Johnson Space Center Goes Green With New and Revamped Buildings

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Apr 22, 2010, 03:11 ET

HOUSTON, April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Johnson Space Center has received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the expansion of one of its procurement offices, bringing the total number of recognized buildings at the center to three.

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Building 265 at JSC has 5,400 square feet of office space and was recently refreshed. It scored 41 points from the U.S.G.B.C. due to reduced air leakage, more efficient lighting systems, low-emitting materials and a large amount of recycled materials. A large portion of the new material that went into the building was created and sourced from within 500 miles of JSC, which also reduced the pollution and energy use of transporting it to the site.

The main campus of NASA's Johnson Space Center was built in 1962, and several of the buildings have been undergoing a renaissance to enable them to operate more efficiently and to provide more flexibility, capacity and capability.

"This type of responsible and sustainable construction has a positive impact on the community and the environment plus a positive impact on our employees," said Joel Walker, director of center operations at JSC. "We strive to be leaders, both in the federal government and globally, when it comes to green building implementation and construction."

The other two buildings that have received recognition are the astronaut quarantine facility and a building that serves as a logistics storage facility. Several other buildings at JSC are awaiting their scores, including the Public Affairs building, an exploration avionics integration facility and a new office facility. The Human Resources building is undergoing a current renovation, and it is being targeted for Platinum Certification, which is the highest available.

For more information on the Johnson Space Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/johnson

SOURCE NASA