Building Sustainable Facilities
Johnson & Johnson is always striving to build greener buildings. Our Policy on Sustainable Design and Construction provides comprehensive guidelines for incorporating sustainability into the design and construction of all new facilities and major renovations.
The Policy establishes an enterprise-wide minimum design standard, or Sustainability Baseline, requiring the efficient utilization of energy, water and materials to reduce a building’s life cycle operating cost, minimize environmental impact and improve indoor environmental quality for the health of occupants. The Sustainability Baseline uses the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™, the U.S. Green Building Council’s certification program for the design, construction and operation of high-performance buildings.
SPRING HOUSE RESEARCH FACILITY
A research facility that opened in March 2009 in Spring House, Pa., was designed and built according to the Sustainability Baseline. The project achieved the first LEED Gold certification for a Johnson & Johnson research laboratory. Gold is the second highest level of LEED certification, based on a 69-point scoring system; Spring House achieved 43 points.
The project began in 2005 when Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, LLC decided to consolidate research efforts from facilities in Cranbury, N.J., and Exton, Pa. The vision was to create a more innovative and collaborative environment in which research teams could work together in the pursuit of medicines that address unmet patient needs. The state-of-the-art facility was designed with open laboratory environments, collaboration space and many environmental and energy-saving innovations.
“We looked at all aspects of the building’s operation in the context of how researchers would use equipment such as fume hoods and what could be done to maintain a safe environment while achieving building efficiency and decreased energy consumption,” says John Perrigue, Senior Manager, Worldwide Engineering, Johnson & Johnson, who served as project director. “Our team challenged norms for safety, engineering and operations excellence, and found better ways to maintain the level of safety and quality that we look for in our facilities.”
Dan Cassidy, Workplace and Site Operations Energy Manager, Global Pharmaceutical Supply Group, LLC, shares one example: “Working with partners in our Environment Health and Safety group, we came to an agreement about fume hood operations that saves energy and can be applied to other Johnson & Johnson sites to increase safety and efficiency.”
Adds Perrigue: “Not only did we achieve LEED Gold, we reduced costs because we did not have to purchase additional mechanical heating and cooling equipment to serve the building.”
ENTERPRISE-WIDE POLICY
The Policy on Sustainable Design and Construction complements all other Johnson & Johnson environmental and engineering guidelines, as well as local laws and regulations in force at our locations around the world. It applies to all new construction and renovations totaling at least $5 million and all new facilities owned or leased by Johnson & Johnson companies worldwide, including office, research and development, manufacturing and warehouse buildings. All engineers, project managers, facility managers and consulting firms that specify, design, construct or operate new or renovated Johnson & Johnson facilities are responsible for ensuring that the Sustainability Baseline is met.
Johnson & Johnson companies are encouraged to set even higher sustainability objectives to further minimize their impact on the environment, provide comfortable and effective workspaces for their employees, and reduce long-term operating costs. In fact, many project teams are constructing sustainable buildings with little or no added cost. The long-term benefits usually far surpass the incremental upfront capital investment.
“While we were in the planning stages of constructing a LEED-certified building at Spring House,” says Perrigue, “we took a critical look at the requirements. We found we could apply good practices and sound decision-making and achieve LEED Gold without any additional expenses.”
REGIONAL RATING SYSTEMS
“Besides LEED, several other comparable rating systems are used throughout the world,” says Dan Usas, Energy Manager, Worldwide Environment, Health and Safety, Johnson & Johnson.
LEED is used in the Americas and the Asia Pacific region. In Europe, the EU Green Building Programme (GBP) is used for energy considerations, and LEED is used for other aspects of building design. The U.K. relies on the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM).
For Johnson & Johnson, sustainable buildings have become a natural extension of our commitment to sustainability and an important part of meeting Our Credo responsibilities to employees, communities and the environment.
“We made a deliberate decision upfront to go forward in a responsible manner,” says Cassidy. “It was a concerted effort. We assembled the right team and expertise. And in the end we were able to do everything we set out to do and more.”
In 2010 Johnson & Johnson was named among the top ranking companies on Newsweek’s green rankings for both national and international companies.
Learn More:
2009 Sustainability Report On-Line
Our Credo Values
U.S. Green Building Council
Newsweek’s Green Rankings
