LEED certification of an office block in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat

Motivation

Layetana Inmobiliaria established the goal of obtaining LEED New Construction Certification for a 5,500 m² new office block, known as EDIIIFICIO, in Plaça d’Europa, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona).

ERF provided assistance to the RCR Arquitectes architectural company and the PGI engineering firm throughout the project stages, from project design to works implementation, ensuring compliance with the environment requirements established by the Green Building Council Institute.

Results

The EDIIIFICIO building was awarded LEED NC Silver Certification in 2011, having achieved expected annual savings of 67% in terms of energy, 73% for water and 600 tonnes of CO₂ emissions compared to a conventional construction. In 2011, there were only six buildings in Spain with LEED-New Construction Certification, and EDIIIFICIO was the first to obtain this seal of approval in Barcelona Metropolitan Area.

The new building’s main features include:

• Class A Energy Efficiency.
• Architectural design with natural lighting in more than 75% of interior spaces.
• Induction air conditioning system, providing optimum comfort with minimum energy consumption.
• Use of recycled grey and rain water in toilet cisterns, urinals and cleaning, thereby reducing tap water consumption.
• More than 20% of building materials of recycled origin, reducing the impact generated by the extraction and processing of raw materials.
• More than 20% of materials local in origin.
• More than 80% of timber in the building obtained from FSC certified forests.
• No use of materials with significant VOC emissions in paints, carpets and interior finishes, helping to create a healthy internal environment.

The EDIIIFICIO on TV3:

How does a building become sustainable? http://www.tv3.cat/3alacarta/videos/2794190