Portland, Maine, USA – Thornton Tomasetti, JAHN and FGP Atelier announce that the Shanghai International Financial Centre in China has achieved LEED Core and Shell Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 5-million-square-foot office complex, which is owned and occupied by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, China Financial Futures Exchange, and the China Securities Depository & Clearing Company, is one of the largest single-building projects in Asia to pursue LEED Certification. 

Working with local Shanghai partner BEE Incorporations, Thornton Tomasetti provided sustainability consulting services to the architectural team of JAHN and FGP Atelier. Located in Shanghai’s Pudong district, the mixed-use complex comprises three interconnected towers ranging in height from 152 to 215 metres. The U.S. Green Building Council awarded 61 points out of a possible 110 to the complex earning it a LEED Core and Shell Gold certification under the v2009 rating system.

“The Shanghai International Financial Centre incorporated a range of creative, yet practical approaches for reducing its carbon footprint,” said Thornton Tomasetti Principal and Sustainability Practice Leader Gunnar Hubbard. “We started working on this project over 12 years ago, with our team actively participating in design workshops in Chicago and Shanghai, and facilitating an initial pre-certification of LEED Core and Shell Gold. It is great to see it finally achieve formal certification.”

A number of sustainable measures employed in the project have resulted in energy and cost savings. Construction of the three towers includes a combination of a highly efficient natural ventilation envelope, under-floor air distribution, ice storage cooling and photovoltaic panels. An advanced facade design features floor-to-ceiling glass with high-performance, low-E coating exterior mullions with automated shading. This enables a considerable reduction in air conditioning and heating loads. The installation of large glass atriums reduces the use of artificial light. The atriums, along with pedestrian roof decks, fountains and vegetation, provide building occupants with a connection to natural elements.

Roof gardens with water collection systems and gray water from sinks and showers are used for irrigation at the plaza level and other vegetated areas in the building, resulting in the savings of more than 50 percent of potable water when compared to a typical office building. Energy modeling shows an anticipated savings of up to 30 percent over a similar building constructed to code due to the efficiency of systems, heat recovery from the server rooms, and advanced controls.

“Thornton Tomasetti and BEE Incorporations helped us manage a very complex project with multiple clients,” said FPG Atelier Founder and Principal Francisco Gonzalez Pulido, who designed the project with famed architect Helmut Jahn. “We were able to work through various construction delays and a pandemic to meet our goal of LEED Gold certification.”