Shire Facility in Georgia Wins Green Building Award

Shire's Georgia manufacturing facility near Covington has been nationally recognized as a green building for its energy and water efficiency and the healthy building practices that were incorporated into its design.

The facility received three Green Globes from the Green Building Initiative, a nonprofit organization with a nationally recognized green rating assessment, guidance and certification program that seeks to promote best practices in sustainable design, construction, and building operations.

Buildings are rated on a scale of one to four Green Globes, with four being the highest rating. Shire Georgia won three Green Globes for:

• Exceptional energy efficiency

• Exceptional water efficiency
• Healthy building practices

From installing LED light fixtures throughout to using high efficiency heating and cooling equipment, these efforts are helping the facility save an additional $750,000 per year in electric energy and natural gas purchases. The facility has also reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 7,000 metric tons annually.

Additionally, the facility has reduced the amount of air conditioning required, resulting in decreased consumption of water at cooling towers of about 8.7 million gallons per year. Combined with other significant measures, total annual water savings are more than 18.6 million gallons, about a 55 percent reduction compared to simply meeting the requirements of prevailing building codes and national standards.

"We did not embark on this ambitious project in 2012 with the intent to win awards for green building features,” said Eric Schnake, engineering leader for the design and construction of the facility. “Our intent was to use all available best practices in design to produce an efficient facility, not only in manufacturing and operational efficiency, but in energy and resource efficiency."

The Green Globes award represents an outstanding level of sustainability and leadership in applying best practices regarding energy, water, and environmental efficiency, and supporting Shire's commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operational water consumption. These commitments are part of Shire’s broader Responsibility efforts to operate sustainably and help ensure patients receive the treatments they need to lead healthier lives.

In addition to Shire’s Georgia facility, several Shire sites globally have incorporated green building design principles to promote green building and healthier work spaces. Many others have achieved U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification within their facilities, including locations in Los Angeles, California; Cambridge and Lexington, Massachusetts; Exton, Pennsylvania; Vienna, Austria; and Rieti, Italy.

To learn more about Shire's commitment to environmental sustainability and Responsibility commitments and goals, visit www.shire.com/who-we-are/responsibility and view Shire’s Responsibility video.

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