A Case for LEED-ND: The LEED Platinum Suburban Office Park

"I recently toured the Great River Energy company headquarters in Maple Grove, MN, which is the first building in Minnesota to receive the "LEED-Platinum" classification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED-Platinum classification is intended to represent the highest achievement in sustainable building practices. The Great River building gets 15% of its energy from on-site wind and solar power, collects rainwater for on-site re-use, and used a multitude of recylced and locally-sourced materials in its construction. All of this is very admirable. The only problem? The building is essentially just another auto-dependent suburban office park located in a sea of congested roads, huge parking lots, and big-box chain retail stores."