For more than a year since opening its doors, PotashCorp’s Marseilles Administrative Building has used technology to help the company tread a little more lightly on the planet. Now the building will have to adapt to a new piece hardware: an American Institute of Architects’ Distinguished Building Award.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by such a prestigious organization,” said CEO Bill Doyle. “As we work to maximize the environmental benefits of our products, we also strive to reduce our environmental footprint. Projects like our Marseilles building help us live by our core value of no damage to the environment.”

The building, which won the Sustainable category for the Eastern Illinois Chapter of the AIA, was honored at the organization’s biennial awards dinner on December 5, 2010.

Designed by Basalay, Cary & Alstadt Architects Ltd. of Ottawa, Illinois, the 7,300 square foot building is LEED-NC Gold certified — the second-highest tier in the U.S. Green Building Council’s internationally recognized green building certification system. Incorporating sophisticated day lighting, high efficiency air-to-air heat pumps, and heat recovery systems, the building exceeds state energy code by more than 50 percent.

“This honor is especially satisfying because the choice to make this building green grew out of one of our core values,” said Marseilles Operations Manager Bob Startzer, who was on hand to receive the award.  “It shows that when you do the right thing, people notice.”

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