REI in Pittsburgh Gets LEED-Silver

Less water, less electricity, minimal construction waste and an urban location on the reclaimed grounds once home to a steel mill all helped REI’s new Pittsburgh store reduce its environmental impact. Combined with its other green efforts, the store has earned a LEED-CI (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Commercial Interiors) Silver rating from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The 26,500 square-foot, two-story store is the second REI store to receive LEED certification. In 2004, REI earned LEED-CI Gold for its store in Portland, OR – the first retail store in the nation to receive that designation. Other green aspects of the store’s construction include locally manufactured and high recycled content materials, a contract to purchase electricity generated by wind power and a minimum of paints, coatings or carpets that emit chemical fumes. TreeHugging architects at Mithun (we featured them when their design won the Cradle to Cradle home design contest) were also on the job, leading the architecture and design. ::REI Pittsburgh via ::CSRwire