Even the U.S government is jumping on the green building bandwagon, evidenced by this building, used for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. It achieved LEED Gold status (and was the first high-performance government building to do so) by incorporating several green building techniques. For instance, the water conservation systems allow rainwater to collect in cisterns and seep into the ground to irrigate the landscape. Even the condensation that forms on the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems collects in these cisterns.
The material used for the building includes renewable resources, like bamboo, and builders recycled over half of the waste from construction.
To save energy, lights throughout the building are equipped with sensors that detect when a room is empty or when sunlight is sufficient, in which case the sensors would trigger the lights to shut off. Architects call this technique solar harvesting. Adequate sunlight is especially important for the lab areas, as they are frequently occupied. The architects designed the building to permit lots of sunlight (even though the position of the building made this difficult). Sixteen-foot- (4.8-meter-) high ceilings allow sunlight to extend deeper into the lab rooms. In addition, a brise-soleil system (or sun shade structure) takes in light and reflects it throughout the building, while at the same time blocking solar heat. The efforts have paid off -- the building saves about $175 thousand in energy costs each year
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