The First Facility Management Blog

Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI) is proud to announce The Merchandise Mart Chicago, the world’s largest commercial building encompassing 4.2 million square feet, has been awarded the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED-EB) Silver certification for existing buildings.

LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building meets the highest performance standards and is an environmentally responsible and healthy place to live and work. The LEED Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for sustainable buildings that was designed by leading experts in the construction industry.

To earn LEED certification, a building must meet certain prerequisites and performance criterion within five key areas of environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. Projects are awarded Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum certification depending on the number of credits achieved.

“Our investors want long-term results,” said Christopher Kennedy, president, MMPI. “Our city demands corporate responsibility and the community wants environmental stewardship. The LEED program helped us find common ground and proved that growth and sustainability are great partners.”

LEED was developed to define and clarify the term “green building” by establishing a common standard of measurement, as well as recognize environmental leadership in the industry while raising consumer awareness of the benefits of green building. LEED-certified buildings conserve energy and water, reduce waste sent to landfills, have lower operating costs are healthy and comfortable for occupants and demonstrate the owners’ commitment to environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

“The Merchandise Mart is to be congratulated for achieving LEED-EB silver certification,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO, founding chair, USGBC. “This certification sends a message that The Merchandise Mart cares about the health of the building’s users and employees.”

The Delta Institute assisted MMPI in its path toward certification. The Delta Institute is a nonprofit organization formed in 1998 that works for a cleaner environment, healthier communities and a greener economy.

The Mart’s certification was accomplished with support from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

This week’s bonus FF post comes courtesy of Wired magazine, which runs an annual Saddest-Cubicle contest. And since Wired caters to the IT audience, nearly all of the finalists were submitted by poor souls from that profession.

 

Pictured here is the winner, submitted by David Gunnells (who also supplied the photo). Julie Sloane of Wired, writes,

David Gunnells is an IT guy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His desk is penned in by heavily used filing cabinets in a windowless conference room, near a poorly ventilated bathroom and a microwave. The overhead light doesn’t work — his mother-in-law was so saddened by his cube that she gave him a lamp — and the other side of the wall is a parking garage. Gunnells recalls a day when one co-worker reheated catfish in the microwave, while another used the bathroom and covered the smell with a stinky air freshener. 

For the other 10 finalists, click this link.

Personally, I think the IT contractor inside a 40-foot steel cargo container is worse than this. Have you put anyone in a work station worthy of this (dis)honor?

After seeing these entries, I have come to the following conclusion: some facility professionals should be ashamed (particularly those at the facilities featured in this segment). The sad thing is, I’m sure we’ve all “worked” in a similarly dismal setup at one point in time. I know I have.