Veolia Environmental Services Earns LEED Certification for Landfill Building in Valdosta, Georgia

Veolia ES Solid Waste has been awarded LEED certification (Certified level) by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for a new building at its Veolia Evergreen Landfill, Inc. in Valdosta, Ga. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. This is the first LEED certified building constructed in Valdosta, Ga.

“As part of our commitment to developing sustainable, environmentally-friendly solutions for the City of Valdosta and Lowndes County, we intentionally pursued LEED certification standards in the development of our new building,” said AJ Rodgers, area manager for Veolia ES Solid Waste Southeast, Inc. “As a result, we expect to see lower operating costs, increased efficiencies and a healthier work environment for our employees.”

The Veolia building was designed to achieve LEED certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use, and also incorporated a variety of other sustainable strategies. Certification was based on a number of green design and construction features, including:

• Being 28% more energy efficient than a similar non-LEED design building.
• Operating with 35% more water efficiency than a similar non-LEED design building.
• Diverting 75% of all waste and construction scrap generated by construction to a recycling facility for re-manufacturing or re-use.
• Using 10% of building material that contains post and pre-consumer recycled content.
• Utilizing 44% of all building materials that were extracted and manufactured locally.

“Buildings are a prime example of how human systems integrate with natural systems,” said Denise Grabowkski, chair of U.S. Green Building Council’s Georgia Chapter. “The Veolia project efficiently uses our natural resources and makes an immediate, positive impact on our planet, which will tremendously benefit future generations to come.”

Veolia’s new building will be used as a scale house for weighing all waste streams entering the Evergreen Landfill, and as an on-site administrative office.

LEED certification is an important element of Veolia’s own sustainability strategy. The company recently celebrated the LEED certification of its North American headquarters office in downtown Chicago’s Aon Building. That project was awarded Gold Level LEED certification in June 2010.