This is a milestone in our work to achieve certification from the US Green Building Council. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; it’s the government standard used to certify how ‘green’ a construction project is. We are submitting a checklist of items our team achieved during the design phase of the project for review. It represents 25 of the 38 credits we’re attempting to achieve a LEED Gold rating. Gold is second highest rating you can achieve on the LEED scale.

A big shout-out goes to Stephanie Iwanski, an unsung hero in so many ways. Stephanie designed our mechanical systems, and serves as our project manager at dbHMS, coordinating electrical, plumbing and LEED work just for starters. She’s finishing her engineering degree at IIT in her spare time, and really goes the extra mile to make sure the Kitchen is well-cared for. Stephanie, you’re our hero!

So our LEED design review should take about two months. Our design credits include:

• Building near public transit
• Recycling/composting storage area of over 80 square feet
• 40% less water consumption than a conventional facility
• Highly efficient heating, cooling, and lighting systems
• Super efficient hot water heater with future solar thermal
• Commitment for long-term tenant after construction

Congratulations to our team on the terrific accomplishment!