Turner Construction Company announced that the Yale University Health Center in New Haven, Connecticut, is the 200th Turner project to have achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the Green Buildings Certification Institute.
The LEED Gold-certified Yale University Health Center is a 140,000-square-foot medical facility that is representative of Yale's multifaceted approach to sustainability that incorporates building construction, waste management, energy production, procurement, research, and classroom instruction.
Among the Yale Health Center's environmental features are high-efficiency lighting fixtures and controls that contribute to energy savings; tinted windows that maximize natural daylight in the building while providing privacy and reducing excess sunlight in the interior; low-flow toilets that reduce the use of water; a green rooftop meditation garden with self-sustaining plants; and the use of sustainable building materials such as bamboo and other elements that result in improved indoor air quality.
Since Turner announced its formal commitments to building green in 2004, the company has completed 200 LEED certified projects and has an additional 230 LEED registered projects in progress. Together, these projects represent approximately 100 million square feet of space and have a construction value in excess of $27 billion. Green building projects comprise approximately 50 percent of Turner's backlog of construction activity. In 2010 alone, Turner completed $4.2 billion of green buildings, up from $3.6 billion in 2009. Over the course of the past year, Turner completed an average of one LEED certified project each week. Leading the delivery of this work are the Company's 1,200 LEED Accredited Professionals.
Turner has also taken a number of steps to fulfill its commitment to reduce its environmental footprint. These steps include new or renovated offices achieving LEED certification, improving the fuel efficiency of its vehicles and a far reaching construction waste management program. To help achieve its goals, the Company recently issued the second edition of its Turner Green Project Operations Manual. The Manual assists staff managing projects seeking LEED certification. In addition, the Manual has several features including a jobsite orientation program called "Safe and Sustainable" that makes sustainable jobsite best practices standard for every Turner project.
