March 14, 2003—The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation headquarters project received a Gold rating from the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System in late 2002. The award represented the first LEED Gold rating in the state of California.
Located in San Mateo, California, construction of the 48,000 sq. ft. facility was completed in May 2002. The entire project was managed by a LEED Accredited Professional, who led pre-design discussions on sustainable principles prior to project development. The agreed-upon “green” design principles provided the framework that guided the overall blueprint and construction of the facility.
The most significant green features that propelled the Hewlett facility to Gold status were the Innovation and Design credits awarded. These credits represent exceptional performance above standard requirements set by the LEED rating system and outside of the five major categories for rating consideration. Most notably, Hewlett plans to sponsor a proactive continuing education building program that will host community and professional groups, and will include building tours, LEED presentations, materials, and sample boards.
Additional innovation credit for this project includes a sustainable cleaning and purchasing practice which prohibits use of toxic or hazardous cleaning materials by maintenance staff, and the purchase of only recycled paper products.
To date, the USGBC has certified 27 projects across the US and Canada with over 500 projects worldwide currently registered for rating consideration.
