Aviva USA announced today that its new West Des Moines headquarters has been certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold building by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The eight-story, 360,000-square-foot structure is the largest LEED Gold certified building in Iowa and one of only five its size or larger in the United States to achieve that designation, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. Aviva’s project is the 24th LEED Gold building in the state and the fourth in Greater Des Moines.

“Environmental responsibility and sustainability is a core value of our corporation,” said Chris Littlefield, president and CEO of Aviva USA, in a press release. “We knew from the start that attaining gold-level LEED certification would be a challenge given we were building from scratch on a new site.”

Aviva USA, which specializes in selling indexed life insurance policies and annuities, broke ground for the new headquarters in April 2008 on the southwest corner of Jordan Creek Parkway and Mills Civic Parkway. In August, Aviva completed relocation of its 1,300 employees and contractors from three leased locations in downtown Des Moines.

Among the features that contributed to the gold certification are:
• motion-sensor and auto-dimming lighting in offices and conference rooms;
• Iowa limestone and other materials quarried or purchased locally;
• water-efficient fixtures;
• an established wetland habitat on the southwest corner of the campus;
• priority parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles, as well as for those
employees who carpool.

“Building operations are nearly 40 percent of the solution to the global climate change challenge,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council. “While climate change is a global problem, innovative companies like Aviva are addressing it through local solutions. Aviva is an important addition to the growing strength of the green building movement.”