LEED® Standards Will Keep Centre Lean and Green

The environmental and financial sustainability of the K-Rock Centre have been built-in to the facility itself. The Centre has been designed with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification in mind and aims to achieve a LEED® Silver rating.

The Centre is located on a former brownfield site. Bike racks and dispersed parking are provided to encourage alternate means of transportation. ‘Green’ furniture should also help secure a high environmental rating of the building. The Centre has a recycling room and ‘green’ housekeeping products will be used in the maintenance of the facility and water use reduction technology will be incorporated in washrooms of the facility.

Visitors and residents will be able to obtain information on all LEED credits achieved within the Centre through an interactive kiosk to be installed on the main floor.

LEED® is a rating system representing a holistic and environmentally responsible approach to building design. It is overseen by the Canada Green Building Council, which certifies a building project on the basis of a variety of green building criteria. LEED® certified facilities usually pay for their LEED®-associated costs in energy savings and other efficiencies over a reasonable time.

A total of $1.2 million has been dedicated to securing this high level of environmental design to provide leadership by example to other such facilities across the country.

Under the certification program, buildings meet prerequisites and earn credits in a number of categories, including: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation & Design Process.

Most of the credits are performance-based, which means that they measure the degree of improvement relative to a recognized standard. A project can meet the criteria for one of four LEED® levels — certified, silver, gold, or platinum — based on its total point score.

New City facilities, like the Centre, are designed to achieve at least a LEED® Silver rating, and can expect significant savings in energy costs.

The official adoption of the LEED® approach puts Kingston on the leading-edge of sustainable development and ensures that new City buildings maximize energy efficiency, provide the highest quality of indoor working environment and minimize any building's burden on the natural environment and long-term operating budgets.