The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) issued its 20,000th Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for a commercial building in December 2013.

The milestone was hit when the offices and staff services space at the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters plant in Knoxville, Tenn., received LEED for Commercial Interiors Certification.

“This is an important milestone in our mission to drive market transformation in the built environment to practices that make healthy, high-performing buildings a fact of life,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of the USGBC. “We’ve shown that LEED works, and the companies and organizations that use LEED set a high bar for leadership.”

This is Green Mountain’s seventh facility to receive LEED certification. Sustainable features at the Knoxville plant include:

• Water-efficient plumbing fixtures that result in 32 per cent reduction in water use;
• Recycled content accounting for more than 24 per cent of all building materials, work stations and seating;
• High efficiency lighting fixtures as well as daylighting and lighting control;
• Renewable power sources, which generate more than 50 per cent of the required power.