By Skysite Property staff 

Environmental Market Solutions, Inc., an environmental and green building consulting company, aided in the creation of the first commercial office building in China to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED gold certification. 

The $250 million, 1.6 million-square-foot twin-tower Century Prosper Center building, in the heart of Beijing's Central Business District, was completed in the first quarter of 2008. At capacity, the building can hold 10,000 occupants and will include retail and commercial offices.

To improve energy efficiency, the building features:

• High-performance walls;
• Variable speed high-efficiency electric centrifugal chillers with a secondary loop to cool building parameters zones;
• Demand- control ventilation;
• "Free cooling" during swing seasons; and
• Reductions in lighting power density.

These features can reduce Century Prosper Center's energy costs by $173,000 annually.

Water conservation and recycling cut 52 percent in water use, and construction waste was reduced by 58 percent. The building's owners plan to incorporate a green housekeeping program using nontoxic cleaning products.