Robert A.M. Stern Architects is an industry leader in the design of buildings that are environmentally sustainable and energy efficient. Our longstanding dedication to high-quality design and construction is consistent with our commitment to environmental sustainability. The firm is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council. We have regular in-house continuing education programs for our staff to promote firmwide knowledge of all facets of sustainable design. We have developed and continue to maintain a master specification aimed at improving, often at no added construction cost, the environmental sustainability of the buildings we design.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects' 540,000- square-foot office building for Gap Inc. in San Francisco, California, is a national exemplar of energy conservation and sustainable design, both in its construction and in its operation. The building features operable windows (unusual in recent highrise construction), in addition to an energy-conserving underfloor air supply system which takes advantage of the building's thermal mass to reduce peak cooling loads. This building is also, at the time of writing, the largest application of certified sustainable wood veneers in the nation.

Our firm recently completed the nation's first LEED-certified Gold corporate headquarters building, the Plaza at PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, first place winner in the Northeast Sustainable Energy Award's large building category and a 2004 Top Ten Green Projects Award winner of the national American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment. The Plaza at PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, includes ground-floor retail, seven floors of office space, and an energy trading facility. The building is a symbol of PPL's commitment to sustainable design. The building's sustainable design features include: the integration of metal sun-screening devices along the south facade reducing radiant heat gain; a central atrium, increasing natural daylight within the building; the use of a natural vegetative roof surface for the purposes of rainwater collection and the reduction of the heat island effect; the use of a combination fuel cell and thermal storage building systems and underfloor air supply to provide energy-efficient heating and cooling; the integration of rainwater collection and recycling facilities for use in nonpotable building systems and site irrigation; provisions for alternative transportation facilities such as bicycle storage units and locker room facilities; and a host of other sustainable design and construction initiatives. Energy audits one year after occupancy demonstrate that the PPL building has outperformed its aggressive energy savings design goals and has shown a 2.5 year payback period for the 4% construction cost premium required to achieve LEED Gold.

For Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, Robert A.M. Stern Architects' Environmental Sciences Research Building and Botanical Garden combine a variety of environmentally-responsible design strategies, including the use of native Acadia-region woods, on-site recycling and the use of geothermal energy for heating and cooling. Also utilizing geothermal heating and cooling is our Museum Center at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut - the nation's first LEED-certified museum.

The recently completed Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Youngstown, Ohio is the first GSA project to be designed to qualify for a LEED rating. Our courthouse received LEED points for its recycled steel content, highefficiency lighting in general office areas, reflective roof materials and concrete parking areas to reduce heat islands, and materials with low VOC content. The mechanical engineering of the building met ASHRAE standards, and the building's contractor recycled debris from the job site.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects is currently working with the General Services Administration to incorporate sustainable design elements into the new Federal Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia. The project has been targeted with obtaining a Silver LEED rating. The silver LEED rating, as outlined by the US Green Building Council, is achieved when a total point count between 33 and 38 points is reached. A total point count of 36 is estimated at the Design Development stage, which places the design comfortably within the LEED Silver rating. To ultimately obtain the LEED Silver rating, all parties, including the owner, user, design staff, contractors, construction managers, and commissioning agency must all be committed to achieving this Silver certification.

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