Lansing-based Christman Company is the first company in the country to get two platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications.
The Christman Company received both certifications—one for LEED Commercial Interiors and one for Core and Shell—for the renovation of the 1928 Mutual Building in Downtown Lansing.
“This building will have a ripple effect,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Fedrizzi made the trip to Lansing from Washington D.C. to give the certification plaques to the Christman Company. “I guarantee you that planes of engineers from Asia will come here and want to see 
this building.”
The Christman Company was diligent about using as much of the existing 60,000 square foot building as possible during its $12 million construction.
The Christman Company also incorporated several green components into the building, including water use reduction, optimized energy performance, construction waste management and daylighting.
“We’re in the middle of a green tsunami right now,” Fedrizzi says, emphasizing that no other state in the country has received two platinum distinctions. The demand for green building is dramatically increasing. Fedrizzi says 50 to 60 people apply for certifications every day.
“This is different. This is special. It’s not like every other building in every other city,” Fedrizzi says about the Christman building.
Source: Angela Bailey, Christman Company
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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