Some of Vermont’s largest and oldest office buildings are now also among the state’s greenest. In December 2017 the United States Green Building Council awarded the State Office Complex in Waterbury, Vermont its highest honor: LEED Platinum.  Freeman French Freeman of Burlington served as the Architect of Record for the project.

The LEED Platinum rating applies to 201,000 square feet of new and renovated offices on the Waterbury campus, including the new 86,000 square-foot office building as well as thirteen connected historic structures that date back to the 1890s. The new biomass-fueled central plant and maintenance facility, part of a separate LEED application, received LEED Gold status. 

The 100-acre complex was heavily damaged by flooding following Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. The complex reopened in December 2015 after four and a half years of planning and construction.  It took an additional two years to finalize and receive LEED Platinum certification.

Achieving LEED Platinum was a joint effort by the State of Vermont’s Department of Buildings and General Services and a team of dedicated professionals, including Freeman French Freeman; Goody Clancy, Historic Preservation Architect; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing consultants RFS Engineering; site and civil engineers, Engineering Ventures; the landscape architecture firm, SE Group, and construction manager PC Construction.