Hines Announces Tour Carpe Diem as First French High-Rise to be Awarded LEED Platinum Certification
A major office building in the French capital has just set an important milestone as it became the first French high-rise structure to be awarded with Platinum certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Core & Shell Rating System.
By Alex Girda, Associate Editor
Paris—A major office building in the French capital has just set an important milestone as it became the first French high-rise structure to be awarded with Platinum certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Core & Shell Rating System. Owned by AVIVA and Crédit Agricole Immobilier, the building was developed under the management of Hines France, and was only recently completed. Located in Paris’ La Défense district, Tour Carpe Diem had been pre-certified at Gold level for the USGBC’s LEED Core & Shell system.
The 40-story tower was designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects and offers 507,000 square feet of office space. Its list of technological improvements that have made it the first high-rise in France to be garnered with LEED Platinum certification includes a triple-glazed curtain wall that incorporates sunshades.
The fixtures respond to the solar orientation of each façade in order to better adapt to the amount of light that comes in. Natural ventilation is achieved through a system of innovative grills, a measure that will drastically reduce the building’s reliance on air conditioning. The lobby features a garden irrigated through stored rainwater, while the toilets employ recycled greywater for their flushing systems. Also included in this suite of green features are: a solar water heating system, a heat recovery fixture and high-performance lighting.
The developer has quite some history with the U.S. Green Building Council, as around 101 million square feet of space, or 101 projects, currently feature pre-certification, certification or registration under a number of LEED rating systems. Hines is also a founding member on various organizations that deal with sustainable development such as the German Sustainable Building Council and the Russian Green Building Council. It is also involved with similar structures in Brasil, Italy, Spain and India, as well as the BRE Environmental Assessment Method in the UK and France’s Haute Qualité Envirnnementale program.
Hines currently has one of the most impressive sustainable real estate portfolios, currently including 181-labeled buildings, or around 73 million square feet included in the EPA’s Energy Star program. The company was also awarded with the Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award by the Environmental Protection Agency, for the fifth time in 2012. A further 12 development or redevelopment projects handled by Hines, totaling 6 million square feet of space, are now recognized as Designed to Earn the Energy Star.
