Tampa Bay History Center Receives Silver LEED® Certification

The Tampa Bay History Center has achieved LEED® Silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. It is the first Hillsborough County-owned building to attain the designation.

The 60,000 square-foot Tampa Bay History Center opened in 2009 at 801 Old Water Street in downtown Tampa. Constructed through a public-private partnership with Hillsborough County, the City of Tampa, and the Tampa Bay History Center Board of Trustees, it is situated along the two-mile Cotanchobee-Ft. Brooke Riverwalk, which connects several museums and cultural facilities.

The Tampa Bay History Center was built with regional and renewable materials, and more than 95 percent of construction debris was diverted from Florida landfills. Low-flow fixtures, water-efficient landscaping, low volatile organic compound (VOC) materials, efficient lighting, and a highly efficient heating ventilation and cooling system are among a host of environmentally-conscious features that helped to achieve the LEED® Silver rating.

“We want to be stewards of not only our community’s past, but also our future,” said C.J. Roberts, the Frank E. Duckwall President and CEO of the Tampa Bay History Center. “The benefits have a positive environmental impact and have also resulted in significant savings in the building’s operating costs,” he said.

LEED is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2000, LEED is a point-based system that allows building projects to earn LEED points for satisfying specific green building criteria.

“The LEED ® Silver certification is a tremendous accomplishment that reflects the hard work and great partnerships that have made the Tampa Bay History Center such a wonderful asset for our community” said Mike Merrill, Hillsborough County Administrator.

LEED points were awarded for:

• Use of designated recycling containers during construction, which diverted approx. 840 tons of construction refuse to recycling facilities.

• Proximity to public transportation, urban housing & other activity centers.

• Use of natural lighting.

• Targeted use of low VOC materials, especially paint, sealants, carpet and vinyl.

• 18% of construction materials were manufactured or produced within a 500 mile radius of the construction site.

• Office spaces are equipped with lighting motion-sensor switches.

• TBHC recycles all refuse by categories of food waste, cardboard and consolidated rubbish; i.e. glass / plastic / mixed metals.

LEED is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design,
construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2000, LEED is a point-based system that allows building projects to earn LEED points for satisfying specific green building criteria.

More information about the History Center’s LEED® certification can be found at www.tampabayhistorycenter/green.html.