Diageo's Miami Office Awarded LEED Certification

NORWALK, Conn., February 3, 2016 /3BL Media/ - Diageo, a global leader in beverage alcohol, announced that its Miami office has been awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®) Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The Miami location is Diageo’s fifth building in North America to receive LEED certification, joining the company’s Chicago, New York and Norwalk offices, and a facility in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  The LEED rating system, developed by the USGBC, is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.

Developed by USGBC in March 2000, LEED provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. To achieve LEED certification, a company must successfully implement practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at achieving high performance across seven categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation in design, and regional priority credits.

“We are proud to add our Miami office to the growing list of Diageo’s LEED-certified locations in North America,” said John Pursell, Head of Corporate Real Estate Services, Americas. “At Diageo we aspire to be a business that minimizes our impact on and, wherever possible, improves the environment we operate in. Earning LEED certification at another of our facilities is a natural extension of that mission.”

Diageo’s Miami office achieved LEED certification by taking thoughtful and substantive measures to decrease the location’s environmental footprint. In the LEED evaluation, the Miami office demonstrated the strongest performance in the areas of green power, community connectivity including proximity to public transport, water use reduction, and indoor environmental quality. 

“The strength of USGBC has always been the collective strength of our leaders in the building industry," said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. "Given the extraordinary importance of climate protection and the central role of the building industry in that effort, Diageo demonstrates their leadership through their LEED certification of their Miami office.”

Diageo is recognized as a global leader in environmental sustainability, and its progress and commitments to tackle climate change have been independently recognized.  In addition to being well placed in rankings such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Newsweek’s Green Rankings, Diageo was recently recognized by the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) which commended Diageo for achieving the maximum score and being in the top 5% of global businesses for climate change performance.  Since 2002 when Diageo joined the UN Global Compact, the company has been supporting a number of different business initiatives related to encouraging corporate commitment to addressing climate change; most recently these include the We Mean Business coalition, Business Alliance for Water & Climate Change, and the Paris Pledge for Action, in support of the objectives of the recent Paris Agreement.

Last year Diageo also announced its commitment to new sustainability and responsibility targets for 2020, which are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  The 2020 goals reflect ambitions to manage carbon emissions and water stewardship across Diageo’s entire supply chain.  For more details about Diageo’s 2020 targets visit http://www.diageo.com/en-row/csr/sustainability/Pages/2020-Sustainability-Responsibility-targets.aspx. For more details about Diageo’s global sustainability efforts, visit http://www.diageo.com/en-row/CSR/Pages/default.aspx.

As Diageo’s largest region by volume and value, with a significant manufacturing footprint, Diageo North America is a significant contributor to Diageo’s environmental achievements.

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan’s whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo’s global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.  Follow us on Twitter for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.

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