The Asia-Pacific headquarters of Eaton Corporation in Shanghai, China received the prestigious LEED Gold certification for commercial interiors from the USGBC recently. This is the largest building in the country to earn this level of green standards and to be honoured by LEED. This is also the first Eaton facility to have this honour.

Eaton is a global technology leader in electrical components and systems for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton has approximately 70,000 employees and has a presence in more than 150 countries.

Being a leading global power management company, sustainability is at the core of Eaton's business, and the highlight of this new headquarters is its emphasis on sustainable materials and equipment. Protecting and improving the environment are the highest priorities of Eaton.

This ‘Green Headquarters’ of Eaton in China consists of a five-storey building spread over a 10,000-square-meter office building. To achieve LEED certification, this building incorporated within its architecture, several energy-efficient features like reduced water consumption, optimized energy performance, efficient usage of construction materials, best  indoor environment and so on.

Here’s a list of the green features of this building.

• Daylight and external views for 9 out of 10 workstations and other seats inside the building
• Fixtures that reduce water consumption by 34 percent
• 31 percent of the furniture is stuff that has been used before
• 70 percent of the wood used in this building is Forest Stewardship Council certified wood
• 76 percent of materials used are sourced regionally
• 100 percent of the carpeting is recyclable
• 88 percent of demolition debris was recycled to construct this structure

The building is powered by Eaton's industry-leading energy efficient uninterruptible power system (UPS) equipment, breakers, switchgear and lighting control systems, which make significant contributions to environmental protection and emissions reduction.

Uninterruptible power system reduces the electricity cost and minimizes the carbon footprints.