The Integrative Genomics Building (IGB) has achieved LEED Gold, and is the Lab’s seventh building to earn LEED certification for sustainable building design. Key sustainability highlights of IGB include:
- On track to use just 36% of the energy of the Walnut Creek facility it replaced. This estimate is weather-corrected, factoring in the difference in climate between the two locations.
- Using electric heat pumps rather than natural gas for space and water heating, so that greenhouse gas emissions will decline as the grid is decarbonized.
- Two electric vehicle charging stations installed as part of construction.
- IGB is the Lab’s first Zero-waste building – occupants have no personal waste bins, and an ambitious employee group is actively pursuing zero waste strategies for the building.
- The Lab’s Sustainability Standards for New Construction policy informed IGB’s design, and was in turn updated based on knowledge gained from building IGB.