Issues: Green Enterprise

NRDC'S Other Green Offices

In 1988, recognizing the need for leadership in environmentally-friendly building practice, NRDC began a program to "green" its four offices. At the point of relocation, each office installed environmental innovations to demonstrate the potential for green office space.

• New York: the first to be redesigned, NRDC's New York office achieves very high levels of energy efficiency with savings of almost 80% compared to offices built around that time, and introduced some green materials such as natural fiber carpets that were installed without glues or synthetic backings, low-emission particleboard built-in furniture and low-toxic paint.
  
  
• San Francisco: this office was redesigned with very energy efficient lighting and an innovative lease clause that allows the energy savings from the lighting to be passed on to NRDC. Actual savings of the office, due to the energy-conserving behavior of the San Francisco staff, is 80% compared to a conventional space, even though the system is only designed to save 60%.
  
  
• Los Angeles: NRDC is a tenant of a building that NRDC collaborated with the developer and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to make an energy efficient showcase. The building has very low energy lighting and an air conditioning system that does not use water in the cooling tower (important in Los Angeles). The office has an efficient dish-washer as well as significant use of green materials, including recycled carpets, low-VOC paint and recycled content drywall.
  
  Update, 11/13/2003: NRDC's Southern California office is now located in a green building in Santa Monica. Take a guided tour to learn about its environmentally-friendly design and construction.

NRDC Green Building Project

NRDC began working on greening buildings over 2 decades ago with advocacy for energy efficient building codes in California and the Pacific Northwest. Our new Green Building project encompasses several facets including the use of NRDC offices as demonstration and teaching tools, participation in national organizations such as being on the Board of the U.S. Green Building Council, and local initiatives such as the conversion of New York City school heating systems from coal to natural gas and the energy and environmental design of the New York City Riverside South and Times Square redevelopment projects. Other aspects of the program include researching and disseminating information on environmental characteristics of building materials, and education and demonstration projects on reducing the use of wood in construction.