JPMorgan Chase’s recently renovated global headquarters on Park Avenue in New York City has achieved LEED Platinum status! The newly greened building now holds the title of being the largest renovation in the world to achieve the USGBC’s highest certification. The renovation to the 50-story building will cut energy consumption by 50 percent and save more than one million gallons of water every year.
JPMorgan chase was inspired by the statistic that large corporate buildings contribute 50 to 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in urban settings, and the company wanted its renovation to fight against this. The 50-story building was outfitted with highly energy efficient systems, as well as innovative draining and filtering systems to offset the energy consumption and lower emissions.
The headquarters remained open while the renovations were underway, working on just ten floors at a time. The renovation updated all of the building’s systems, including adding gorgeous green roofs, and 16,500 square feet of green landscaping in all. Rainwater is filtered through the soil in the building’s plants, and an edible garden was planted on the 11th floor, which yields vegetables and herbs for the client dining room.
The building also collects rainwater from the entire plaza in a 54,000 gallon tank located in the basement. The rainwater is filtered, stored, and recycled to water the building’s plants and used in the low flush toilets in part of the building. Each floor has been redesigned to maximize day lighting, reducing the need for artificial lights during the day.
Aside from saving the building both money and energy, the project recycled over 85 percent of the construction waste, diverting 12,000 tons of garbage from the landfill. The green renovation by an important company like JPMorgan Chase is an inspiring step in the green building movement, hopefully encouraging other large businesses to do the same.
