Bogotá office awarded world-class sustainability certification
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the world's most widely used green building rating system, providing a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings.
Turner & Townsend's current Bogotá office has achieved LEED Gold certification, a globally recognised symbol of sustainability achievement from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
This marks Turner & Townsend's Edificio Nueve 5 address as one of only 131 LEED certified projects in Colombia to have received the gold certification, against a backdrop of approximately 33,000 worldwide, of which almost 700 are in Latin America.
In the category of LEED v4 ID+C: Commercial Interiors, which covers interior spaces dedicated to functions other than retail or hospitality, Turner & Townsend is one of only 20 projects in Colombia to achieve this distinction, joining a group of about 6,000 globally and 275 in Latin America alone.
Nine of these projects were certified gold in Colombia during 2023, two of which Turner & Townsend also provided project management services for, supporting AstraZeneca’s office and the New Zealand Embassy in Bogota.
Receiving this certification demonstrates Turner & Townsend's business’ commitment to sustainability, operational energy efficiency, and employee and environmental wellbeing, and now places the company as pioneers among its peers in Colombia for its commitment to sustainability, environmental wellbeing and operational energy efficiency.
After operating in Colombia for over a decade, Turner & Townsend's office move here in 2022 was a milestone in aligning its operations in Latin America to a low-carbon future and creating an innovative, healthy workplace for its people and clients in a location with great transportation connections.
To achieve the LEED certification, Turner & Townsend's Colombia office underwent a thorough assessment of its facilities for operational efficiency, quality of the indoor environment, and access to surrounding infrastructure. Some of the sustainability benefits highlighted in the office include:
- Optimising the design of utilities to save approximately 10 percent of energy and 40 percent of water usage, thus improving efficiency and avoiding wastage of resources.
- Careful curation and implementation of sustainable materials, including second-hand lighting fixtures and furniture, to reduce waste and create an environmentally sound atmosphere.
- Efficient disposal of all construction waste, in line with Colombian environmental regulations, to mitigate and reduce environmental impact.
- Using office chairs made with over 50 percent of recycled materials.
- Ensuring 25 percent of the workstations have height-adjustable work surfaces, catering to the team’s productivity needs and comfort.
- Prioritising natural light, air quality and thermal comfort to benefit all occupants.
Through internal initiatives, Turner & Townsend's Colombia team is also committed to promoting more sustainable transportation options, such as bicycles, scooters, carpooling, and public transportation, to help reduce the carbon footprints of its communities and the team’s reliance on cars.
One such initiative, “The New Leaf Olympics”, was a six-month contest to measure and improve the carbon footprint of the team in Colombia resulting in a 35 percent reduction of the team’s carbon footprint through the implementation of individual and team-wide measures.
Magally Rojas, Director, Real Estate, said:
Being awarded a LEED Gold certification for our Colombia office demonstrates the our commitment to embracing sustainability-led development in its Latin American operations.
“The LEED certification is a global badge of honour in sustainability and human-centric design, and receiving this recognition reinforces our purpose to transform the performance of its workplaces and contribute to making a greener, more inclusive, and productive world.”
