SEATTLE — The Summit building at the Seattle Convention Center (SCC) has earned LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), just one year after its grand opening. This prestigious LEED Platinum certification confirms the SCC’s commitment to sustainable practices and operations.
The Summit Building took numerous steps to achieve the highest level of certification, including reclaiming wood for reuse throughout the building; capturing, filtering and using rainwater for landscaping and toilet flushing; and implementing a hybrid radiant heating and cooling system in the lobby and pre-function areas.
“I think it goes without saying that our goal is to be as environmentally friendly as possible in the way we operate our buildings,” said Jeff Blosser, president and CEO of the Seattle Convention Center. “We could add additional solar panels, continue to improve our diversion options, purchase more alternative energy instead of fossil fuels and work to improve our recycling options.”
The USGBC has recognized the SCC with various LEED certifications for its various buildings, achieving silver level for other parts of the facility.
“The Seattle Convention Center continues to work toward a higher LEED rating for the Arch,” Blosser said. “The 35-year-old building has its drawbacks when it comes to meeting the elements needed to achieve gold or platinum status. We operate the building in a very sustainable manner, including capital projects to upgrade lighting, ensuring all cleaning products are LEED compliant and a waste diversion rate of nearly 80 percent. The capital funds needed to achieve a higher LEED rating are currently under review, and we hope to achieve a gold rating in our next recertification process.”
Sustainability in Seattle
The City of Seattle has been championing sustainability for years and has received accolades and awards for its efforts. Visit Seattle reports that while sustainability has been a topic of conversation for some time, it is becoming increasingly important to incoming and prospective groups.
“Any time you bring a large group of people together in a centralized location, significant carbon emissions and waste are generated,” said Kelly Saling, senior vice president and chief sales officer for Visit Seattle. “As meetings professionals, we understand this and it’s encouraging to see the interest and popularity of sustainable initiatives growing each year. Here in Seattle, we have a unique destination that combines a metropolis with beautiful natural landscapes. People remember the first time they land in Seattle and see the snow-capped Cascades, the Olympics and Mount Rainier. We look out the window and are reminded of the need to protect the magic of this region. It’s all the motivation we needed to implement mandatory composting in 2009, develop a 90 percent renewable energy grid and divert more than 60 percent of our waste, nearly double the national average.”
Contact Jeff Blosser at (206) 694-5010
Photographic rights: Photography Cory Parris, Inc.