More than 130 building projects have engaged LEED’s Safety First Credits in response to COVID-19

More than 130 LEED projects have engaged the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Safety First pilot credits to support reopening following COVID-19 shutdowns.

The credits provide sustainable and healthy best practices that align with public health and industry guidelines and help address critical operations including indoor air quality, water systems, cleaning, and re-entry, according to a USGBC news release. The guidance can be used by any LEED project that has certified or is pursuing certification.

The projects pursuing these credits represent 20 different countries and territories. The credits are being used by commercial interior, new construction, and existing building projects, and have included offices, data centers, schools, retail, and hospitality projects.

Safety First credits include protocols for safe cleaning of indoor environments, and also provide guidance on indoor air quality and ventilation, as well as water system recommissioning.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.