When the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) needed a new headquarters, it had to be a green, sustainable building. In addition to energy and water savings, the building incorporates products with sustainable qualities including National Gypsum wallboard.

The XP Gypsum Board contains 95 percent pre-consumer content (byproduct gypsum from Duke Energy), and 5 percent post-content (the facing paper). Manufactured in Mt. Holly, NC, the location also adds to the sustainability qualities for this project. The byproduct Mt. Holly uses from Duke Energy plants travels just a few short miles to the wallboard plant, and Mt. Holly is within 500 miles of the project in Washington, DC. The XP board also has GREENGUARD certification to meet the highest standards for indoor air quality.

USGBC is 16 years old and its primary product is its LEED building certification program. The organization’s new headquarters recycled a 1975 building with a crisp, clean eloquent design by Envision Design. One of the focal points in the lobby is the USGBC logo carved into a wall made of 500-year-old salvaged lumber. The USGBC headquarters is the first building to receive LEED Platinum certification under the organization’s 2009 rating system.

  6/17/2009