The Green Building Initiative (GBI) announced June 4 that ABC National’s headquarters office in Washington, D.C., is one of the first buildings to be certified under its new Green Globes for Sustainable Interiors (SI) program.

The new Green Globes SI program focuses exclusively on the sustainable design and construction of interior spaces in nonresidential buildings and can be pursued by both building owners and individual lessees of commercial spaces.

“ABC is very proud of GBI’s recognition of our efforts to focus on economic, environmental and social sustainability in our new office space,” said ABC’s President & CEO, Mike Bellaman. “By focusing on these three aspects of sustainability, ABC was able to choose a location that attracts top talent, increases value for our members and lowers the square footage, while incorporating sustainable materials and construction methods—such as virtual design and recycling—into the construction process and beyond. As a result, we have an office that furthers ABC’s strategic goals, minimizes our impact on the environment and provides easy access to multiple modes of transportation and a vibrant community for employees. GBI took into account many of these factors during the assessment and ABC is pleased to be recognized for its efforts.”

The project, completed in November 2013, entailed an interior fit-out on the second and third floors on an existing building that consists of 19,380 square feet of office and support spaces. Certification on this project was accomplished through an on-site review of the completed building, interviews with members of the construction team that were responsible for the management of the project and third-party reviews of product and construction documentation necessary to verify the buildings sustainability features.

“The ABC office fit-out is a great example of the success possible in the design of a new space in a sustainable manner,” says Green Globes Assessor Glenn P. Haydu, AIA, CDT, LEED AP BD+C. “The organization has made a commitment to pursue green and sustainable aspect(s) to their projects, as well as communicating the benefits to its members and the public.”

ABC would like to recognize the national green building committee for their leadership pursuing this certification as well as ABC member Big-D Construction and the ABC Massachusetts Chapter for their financial support of the certification.