Platinum Near Philly

Collaborative business software company SAP recently announced the certification of a new building on its office campus in the town of Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. At 200,000 square feet, the campus, which achieved Platinum certification, is the largest Platinum-certified project in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, according to a press release about the facillity.

Next door to another LEED-certified building on the Newtown Square campus, the new four-story building received the most points possible in the water efficiency and design process categories. Standout water efficiency measures undertaken in the new building include a 50,000-gallon cistern that supplies water for landscape irrigation and the flushing of toilets, as well as low-flow fixtures in the restrooms, all part of a state-of-the-art water management system.

"When we laid the foundation for the new SAP building in Pennsylvania, our goal was to create an inspirational work place for our Philadelphia-area employees and show our commitment to sustainable development and growth in North America," said Bill McDermott, co-CEO of SAP AG, in the release. "We are also a company that lives and breathes innovation for our customers - in how they run their businesses, achieve their sustainability goals, power their business networks and empower their employees. The SAP office building in Newtown Square is among the pioneers in green building design worldwide. This is one of the ways that we role model the strategies that we believe in.”

The Platinum-certified building in Newtown Square exemplifies SAP’s global efforts to lower the company’s total carbon emissions to 2000 levels by the year 2020, the release explains. To achieve this goal, energy consumption across the company must be reduced by 50% below 2007 levels. The Newtown Square facility features a sensor system that is connected to exterior shading devices, which in turn adjust the amount of natural light entering the building and help control the building’s interior temperature. A hybrid air conditioning system produces ice to cool the building during the overnight hours when energy demands and electric rates are the lowest. Floor-to-ceiling glass exteriors and a green roof, planted with native and regional vegetation, integrate the office with the surrounding natural environment, and improve the work environment for the building’s occupants.

Learn more about the building and SAP’s efforts to green its facilities, here.