Roche Building Awarded LEED® Gold Certification

- Building certification reflects company's commitment to sustainability and innovation -

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Jun 20, 2011, 09:00 ET

NUTLEY, N.J., June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The complete renovation of half the space in a key office building on the Roche campus in Nutley, N.J. has earned the company Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED certification is the USGBC's rating and recognition system for designing and constructing the world's greenest, most energy efficient, and highest performing buildings. The designation is based on a points scale with Gold being the second highest certification level that can be attained.

The renovation of Building 76 was designed to achieve LEED CI (Commercial Interiors) certification for energy use, lighting, water, and material use as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies. "Buildings are a prime example of how human systems integrate with natural systems," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. "As a new member of the LEED family of green buildings, Roche Nutley's Building 76 is an important addition to the growing strength of the green building movement."

"The leading-edge technology in this building and its design speaks volumes about how we work together and collaborate in an open environment," said Ivor Macleod, General Manager at the Roche Nutley site. "The environmentally-friendly features of the building also reflect Roche's commitment to sustainability, and the major investment is a sign of our commitment to the site as a major research center," he added.

In the award-winning Roche project, nine floors, or approx. 159,000 sq. ft., of Building 76 were refurbished. The renovation created space for over 440 employees working in 16 different areas. The architect for the project was HDR CUH2A, Princeton, N.J., and the engineer was Daou Engineers, Inc., North Andover, M.A. Concept design for the project started in the third quarter of 2007, with construction beginning in September 2009.

The construction manager for the project was Sordoni Construction Co., Bedminster, NJ. The first occupants moved into the new space in March 2010. Building 76, with approx. 321,000 sq. ft., was constructed in 1963.

"A core group of committed, hard working Roche people devoted a lot of time and energy for several years to successfully complete this important renovation and achieve Gold LEED certification," said Jim Poliseo, Vice President, Facility Management and Engineering at Roche. "Their teamwork and excellence in execution symbolize the winning spirit found within Roche Nutley," he added.

Gold LEED certification of the Building 76 renovation was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively impacted the project itself and the broader community. These features include:

New glass that reduces heat loss from the building by 73% and increases the shading effect by 50% over the original glass
Low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paints, recycled glass and renewable flooring
High-recycled content materials used for acoustical ceilings, flooring, masonry and furniture
Day-light harvesting: sensors that automatically adjust lights in response to the amount of daylight
Innovative chilled beams to offset heat gain
Water reduction strategies, which lowered usage by more than 35% compared to similar buildings
When the outside temperature and humidity conditions are suitable, the heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems utilize outside air to meet the building's heating or cooling requirements; utilization of outside air reduces the fuel to heat and the electricity to cool the air. Additional energy is saved by reducing the distribution of steam and chilled water
Occupancy sensors in workstations that turn off all components except the computer when the workstation is vacant and turn on power when it's occupied
A minimum of 50% of the electricity used on the renovated floors is purchased from renewable resources
Many of the materials used contain at least 20% recycled content

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2010, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested over 9 billion Swiss francs ($8.7B US) in R&D. The Group posted sales of 47.5 billion Swiss francs ($45.6B US). Genentech, Inc., is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche-nutley.com or www.roche.com.

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SOURCE Roche