Environmental Services

Arlington County and Green Buildings

 

 Introduction

For nearly 10 years, Arlington has focused on incorporating green features in its new public facilities.  In the fall of 2008, this commitment was formalized in Arlington’s Policy for Integrated Facility Sustainability [link to policy].  The policy commits Arlington to build public facilities that reduce costs through energy and water efficiency, provide healthy work environments for staff and visitors, and contribute to the County’s goals of protecting, conserving, and enhancing the region’s environmental resources.  Arlington uses the US Green Building Council’s LEED green building rating system as a guide to greening public facilities. 

The policy states, in general, that Arlington will fund, design, and construct projects to achieve the LEED Silver certification.  The policy applies to buildings owned by the County as well as space leased by the County.  The appropriate LEED rating system will be applied on a case-by-case basis (LEED for New Construction, LEED for Commercial Interiors, LEED for Core and Shell, etc.).  The policy does not apply to Arlington Public School projects.

 

Arlington County has completed several LEED certified projects as follows: 

Arlington County Commuter Services

LEED Gold

Arlington Transportation Partners earned LEED for Commercial Interiors certification in 2011 for their office space on the 11th floor of 1501 Wilson Blvd. 

Contact Arlington Transportation Partners to schedule a  tour and learn about the LEED for Commercial Interiors certification for the office space.  For a sneak preview, this brochure describes the tour stops shown on the enclosed map.  These stops correspond to plaques located throughout the building which include further information on this building's specific green features.

 Langston Brown Community Center

LEED Silver

 The Langston-Brown School and Community Center, completed in 2003, was the first Silver LEED certified Arlington County building. This building is a 50,000-square foot, three-story school and community center. To accommodate the building's unique use demands contractors, builders, the County, and the community worked together to make efficient use of the space and to include many sustainable and environmental features including light harvesting; low-flow faucets and waterless urinals; low-VOC materials, adhesives, sealants and paints; and recycled content and construction waste recycling.   

Read a case study about the school (see page 3). The picture to the left is from the grand opening of the Langston Brown Center, September 10, 2003.

Visit Langston-Brown School and Community Center for an interactive building tour and learn about the building's innovative green design and construction.  This brochure, located at the entrance of Langston-Brown, describes the tour stops shown on the enclosed map.  These stops correspond to plaques located throughout the building which include further information on this building's specific green features.


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 Park Operations Building

LEED Silver

The Park Operations Building was completed in 2006. This building is approximately 18,000 square feet and serves as the base of operations for Parks staff. Green features of this building include daylighting, auto sensors, a green roof, and two cisterns to capture rainwater. 

Washington-Lee High School

LEED Gold

Washington-Lee High School has a four-story academic wing along with a large gym, ten lane swimming pool, 800 seat theater, and two new rectangular athletic fields (in addition to the current stadium). The facility earned the prestigious LEED Gold certification (the LEED program strives to minimize the environmental impact and improve the energy efficiency and performance of the building). Learn more about what makes this building green in this brochure.

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 Walter Reed Community Center

LEED Silver

The Walter Reed Community Center opened in May, 2006, and is a 30,000-square foot one-story facility in a South Arlington neighborhood. The building features an 18,000 square-foot vegetated roof constructed with three inches of soil covered by succulent plants. The new building will include a vegetated roof constructed with three inches of soil covered by succulent plants. This "green roof" acts as an insulator for the building, and also absorbs storm water runoff that could otherwise erode and pollute local streams. The green roof can extend the life of the roofing material as well, by reducing stress on the roof from daily temperature variations. In addition, bioretention gardens on the site allow storm water to recharge the natural aquifer, rather than flowing off the site into the storm water system. Extensive day-lighting, use of renewable and recycled building materials such as wheatboard, cork, bamboo flooring, and recycled carpet add to the building's green features. Motion sensor lights save energy and the men's bathrooms include waterless urinals, which conserve water.

 

Walter Reed Community Center Green roof in May, 2008

The gym at the Walter Reed Community Center uses renewable bamboo for the gym floor and daylight for lighting the space.

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 For an up-to-date listing of LEED certified and registered projects in Arlington see http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/Project/CertifiedProjectList.aspx.   

 

Project Name

Owner

City

State

Country

LEED Rating

Parks & Recreation Cultural Resource Cen

Arlington County

Arlington

VA

US

Silver

The Navy League Building

Navy League LLC

Arlington

VA

US

Silver

Pentagon Metro Entrance Facility

Pentagon Renovation Office

Arlington

VA

US

Certified

Walter Reed Community Center

Arlington County

Arlington

VA

US

Silver

John M. Langston High School Continuatio

Arlington Public Schools, Arlington Coun

Arlington

VA

US

Silver

Pentagon Athletic Center

Pentagon Renovation Program

Arlington

VA

US

Certified

Remote Delivery Facility

 

Arlington

VA

US

Certified

One Potomac Yard

Crescent Resources, LLC

Arlington

VA

US

Gold

Regent 950 Glebe Road Office Building

JBG/ATA North Glebe LLC

Arlington

VA

US

Silver

Two Potomac Yard

Crescent Resources, LLC

Arlington

VA

US

Gold

NRECA II

NRECA

Arlington

VA

US

Silver

Conservation International

Conservation International

Arlington

VA

US

Silver

Sigal Construction Corporate Offices

Sigal Construction

Arlington

VA

US

Silver

One Potomac Yard

JPMorgan

Arlington

VA

US

Gold

Sebesta Blomberg DC Office

Sebesta Blomberg

Arlington County

VA

US

Gold

 - List updated on 4/29/09


Last Modified: November 08, 2011
2100 Clarendon Blvd. Arlington, VA 22201 Tel: 703-228-3000 TTY: 703-228-4611