SmithGroup Dedicated to Sustainable Design

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SmithGroup Dedicated to Sustainable Design

30% of Firm's Washington, D.C. Staff Earns LEED Accreditation

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Aug. 26 -/E-Wire/Business Wire/-- SmithGroup, one of the nation's leading architecture, engineering, interiors and planning firms, has reached a milestone in its dedication to designing energy-efficient, environmentally sound buildings: 58 of its total staff of 189 in Washington, D.C. are now LEED accredited professionals.

"Having 30 percent of our DC staff become LEED accredited shows our dedication to the principles of environmentally sustainable design," said David R.H. King, FAIA, SmithGroup Chairman. "It tells clients that SmithGroup is serious about green design."

King himself recently became LEED accredited, testament to the SmithGroup's sustainable design initiatives. LEED accredited professionals at the 800-person firm now total more than 10%.

The U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accreditation program recognizes expertise in green building and LEED to help meet the growing demand from the public and private sectors for environmentally friendly buildings.

With over two decades' experience in the green arena, SmithGroup is accustomed to achieving excellence in sustainable design. In 2001, it completed the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's new headquarters, dubbed the "greenest office building in America." The first project to receive the USGBC's top LEED rating, Platinum, it subsequently received a prestigious Business Week/Architectural Record design award.

Many of SmithGroup's current designs are targeting LEED ratings of "Platinum," "Gold," "Silver" or "Certified." The new Science and Technology Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab in Bolder, Colo., is targeting a gold LEED rating. When complete, it will use 40 percent less energy than a typical laboratory building.

Other SmithGroup projects targeting LEED certification include the St. Mary's College New Academic Building, St. Mary's City, Md. (gold); Dan Ryan Woods Environmental Center, Chicago, Ill. (platinum); and the Clemson University Institute for Economic and Community Development, Columbia, S.C. (platinum).

SmithGroup (www.smithgroup.com) is an 800-person international, architecture, engineering, interiors, planning and landscape architecture firm. It specializes in the health, learning, science and technology, workplace, and urban design and planning markets. SmithGroup has offices in Ann Arbor, MI; Chicago, IL, Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; Madison, WI; Minneapolis, MN; Phoenix, AZ; San Francisco, CA and Washington, D.C.

SmithGroup, Gwyn Jones, [REDACTED-PHONE], [REDACTED-EMAIL]

http://www.smithgroup.com

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=4708740

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