The Plaza at PPL Center has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star, which is reserved for the nation's most energy efficient buildings.

Energy Star recognizes buildings that demonstrate superior energy performance and, in turn, protect the environment by reducing greenhouse emissions. The Plaza is the first Lehigh Valley commercial or industrial site listed by the EPA as receiving the Energy Star.

Across the United States, only about 2,000 top-performing buildings had earned the Energy Star by January 2005, according to EPA statistics. According to the EPA, Energy Star buildings use about 40 percent less energy than the average building and, as a group, are saving an estimated $200 million annually and reducing approximately 6 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

Completed in spring 2003, The Plaza at PPL Center is an eight-story, 250,000-square-foot office building at the intersection of Ninth and Hamilton streets in Allentown. Developed and owned by Liberty Property Trust, it houses PPL Corporation's unregulated subsidiaries, including PPL Generation, PPL EnergyPlus and PPL Global, on six of its eight floors.

In addition to energy-efficient building materials like high-performance window glass, The Plaza at PPL Center includes energy-saving features such as rooftop vegetation for insulation, floor-to-ceiling windows and an eight-story glass atrium for ample natural light, and automatic lighting that dims when natural light pours in and turns off when rooms are unoccupied. The building also uses a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system that uses more than 30 percent less energy than conventional building standards.

The Plaza at PPL Center was the first privately owned building in Pennsylvania and the eighth in the nation to receive a "gold" rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

The American Institute of Architects named it one of the 10 best examples of architectural and green design solutions that integrate architecture, technology and natural systems.

In addition, the building won first prize in the large building workplace category of the Northeast Green Building Awards sponsored by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Renewable Energy Trust and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association.

For more information visit the Plaza at PPL Center webpage.

5/20/2005