Cincinnati — Cincinnati’s Megen Construction Company and glaserworks Architecture have earned Ohio’s first Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for their work in designing and building the Fernald Preserve Visitors Center.

The 1,050-acre Fernald Preserve, located 18 miles northwest of Cincinnati, was home to a uranium processing facility that supported the U.S. weapons program from 1952 until 1989. A two-decade, $4.4 billion environmental cleanup project converted the site into a nature preserve run by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management.

The $3 million, 10,800-square-foot visitors center includes: a geothermal-based heat-pump system, high-efficiency electrical, water and plumbing fixtures, window placements that optimize sunlight in all seasons, low-emitting building materials, and a bio-wetland on the site that will process all the building’s wastewater. The team’s goal was to include at least 10 percent of building materials from recycled sources and at least 20 percent sourced from less than 500 miles away. They more than doubled those amounts, with 23 percent recycled material content and 43 percent of materials sourced locally.

Visit www.megenconstruction.com for more information.