UTC centre achieves LEED Platinum standard

USA: The UTC Center for Intelligent Buildings, global corporate headquarters for Carrier’s air conditioning and refrigeration technologies, has achieved the USA’s top green building certification.

The 224,000ft² building in Palm Beach Gardens, opened last year, is said to be the first commercial building in Florida to earn LEED Platinum v4 certification. The Platinum rating – the highest designation – was awarded under the stringent version 4 LEED green building programme for building design and construction from the US Green Building Council.

“Earning LEED Platinum certification is a significant achievement, as sustainability is a core value of our organisation and our portfolio of products,” said Carrier president Bob McDonough. “We designed the UTC Center for Intelligent Buildings to push the boundaries of sustainable building design and provide our employees and customers with a model of what’s possible when Carrier’s best technologies are deployed in green buildings. Earning LEED Platinum is a testament to what can be accomplished when advanced building technologies are integrated into intelligent building design.”

The building also serves as the global corporate headquarters for UTC Climate, Controls & Security division, providing a modern and connected work space for 500 employees.

Carrier says the building was designed as a living showcase of what’s possible through technology integration to increase efficiency, protect people and property, and enhance the occupant experience. In addition to supporting LEED Platinum certification, Carrier’s innovative product integrations also provide a scalable and repeatable model for total green building design. 

Technologies utilised include two Carrier AquaEdge 23XRV chillers, paired with augmented reality to reveal their inner operations, glass-encased Otis elevators and NCE escalators and digital technologies that help manage HVAC, elevator, and fire and security systems, all connected by Automated Logic’s WebCTRL building automation system

Another benefit of LEED certification is said to be employee productivity and wellbeing. The UTC Center for Intelligent Buildings was specifically designed to COGfx standards – indoor air quality specifications found by Harvard University researchers to double occupants’ cognitive function test scores compared to a conventional building environment.

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