The LEED certification, bestowed by the U.S.
Green Building Council, indicates that a
structure has achieved a requisite level of
sustainability, resource efficiency, energy
efficiency and environmental quality. Builders
are awarded points for incorporating sustainable
technologies and practices in construction
projects and certifications are earned by
achieving points.
"The new ATC tower raked in many points by
recycling more than 90 percent of the high-tech
electronics from the old tower, LED lighting,
motion-sensing light controls, electric car
charging stations, and post-consumer
construction materials increased the score,"
Walton said. "The facility also had to comply
with stringent details from its landscaping to
the materials used in its furniture and carpet.
The enhanced energy efficiency will save
taxpayers money over time."
"The original tower, while state-of-the-art when
it began operations in 1975, was built to house
the hi-tech air traffic control and
communications equipment of its day," Walton
said. The standard equipment used by the Federal
Aviation Administration in the late 1970s was
much bulkier and successive iterations of
improvements in technology and miniaturization
had made the tower a patchwork of modern
technologies in a bygone vessel.
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