In May 2008, NSTAR's corporate office building in Westwood received the coveted Gold Certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. NSTAR was only the third company in Massachusetts to meet the rigorous standards of LEED Gold certification for existing buildings.

The certification is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council to companies across the country that meet criteria to rank among the world's greenest, most energy-efficienct and high-performing buildings.

To earn a gold certification, a company must apply for and be awarded between 48 and 63 points based on a set of rigid criteria.  NSTAR applied for 55 points and earned a perfect score.  The company made and documented such far-reaching environmental and energy-saving enhancements:

• Lighting – replacing fixtures; installing high-performance fluorescent lamps and ballasts, installing occupancy sensors; creating new, controllable lighting zones; implementing daylight harvesting; and disabling lights near windows to reduce night sky pollution

• HVAC – installing new air-handler controls; inspecting all equipment and testing sensor readings; moving designated smoking areas 25 feet away from building entrances and outdoor air intakes

• Landscaping – reducing the amount of water used for irrigation by replacing grass with native vegetation and revising the watering schedule; piloting a new, organic lawn maintenance program; and establishing an erosion and sedimentation control policy

• Commuting – implementing preferred parking for alternative-fuel vehicles; adding an additional bike rack to provide increased parking for bicycles

The LEED Green Building Rating System for existing buildings awards points for satisfying green-building criteria in six major environmental categories.  For more information about LEED certification, visit www.usgbc.org.