New Jersey has been at the forefront of clean energy and green buildings in the United States. Having close access to both New York City and Philadelphia with connectivity to the rest of the world through Newark Airport large companies are seeing the benefit of having their North American HQ in New Jersey. One company doing exactly this is LG that has built their North American Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs overlooking the Manhattan skyline.
HOK, an Architecture and planning firm, worked on the LG North America project to design the 350,000 square foot building that has integrated the landscape and treeline into the campus. LG was looking for a new campus post- COVID as employees and the companies that they worked for where looking for more flexible office space and an easier commute than having to commute into Mid-Town Manhattan. The most interesting aspect of the buildings that LG occupies is that they look like glass cubes and have a substantial amount of natural light that comes into the office space.
The LG North American HQ was awarded LEED Platinum for Building Design + Construction: New Construction scoring 81 out of a possible 110 points. Within the scorecard the facility was awarded 25/26 points for sustainable sites only missing one point for Stormwater Design-Quality Control. Within the Water Efficiency Category the campus achieved 4 out of a possible 10 points getting 2/4 points in the Water Efficient Landscaping and Water Use Reduction Categories and getting 0/2 points in the Innovative Wastewater Technologies category. LG can improve upon this category going forward and asses the landscaping features on the campus and improve upon the technology that they are using within the buildings.
As the buildings where new construction there was no building reuse in any of the previously existing walls, floors, or roofs and it reflects as such in the LEED scorecard having achieved 6/14 possible points in the Material & Resources category. Within this category it was clear that there where other motivators for the complete overhaul of the building and was able to achieve the Platinum certification while creating a brand new campus that integrates outdoor space and upgrades overall landscaping into the design for employees to utilize.
One of the most interesting parts of LEED in my eyes is the usage of Regional Priority Credits. According to the USGBC the intent of these credits is to “provide an incentive for the achievement of credits that address geographically specific environmental properties.” These credits vary not only across the United States to address different issues that regions face but across the world depending on the location of a building that is certifying to LEED. The LG North American HQ building was able to achieve 3 out of a possible 4 Regional Priority Credits for: On-Site Renewable Energy, Site Development- Protect or Restore Habitat and Stormwater Design- Quality Control. In achieving these credits the campus and LG shows their dedication to mitigate regional issues to the North East.
Alongside having natural light, the campus have views out to the Palisades environment, river and easy access to outdoor space with a terrace and restored wetlands that allow people to utilize this during the work day. Part of this project aside from the LEED Platinum Certification also included a restoration to the Palisades Parkway that is a 27 acre site that had previously been a bank processing center. The design of this site utilized a Feng Shui master to guide the design team in order to help with employee happiness. Within the area there where 1,500 more trees added to the campus with 50% more green space added to the site.
Interested in Learning More?
HOK Profile: https://www.hok.com/projects/view/lg-north-american-headquarters/
USGBC Scorecard: https://www.usgbc.org/projects/lg-north-american-headquarters
Regional Priority Credits: https://www.usgbc.org/credits/rp1