Phillip Merrill Environmental Center

² (3,000 m

²)

Philip Merrill Environmental Center that serves as Headquarters for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis, Maryland, is the first building to achieve the highest Platinum rating under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System. As noted in

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 4, this building was one of a dozen “LEED Pioneer” buildings rated under the no-longer-current pilot version of LEED (also called Version 1.0). Under that system, 36 points were required for the platinum rating. The building received 38 points, with an additional point still pending. The point breakdown by category is:

The Center was designed by SmithGroup Architects, with Donna McIntire (now the LEED Project Manager at USGBC) and later Greg Malla as project architects. Jan Harrison was the consultant for green aspects, and Clark Construction was the contractor.