The City of Charlottesville announced Tuesday the Smith Aquatic Center, located on Cherry Avenue off Fifth Street, received the U.S. Green Building Council's certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design at the Platinum level. The building is the only Platinum-certified municipal building east of the Mississippi River, according to The Daily Progress.
The Platinum level rating is the highest rating a sustainable site can receive for water efficiency, energy and atmosphere efficiency, material and resource selection, and indoor environmental quality, according to a City press release.
"The building is more than qualified," said Mike Mollica, the City capital projects coordinator and facilities development division manager. "We had targeted Gold certification, and we had anticipated somewhere around high Gold so we were absolutely thrilled to see we had landed at Platinum."
Mollica said Charlottesville City Council decided "a couple of years ago" to build LEED certified facilities.
Some of the building's featured green achievements are its storm water management system, solar thermal rooftop system, 98 percent natural lighting, and ultra-violet and CO2 pool water treatment to reduce chemicals. Sustainable design also significantly reduces the City's overall building operational costs. Heating and cooling costs are reduced by about 58 percent each year.
City administrators said the award marks a significant achievement in Charlottesville's commitment to a sustainable future.
"Receiving the certification is certainly another feather in our cap," Mollica said. "We are elated. The bar is now higher, so our goal is to maintain that in our next facility"
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