One of the first LEED qualified buildings, and the first LEED skyscraper in New York, is  the 7 World Trade tower.

(Building Exterior - Wired New York)

As I mentioned in my previous LEED post, using natural light and resources is a big part of creating a LEED building, and 7 World Trade does just that with its design. The exterior of the building involves lots of windows and glass that let’s in light. The design encompasses clear, low-iron glass which allows for lots of interior light and reflectivity. There is a layer of stainless steel spandrels behind the glass to help reflect all the sunlight coming in through the ultra-clear glass.

(Plaza at 7 Wolrd Trade via Wired New York)

The building also focuses on using recycled materials. Thirty percent of the structural steel from the building is from recycled steel sources. For the interior, recycled materials were used for insulation and various other projects.

The building attempts to lessen its impact by being incredibly conscious of resource use. There is a large park and green area around the building for public use which is watered from collected rainwater. The collected rainwater is also used to cool the building. Steam from the heating system of the building is reused to generate some power for the building too. Tenants of the building have their individual power use metered to encourage them to conserve what resources they are using.

(Building Interior - Wikipedia)

A friend of mine happens to work in the building, and, by all of his account the building is spectacular. He always talks about the big windows and how beautiful the building is, it’s actually a place he looks forward to going to everyday, and ultimately I think that’s what I like about LEED. It’s about making spaces that make humans glad to be there.