In October 2010, Nintendo of America's new headquarters, completed in April 2010 in Redmond, Washington, received LEED*1 Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
A Building in Harmony With Its Environment
When Nintendo of America set out to build a new headquarters, we wanted to implement as many environmentally friendly technologies as we could. We wanted to construct a new headquarters that would reduce our environmental impact and provide a healthy atmosphere for employees. During the proposal process for the building, Nintendo executives decided that the building should be designed to achieve LEED certification. Upon completion, Nintendo of America's new headquarters was awarded LEED Gold status, placing it among the nation's top-rated buildings for sustainability and environmental friendliness.
We can see the "Living Roof" from our meeting space
- [ Examples of environmental technologies ]
- • Use of drip-delivery irrigation minimizes irrigation water use by 57%.
- • Low-flow plumbing systems reduce water consumption by 34.5%.
- • Automatic dimming of indoor lights based on the available amount of external natural lighting lowers electricity consumption.
Eco-Friendliness Brings Comfort to Employees
In constructing the new building, not only did we employ environmental technologies, we also incorporated several renewable or recycled materials. For example, the floors and wall paneling were fashioned of bamboo, a renewable material known for its rapid growth rate. The "Living Roof" was especially well-received because it supports energy efficiency and provides an open-air garden that employees and guests can enjoy.
Reduction of the Data Center's Power Consumption
The data center, which houses the corporate servers, consumes 35% of the power used in the building. By reducing data center power consumption, we significantly reduce the building's overall building power consumption and lower our CO2 emissions. Typical data centers use up to half of their power to cool the equipment; however, in this new building, by using outside air for cooling while exhausting the hot air from the room with special vents, we have succeeded in reducing the energy used for cooling by up to 90%.
Encouraging Eco-Friendliness
Sustainability is something we really have focused on in recent years, and working in a building that places such an emphasis on conservation undoubtedly has a positive effect on employees. Every day, hundreds of employees use biodegradable eating utensils and wash their hands at sinks made, in part, from recycled glass. Furthermore, the Nintendo of America Green Team promotes environmental efforts throughout the company. For instance, the team sponsors semiannual employee electronics recycling events that let employees bring electronics from home to be repurposed through a vocational program that supports the technical acquisition of electronics repair skills for low-income families, or to be donated to a local nonprofit organization for use by disaster victims. In fiscal year 2010, Nintendo employees turned in more than 10,000 pounds (4.5 tons) of electronics to be repurposed, recycled or reused. We will continue to work proactively to raise our employees' environmental awareness and environmental conservation.
*1 LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
LEED is a system that comprehensively evaluates the environmental quality of a building's design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.
