In October of 2003, just five months after it opened as
Vermont’s premier lake aquarium and science center,
ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain was
awarded Vermont’s first Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED™) Green Building
Certification by the US Green Building Council.
ECHO became the first and only LEED certified
building to date in the state of Vermont and the only lake
aquarium in the United States with this certification. With
this designation, ECHO is the third certified
building in New England and joins a group of fewer than 70
LEED certified buildings in the United States.
The LEED Green Building Rating System™ is a
voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing
high-performance, sustainable buildings. LEED certification
identifies ECHO as a pioneering example of
sustainable design and demonstrates ECHO’s
leadership in transforming the building industry and
marketplace, not only in Vermont, but around the world.
There are currently under 150 LEED certified buildings in
the world.
In conjunction with the certification, ECHO
developed an energy and environmental quest that guests may
take throughout the building during their visit to ECHO
that showcases the visible LEED certification elements. The
“E2 Quest” serves as a fun scavenger hunt
inside ECHO as well as provides guests with ideas
for how to conserve energy in their own homes. Click here for a PDF
version of the “E2 Quest”.
For additional information on LEED certification and the
Green Building Council, please visit www.usgbc.org.
