SURPRISE! Check out LEED certified buildings in OH

The excitement of the first LEED Platinum residence in Ohio has tripped my curiosity for what other types of facilities are LEED certified here in our own backyard in Ohio. To my surprise the list is quite long and includes a medical center, a zoo, grocery stores, universities and a church.

Curious? Take a look at what I found to be LEED certified, silver, gold or platinum:

Metro Parks Ranger Station, Metro Parks Serving Summit County, Akron, OH-PLATINUM
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of WC, Wooster, OH-GOLD
Key Bank-Tiedman LEED EB, Brooklyn, OH-CERTIFIED
Dayton Children's Medical Center, South Campus, Phase I, Springboro, OH-CERTIFIED
Giant Eagle New Albany, New Albany, OH-GOLD
Giant Eagle Market #229, Brunswick, OH-CERTIFIED
JM Smucker Company Renewal Building, Orrville, OH-SILVER
Akron Zoological Park Education Center, Akron, OH-CERTIFIED
Cleveland State University, Rec Center, Cleveland, OH
University of Cincinnati Student Life Center & Campus Life Rec Center
Ohio State-Ohio 4-H Center
Lorain Community College
Wright State
Hiram

This long incomplete list shows the commitment for a better tomorrow made by many companies and government agencies in Ohio. Many other facilities are not listed but may be committed to healthy buildings.


The USGBC(United States Green Building Council) compiles a list of the LEED certified projects in each state on it's website. To see the list for Ohio visit: http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/Project/CertifiedProjectList.aspx?CMSPageID=247.

Please send me a story about the green practices you have incorporated into your home or business.

First LEED Platinum Home in Ohio

Jetson Green is one of my favorite daily updates. Please link to them to see the first LEED Platinum Home in Ohio. A community open house is scheduled for May 20, 2009 please contact Columbus Housing Partnership for more information.

To see other LEED certified projects in Ohio go to: United States Green Building Council.

Green Ohio? Who knew?

Since the early '90's I have aspired to be a socially responsible member of Ohio by recycling, minimizing my water intake, walking when driving is not necessary and turning off lights when leaving a room. The Ohio University liberal college experience as well as the interior design program awakened me to many other ways to become a sustainability advocate. Then in my early 20's I assumed Washington, Oregon and California would be the only places to find like-minded green folks. Lacking money due to an interior designer's salary and my family kept me grounded to Ohio since those heavenly days at OU. Little did I know about the quiet green movement creeping throughout Ohio.

Ohio is now a hot bed of green activity including green building organizations, sustainable agriculture groups and alternative energy businesses. Don't believe me then check out the following links for green building organizations:
Cleveland Green Building Coalition
Northwest Ohio Green Building Council
Columbus Green Building Forum
Green Energy Ohio

Recently the Cleveland Green Building Coalition became a charter member of the USGBC(United States Green Building Council) and has formed a strategic planning committee to evaluate the green building needs of Northeast Ohio. This is very exciting to me, an interior designer/sustainability consultant focusing on helping small businesses and residences become healthier and more socially conscious all while saving money on operational costs.

Because the topic of a Green Ohio is so large and has many hats, I plan on blogging about this topic often. There is a fantastic organization called Entrepreneurs for Sustainability(E4S) that can help small businesses in any area of sustainablity. E4S is a regional organization with a list of thousands of members in Northeast Ohio. Check it out!