EMD Serono’s Sagamore Building earns LEED Platinum

Jim Newman,Chair of USGBC Massachusetts presenting LEED Platinum to Paris Panayiotopoulos, President of EMD Serono

A few weeks ago Chapter President Jim Newman had the honor of presenting EMD Serono with their LEED Platinum plaque for the Sagamore Building project. The project, designed by Ellenzweig and BR+A, and built by JLL, earned 81 points in LEED ID+C: Commercial Interiors (v2009). The sustainability efforts were lead by Eric Ruoff of chapter sponsor The Green Engineer.

Sagamore Building office area

During his speech at the ceremony, Jim said “You always know when you are in a Platinum building. They are just so cool!” Several occupants have stated they really enjoy working in the space and rumor is that the building has become so popular employees working elsewhere on the campus “claimed” desks before they were officially available. Project Architect Mario Abanto says “Every LEED point was scrutinized and not taken for granted.  The outcome resulted from a tremendous collaborative process by all parties involved- owner, builder, architect, and engineer.”

Tony Meenaghan of EMD Serono and Greg Berndt of Ellenzweig show off the Sagamore Building to Jim Newman

The building was originally a protein production laboratory complete with clean rooms and heavy-duty mechanical equipment. The team was able to open up areas to create a double-height office space with a mezzanine. Features include ample daylight and views, extremely efficient lighting and controls, optimized the existing HVAC systems, and reuse of many building elements. EMD Serono has committed to keeping the building green by using only ENERGY STAR equipment, comprehensive recycling, purchasing renewable power, and ongoing monitoring of the building’s performance.

More information about the building can be found at http://www.sagamorebuilding.info/news/ and the scorecard is available on the USGBC website.

JLL, The Green Engineer, Ellenzweig, BR+A and EMD Serono project team members

Carolyn serves on the MA Chapter Board of Directors as Secretary and works at Ellenzweig as an architect.