The historic Foremost Dairy Building, a former milk and ice cream factory dating back to the 1920s, in downtown Tacoma has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for efficiency in energy, lighting, water and material use, as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies, according to a statement released Tuesday by Freiheit & Ho Architects.

The building, owned and developed by American Life, Inc., and constructed by SODO Builders, LLC., includes 34,344 square feet of class-A office and street level retail spaces by utilizing sustainable, repurposed materials accomplished by embracing the building’s historic industrial design aesthetic, such as authentic window styles, renovated historic signage, exposed concrete and steel, salvaged timbers, recycled wood finishes and repurposing of salvaged industrial equipment as display art.

Established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute, LEED is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

For more information, visit http://www.fhoarch.com/ .

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UW Tacoma’s Joy Building earns LEED Platinum certification (01/31/12) — http://tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2107506&more=0

LEED silver designation for Tacoma’s Wells Fargo Plaza (10/06/11) — http://tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2048426&more=0

Downtown’s Pacific Plaza earns LEED Platinum certification (06/03/10) — http://tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1782381&more=0