LEED Gold Plaque Ceremony in Hadley Mass., with the USGBC MA Chapter's West Branch

By Jeff Dalzell, UMass Amherst

By Jeff Dalzell, UMass Amherst

On Wednesday, May 14th 2014, the US Fish & Wildlife Regional Headquarters in Hadley, MA unveiled a LEED Gold Plaque for earning certification after a renovation project on their 20-yr old building.

Mark Dunn provided congratulatory remarks on behalf of the USGBC

USGBC MA Chapter West Branch Chair Mark Dunn joined with representatives of the building’s Owner/Developer, Pearson Companies, Inc., the tenant Green Team, and the Director of US Fish & Wildlife to celebrate this certification achievement.

The Service took active measures to upgrade many aspects of building operations to achieve this accomplishment including:

• Replacing HVAC units with more energy efficient models

• Replacing all light fixtures inside the building as well as outdoor lighting

• Replacing old plumbing with more efficient water saving fixtures

• Adding Energy Recovery Ventilation units on the roof

• Installing a roof-mounted 108 kW solar PV system

• Redesigned walkways and landscaping for more environmentally friendly upkeep.

Since the start of the project, the amount of energy savings is more than 375,000 KWh, which is a reduction of nearly 575,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. This amount of energy savings is the equivalent of taking 56 cars off the road. The amount of water use was reduced by nearly 60,000 gallons per year and the amount a gas use had been reduced nearly 3,500 CCF per year, the equivalent of eliminating 44,000 miles driven per year.

Congratulations to the project team and especially the leadership at GSA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Regional Office.

US Fish & Wildlife Northeast Headquarters will be Hadley’s first LEED building. Exceptional future energy savings for the building will be driven an extensive new solar PV array on the building’s roof and the use of LED lighting throughout. For a long time, families with children have been coming to this building’s pond to learn how to fish. Now the site has even more to teach a rising generation.

Photo (below) at the plaque ceremony (left to right, Building Owner’s representative Bill Keavany of Pearson, Service Northeast Regional Director Wendi Weber, U.S. Green Building Council representative Mark Dunn, Service Architect and Green Team Leader Liz Dawson, Chair of the Hadley Selectboard Guilford B. Mooring).