Coloplast’s new North American headquarters in Minneapolis, built by Kraus-Anderson Construction Company, has earned Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Green Building Rating System™. In successfully achieving Silver LEED status, the USGBC accepted all 36 points submitted in the registration process.
LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Coloplast is located on a 5.4-acre site at 1601 West River Road in North Minneapolis. The Danish medical device manufacturer’s “innovation center” is the company’s third globally, joining others in Denmark and France. Coloplast develops and manufactures products and services for people with ostomy, urology, continence and skin care needs.
The construction project positions KA as the premier general contractor for medical research and bioscience projects in the Upper Midwest. The project was delivered in a collaborative team format, working with NorthMarq as owner’s representative and RSP Architects as the designer.
The campus includes a new five-story, 90,000-square-foot office tower; a new two-story, 37,500-square-foot product development building; and a 65,000-square-foot extensive renovation of an existing building to accommodate lab, teaching, manufacturing and shipping/receiving functions. Site development including underground storm water detention, site utilities and grading are also part of the project.
Some of the Silver LEED requirements included:
· Construction Waste Management - 97.5 percent of all construction debris was diverted from disposal in landfills and incinerators through recycling, reusing or salvaging these waste materials. As a result of this effort, the project received LEED’s "Innovation in Design Credit - Exemplary Performance."
· Recycled Content - The recycled content for building materials used on the project was 25.8 percent, exceeding the 10 percent minimum.
· Regional Materials - 26.5 percent of materials used on the jobsite were extracted, processed and manufactured within 500 miles of the jobsite, also exceeding the 10 percent minimum.