EcoMonday: We're LEED Certified!!

...Great, but what does that mean?
Oh, sure, we know that everyone knows it means something green, something sustainable, something good for everyone. But what is it?
Let's start at the very beginning. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. We're the only privately owned meeting and event facility in the U.S. to earn LEED Silver designation.
LEED was created by the U.S. Green Building Council in the late 90s to provide some kind of standard for companies interested in creating buildings that were more environmentally sound.

You can also earn LEED certification for green interiors, which is what we've done.
(In some cases, our facilities are located in existing buildings. We haven't had to build anything new, so we looked for ways to make our interiors as green as possible.)
Here's what it means in plainspeak:

• We use wind energy to power our operations.
• Our circulation system is specifically built to circulate cleaner, healthier air, more efficiently.
• We used building materials that are low in volatile organic compounds, which can contribute to pollution and affect human health. (More on this in a later blog post.)
• We use high-efficiency lighting
• We have water-efficient plumbing fixtures
• We do everything we can to continue good environmental practices: We recycle, purchase from local vendors, and use environmentally friendly cleaning solutions in our day-to-day operations.
  

One final thing we're doing to make sure your meetings are green: We participate in the Philly Zoo's carbon offset program, Zero Footprints, which allows for the carbon credits we purchase to go towards reforestation. It's an awesome program, and we feel proud to contribute towards more trees.


That's just the tip of the iceberg. But really, all you need to know is that we're green, in part so that you can have one fewer thing to worry about.
You can calculate your carbon footprint here.