LEED Certification: AMLI Apartments Going for the Green

In the whirlwind that has been the London 2012 Olympics with many gold medals earned by Team USA, AMLI can celebrate a little bit, too. But instead of going for the gold like our athletes, we’re going for the green with our green apartments qualifying for LEED certification.

You may be asking yourself, “What is LEED certification?” Well, to clarify, LEED certification consists of a series of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, much like the development practices for our green apartments and apartment rentals. To be eligible for LEED certification, builders are given a concise framework to follow for identifying and applying practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

Many of our apartment communities are qualifying for LEED certification as we continue our efforts to become an industry leader in sustainable apartment operations. Not only are our apartments going green, numerous members of the AMLI team have become LEED Accredited Professionals, and more are pursuing this certification. Along with these LEED Accredited Professionals, our Green Task Force (which is a team focused on AMLI’s green mission to provide a sustainable living environment) is taking the lead in establishing best practices and green construction guidelines that can be implemented on future development and apartment projects.

Our first example of one of our projects pursuing LEED certification is AMLI 900 in downtown Chicago. These green apartments were completed in 2008 and include green components like water efficient fixtures and recycling rooms. AMLI on 2nd is another example of our green apartments and is located in downtown Austin. Also completed in 2008, AMLI on 2 was awarded a 4-Star Green Building Award by Austin Energy for similar components to AMLI 900. You can read more about these green apartments and their available apartment rentals here.

We’re not stopping there either! These projects will be the first of many sustainable developments and green apartments developed by AMLI.

While the building design highly matters to creating sustainable living and exert greener living, various aspects on the inside of AMLI’s apartments truly make them green apartments as well. Below are the different ways AMLI is making green apartments possible:

• We’ve partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® program and have committed to help improve the energy efficiency of our apartment rentals by 10 percent or more through the ENERGY STAR Challenge.
• We’re currently performing energy audits on all of our apartment communities and apartment rentals and analyzing possible conservation strategies. (Whether it’s through energy efficient lighting in apartment rentals, ENERGY STAR® appliances in apartment rentals, programmable thermostats in apartment rentals, additional insulation inapartment rentals, etc.)
• We’re testing and installing high-performance, water saving fixtures, including Water Sense shower heads, toilets and faucets at many of our apartments.
• We’re utilizing native and drought-tolerant vegetation to provide beautifully landscaped apartment communities that protect local water systems and improve storm water runoff.
• We’re taking measures to enhance the indoor air quality of all of our apartment communities. We’re purchasing low-VOC paints, carpets and adhesives, as well as advanced air filters, fresh air ventilation systems and green cleaning products for our apartment rentals.
• Select AMLI apartment communities in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and Seattle offer smoke free apartments with AMLI’s Breatheasy™ program, which prohibits smoking by residents and guests inside apartments and throughout the community.
• We constantly partner with our residents to reduce, reuse and recycle in their apartment rentals and apartment communities whenever possible and thereby divert significant amounts of waste from landfills each month.
• You can read more about these aspects by visiting our Living Green page.

So while our US Olympians are going for the gold, we’re at home, going for the green to create sustainable living and green apartments for our residents. If green living and green apartments are important to you, discover you new apartment rentals in AMLI’s green apartments located across the nation.

Is living green important to you? If so, share with us some of the ways you live green in your home or apartments.