Platinum is the highest LEED ranking and only 6% of LEED-certified buildings win such status.

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LEED-certified Martha Jefferson (a rare accomplishment for any hospital) reduced their energy costs by an impressive 35 percent.

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The Freedom Tower, the site's tallest skyscraper, also aims to be LEED-certified, as do ever more government buildings across America.

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Lights in the warehouse are now green fluorescents, scraps and rainwater runoff are reused, and the LEED-certified factory is aiming for zero waste.

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The 210-room Hotel Indigo, part of the IHG chain, is the first LEED-certified hotel in downtown San Diego and offers guests free wi-fi, hypo-allergenic hardwood floors and windows that open to the great outdoors in all rooms.

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The U.N. talks, for instance, are held in the LEED-certified Qatar National Convention Center, which is built with sustainably harvested wood, uses skylights and LEDs to curb energy use, and supplies 12.5 percent of its own energy with 11, 000 feet of solar panels.

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An article in Fast Company touches on the concerns about energy-hogging LEED certified buildings.

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Nevada's first platinum-certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings stand proudly here, constructed of recycled materials and rammed-earth walls, with passive cooling, renewable heating, reclaimed water and solar-electricity panels, all harvesting clean energy.

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And, as a triple-bottom-line company, DCG is also mindful of the environment, from LEED certified buildings to consideration of the carbon footprint in their own operations.

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