Historic Hartford Building Earns a Green Rating

The highrise housing the Phoenix Companies' headquarters has become the first historic building in New England to be certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED system.

The Hartford landmark at One American Row, better known as the "boat building," received a LEED-Silver certification, Phoenix Companies said yesterday.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Silver certification is the second level of four, the highest being platinum, in the USGBC's green building rating and assessment system.

One American Row is one of the few historic buildings in the U.S. to earn LEED certification as an existing building.

While the number of LEED-registered projects involving existing buildings is growing, historic sites pose several challenges because the characteristics that make them deserving of preservation must be maintained while bringing the structures up to contemporary environmental standards.

Built in 1963 with a two-sided lenticular plan, the boat building is frequently praised as a prime example of the Modernist architectural style. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and is managed by the National Park Service.

As a LEED candidate, the building was evaluated in five environmental categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. The USGBC's rating system awards additional points for innovations.

One American Row, which has an Energy Star rating of 89 under the EPA's evaluation system for building efficiency, was just five points shy of earning USGBC certification at the Gold level.


Images courtesy of Phoenix Companies Inc. 

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