Project Overview: 

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Headquarters Building, managed by Brandywine Realty Trust, is a 1,138,000 gross square foot office building located in downtown Washington, D.C. The building houses over 2,000 employees, who are dedicated to helping companies and financial institutions in emerging markets create jobs, generate tax revenues, improve corporate governance and environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities.

IFC not only has a commitment to global communities, but strives to promote sustainability practices at the IFC Headquarters as well. IFC hired Brandywine Realty Trust to provide property management and building engineering services for the eleven-story building when the Headquarters was built in 1996. Over the past year-and-a-half, Brandywine Realty Trust led the LEED-EB Certification efforts for the IFC Headquarters Building with the support of Leonardo Academy. On April 30th, 2010, the IFC Headquarters Building was awarded LEED®-EB: O&M (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance) Platinum Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Project Title: International Finance Corporation Headquarters Project Location: Washington, D.C. Building Type: Office Building Size: 1,138,000 square feet Initial Implementation Cost: $379,356 Annual Net Savings: $237,694 Simple Return on investment: 1.6 years LEED Status: LEED for Existing Buildings O&M 2009 – Platinum

The International Headquarters is the first building in Washington, D.C. to achieve LEED-EB O&M 2009 Platinum certification and the second nationwide since the U.S. Green Building Council launched LEED-EB v3 in 2009.

Results

Participating in and achieving LEED-EB certification has produced a number of benefits for the IFC Headquarters Building:

• Achieved an Energy Star Portfolio Manager Score of 89 through increased energy efficient practices
• Reduced water consumption by 1,106,750 gallons annually through water efficiency measures – enough to almost fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools. The improvements had a simple payback of three months
• Documented a reduction of 100,996 metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions when compared to the national average (Source: Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener Program)
• Diverted 100% of the furniture and electronic equipment solid waste from the landfill
• Achieved Carbon Neutrality with WindCurrent renewable energy certificate purchases
• Reduced the building’s average ongoing mercury in lighting to 43 picograms per lumen-hour per lamp
• Mandated the use of 100% green cleaning products in the building and on the grounds
• Planted native and adapted plant species onsite that will reduce irrigation water consumption by 65% and require less maintenance including use of pesticides and fertilizers

Case Study PDF >>