The Verde at Howard Square is Maryland’s First LEED Platinum Apartment Community

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

The Verde at Howard Square has recently received LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This makes it the first LEED Platinum-certified apartment community in the entire state of Maryland.

Howard Square Residential Holdings LLC, a joint venture between The Dolben Company, Inc. and Atapco Properties, is the owner of the Verde at Howard Square. The apartment community is located in Elkridge. It offers 299 one- and two-bedroom apartments units, ranging in size from 688 to 1,590 square feet, with rents between $1,375 and $2,175 per month. Amenities include a business center, swimming pool, fitness center and more.

The Verde at Howard Square is the first multifamily component of the 47-acre, mixed-use Howard Square development. According to the developers, the site was designed with improved storm water management. It uses StormTech technology, which captures, stores, and treats 100 percent of the water on the site. Also, solar panels installed on the building’s garage generate more than 15 percent of the total power used by the community.

Projects looking for LEED certification have to satisfy certain conditions and earn a certain number of points. The number of points the project earns determines its level of LEED certification. The USGBC has established four levels of certification. A project achieves LEED certification if it receives between 40 and 49 points. For LEED Silver certification, it needs between 50 and 59 points, and between 60 and 79 points for LEED Gold. Projects with 80 or more points are LEED Platinum certified.

The Verde at Howard Square earned 80 points out of 100. Its achievements include implementing a green cleaning program, employing an integrated pest management program, diverting 91 percent of construction waste, realizing a 43 percent water reduction and accomplishing 40 percent energy savings.

“With each new LEED-certified building, we get one step closer to USGBC’s vision of a sustainable built environment within a generation,” Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council, said in a press statement. “As the newest member of the LEED family of green buildings, Verde at Howard Square is an important addition to the growing strength of the green building movement.”

Photo credits: The Verde at Howard Square