By Lydia Dishman, SCBIZ Daily Contributing Writer

GREENVILLE -- Greenville got a little greener on Wednesday when the U.S. Green Building Council recognized the Collaboration 3 Building on the CU-ICAR campus with a LEED Gold Certification. The 117,000-square-foot, two-story facility includes Class A offices and product prototype and development laboratory space. It is the first project in the state, as well as within Greenville’s city limits, to achieve the LEED Gold distinction.

About 50 people, including CU-ICAR Executive Director Bob Geolas; Knox White, mayor of Greenville; and Jim Bourey, city manager, assembled to hear Michael Mantai, president of the SC Chapter of the USBC present the LEED Gold Core and Shell designation for the structure that currently houses The Timken Co.

“It is not easy,” Mantai explained of the certification process. Though he said thousands of teams have taken it on, very few achieve gold status. “Welcome to the elite club,” Mantai said as he unveiled a glass plaque engraved with the award.

Steve Navarro, president of the Furman Co., Development LLC a partner in the development of the building said, “It was easy for us to take this on. It had a lot of challenges but we started with a great team.” Navarro stated that the completion of construction and subsequent LEED gold certification was “a springboard for us and the entire community.”

He noted that the expense of employing sustainable measures and materials was not as exorbitant as some might believe, citing that the total cost for Collaboration 3 was only 7-8% higher than an average building construction.

“It can be done on time and on budget,” said Navarro, while Brad Smith, AIA, principal with Pazdan-Smith Group who provided the architectural design pointed out that it took less than one year for The Timken Company to move in after construction had begun.

Detailing a number of innovative, sustainable features such as the under-floor air distribution, exterior sun shading and landscaping that does not require irrigation, Smith noted that Collaboration 3 would be more energy-efficient and less dependent on fossil fuels.

“This goes a long way to setting high standards,” Geolas said, “We made a commitment to go for nothing less than LEED Silver status,” he said asserting CU-ICAR’s mission to promote sustainable and responsible development and construction throughout the campus plan.

Navarro said that Collaboration 3 paved the way for future LEED construction to develop in Greenville, most notably, less than a mile away at the new South Financial Group campus. It will eventually have 1.2 million square feet of space housing 1,000 employees, he said.

Greenville’s Mayor Knox White said the city is strongly committed to green development in both the public and private sector. He said other projects currently in the downtown area were working toward LEED Silver certification. “With this real-life experience, the differential gets narrower and the learning curve gets shorter.”