals (APs) and was recently ranked #30 in the nation’s Top Green Contractors listing in ENR magazine. Over the past few years, Suffolk has delivered over 50 LEED projects including 5 LEED Platinum and 16 LEED Gold projects.