Calgary’s Eighth Avenue Place has been awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum Core and Shell (CS) certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system.

The CS designation covers base building elements such as a building’s structure, envelope and air distribution systems.

Obtaining LEED platinum status is a significant achievement. This distinction is a result of the owners’ efforts to raise the bar with regards to sustainability and energy resource management, while offering tenants the best office space on the market.

Ivanhoe Cambridge, Alberta Investment Management Corp. and Matco Investments co-own the Triple-A commercial office space.

“When we were looking at signing an office lease and securing the best environment for our employees, it was clear sustainability was a factor in our decision-making,” says Kevin Neveu, president and CEO of Precision Drilling Corp. “Not only is Eighth Avenue Place the most prestigious business address in Calgary, it shares Precision Drilling’s commitment to sustainable development.”

Eighth Avenue Place’s “green” features include:

• A state-of-the-art building management and control system to monitor and manage energy consumption and tenant comfort requests.
• Reliance on outside air (at certain temperatures) to cool the building.
• A 40 per cent reduction in water use through features such as ultra low-flow urinals and low-flow water closets.
• Enclosed 300-stall bicycle parking with adjacent showers.
• More than 75 per cent landfill diversion of construction waste, including that from the demolition of the previous buildings
• Use of low-emitting paints, adhesives and sealants.
• Use of environmentally-sensitive refrigerants.
• Canada’s largest green roof encompassing more than 2,700 square metres.

Eighth Avenue Place is a 49-storey tower with a two-storey retail podium that spans a full city block. It features a dramatic atrium winter garden and 1,143-car below-grade parking garage.

Construction began in December 2007, and was completed in summer 2011. Construction of Phase 2 West Tower began in March 2012. It is already fully pre-leased. Upon completion, scheduled for summer 2014, the office tower will be 78,000 square metres and soar 40-storeys. Hines is the development manager.