LANSING, — General Motors' new Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant has received a gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program -- the only automotive manufacturing plant in the world to receive LEED certification.

LEED certification is the building industry's well-respected recognition of superior energy and environmental design and construction. A gold certification recognizes a high level of performance.

Over the first ten years of operations, the facility is expected to save over 40 million gallons of water and 30 million kwh of electricity.

"Lansing Delta Township is the first of the next generation of industrial buildings," said David Skiven, executive director, GM Worldwide Facilities Group. "It proves that sustainable manufacturing buildings can be economically built and operated. We are extremely proud of the innovative thinking of our employees and partners on the team that made this possible."

Lansing Delta Township is one of just 550 buildings worldwide that are LEED certified at any level - of these buildings, only a third are certified at the gold level.

"General Motors has a global commitment to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment," said Elizabeth Lowery, GM vice president, Environment and Energy. “In our older, established facilities, we are constantly making changes as we renovate buildings to keep them current with state-of-the-art environmental practices. At Lansing Delta Township it was a great experience to be able to start from scratch to design and build the world’s most environmentally advanced auto manufacturing plant.”

The plant will produce GM’s new crossover vehicles -- the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave- and will start production during the fourth quarter of 2006.

Commenting on the certification, U.S. Green Building Council President S. Richard Fedrizzi noted that the acceptance of green buildings has been slower within the manufacturing sector than for other commercial uses.

“GM’s Lansing Delta Township Plant is a very good - and large – example of how it’s possible to incorporate sustainable practices into large scale manufacturing facilities,” Fedrizzi said. “Today, not only is it possible, it is cost and energy efficient, and provides a healthy environment for employees. We expect GM’s plant will change the way manufacturing buildings are built in the future.”

Paul Lemley, senior vice president and general manager, Alberici Group, which partnered with GM on the design and construction of the facility, said: “Alberici is in the unique position of being heavily involved in both the automotive industry and the movement toward low environmental impacts for buildings. Our leadership in these areas allows us to state with certainty that GM has set a new standard for environmental concern with this new facility. No other manufacturer has created a facility of this magnitude with such low immediate and long term impact to the environment. This is a quantum leap forward for the industry. General Motors has done more than just talk about how the industry needs to respond to protect the environment; they have acted in a new and powerful way to demonstrate how this can be done.”

Paul Faeth, managing director of World Resources Institute, an independent nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that studies environmental and development issues, said: "GM has been a leader in the application of efficiency and renewables for quite some time. This award is a well-deserved recognition of the company's commitment to sound environmental management of their facilities." GM is a member of WRI's Green Power Market Development Group.