On Wednesday, May 25, 2014, The Kentucky U.S. Green Building Council recognized The Nucleus, the University of Louisville Foundation’s new downtown office building, for achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The recognition makes the building the eighth to achieve the designation at the university.
During a ceremony at The Nucleus, 300 E. Market St., Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, presented a LEED silver plaque to University of Louisville president James Ramsey and Vickie Yates Brown, president and CEO of Nucleus: Kentucky’s Innovation Center. Nucleus is an arm of the UofL Foundation.
Watch a video of the announcement here.
The Nucleus building is home to aging care, research, entrepreneurial and health care-related companies and entities. The structure has a number of environmentally friendly features, including a green rooftop terrace, smart HVAC and energy management systems and motion-activated lights and plumbing in all restrooms.
The LEED designation for The Nucleus comes a short time after another UofL building was recognized by the Green Building Council. The newly completed student recreation center on the Belknap Campus recently received LEED gold certification. That facility is cooled and heated by a geothermal system, uses building materials that reduce the heat island effect and has energy efficient water fixtures.
Another two UofL buildings are expected to receive LEED certification.
“Responsible growth continues to be our goal at UofL and having these buildings achieve LEED certification shows the university’s commitment to long-term sustainability, carbon footprint reduction and environmentally friendly development,” Ramsey said.