Riverwood 100 earns Leed Certification

ATLANTA (June 23, 2010) – John Portman & Associates is pleased to announce that Riverwood 100, an office building the firm designed in 1971, has earned LEED certification. PORTMAN designs have always endeavored to enhance the human experience. Riverwood 100 demonstrates how designing a memorable experience can contribute to the creation of a sustainable building. Design features include the incorporation of natural light throughout the building, an energy efficient exterior wall, and a fully landscaped green roof over covered parking cleverly recessed into an existing ravine beneath the building. While minimizing the footprint of the combined buildings to preserve the natural beauty of the site, the recessed structure also provides natural ventilation for the parking deck. We were gratified last week when Fifth Street Management Company, LLC, the building’s property manager, announced that the Atlanta-area office tower has been awarded LEED certification.

What makes LEED certification for this twenty-one-year-old building so significant? Most developers want to build and sell as quickly as possible, take the profit and move on to the next project. But, Riverwood 100 was not approached that way. It was state-of-the-art for its time, smartly designed for the long-term, with an owner’s sensibility to be energy efficient and economical to operate and maintain. Many of the advanced features incorporated into the building’s design and operating systems are common practice today. It clearly underscores PORTMAN’s forward-thinking approach to both development and design. We salute Fifth Street Management Company for taking the next step by instituting green initiatives and employing sustainable strategies to earn LEED certification.