VCU kicks off Year of the Environment

Virginia Commonwealth University kicked off the Year of the Environment on Oct. 1 with the presentation of a plaque recognizing the Walter L. Rice Education Building at the VCU Rice Center as the first building in Virginia to achieve LEED Platinum Certification, the highest sustainability rating possible.

Accepting the recognition are, from left, Leonard Smock, Ph.D., director of the VCU Rice Center; Rebecca Aarons-Sydnor, board member of the James River Green Building Council; Mary C. Doswell, chair of the Rice Center Board of Trustees; and VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D.
 
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient and high-performing buildings. 

The $2.6 million education building opened in October 2008 at the Rice Center, VCU’s 343-acre living laboratory on the James River southeast of Richmond in Charles City County, and houses lecture and laboratory rooms for classes, a conference room and administrative offices.

Photo by Tom Kojcsich, VCU Creative Services