The Nature Conservancy’s New ‘Green' Headquarters

The Nature Conservancy's Indiana Chapter is building a new ‘green' headquarters in downtown Indianapolis. They are seeking LEED certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. The building is designed to become the platinum level LEED certified office building in Indiana.

The Office of Sustainability is working with The Nature Conservancy to educate the public about LEED buildings and the LEED certification process. This page will be dedicated to showing the entire process of the buildings creation, from construction through LEED certification.

Press release

Information about the New Headquarters

What is LEED Certification?
"LEED" means Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a Green Building Rating SystemTM developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. It is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED provides a hierarchy of standards for environmentally sustainable construction: "certified," "silver," "gold," and finally "platinum," for those projects that are designed to and perform at the highest levels. You can learn more about LEED by visiting the USGBC website: http://www.usgbc.org/

What are some features that make the building a "Green" building?
The Nature Conservancy's headquarters in downtown Indianapolis will be the bricks-and-mortar embodiment of our conservation mission, using salvaged bricks, Indiana limestone, and sustainably harvested Indiana hardwoods. The building will feature energy efficient mechanical and electrical systems. It will also have beautiful, street-level landscaping consisting of native trees and plants best adapted to our Indiana environment, converting large areas of principally hard, impermeable surfaces to plants and trees. The building will have low water-flow toilets that use recycled waste water and rainwater, and permeable parking surfaces to eliminate storm water run-off.

How is City helping the building seek LEED certification?
SustainIndy is Mayor Greg Ballard's plan for making Indianapolis more sustainable. SustainIndy is aimed at improving our local environment and improving the quality of life while building the local economy. Its efforts are designed to make Indianapolis one of the most sustainable cities in the Midwest. Mayor Ballard and the Office of Sustainability are interested in working with us through the framework of our new building to educate Hoosiers about sustainable development. They plan to feature its construction-from start to finish-on the SustainIndy website.