Nestled between Royal’s Hot Chicken and the soon-to-be-open Hotel Genevieve is Kentucky’s first commercial Platinum LEED-certified building — The Green Building.

The three-story NuLu building, now home to Galaxie bar and a law office, was the brainchild of Augusta and Gill Holland in 2007. They took on the adaptive reuse project with the idea to turn the vacant, 100+ year-old building into a mixed-used development using environmentally responsible and resource-efficient practices — which they successfully did in 2008.

LEED — aka Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — is the most widely used green building rating system around the world. It features four certifications based on a point system: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

To achieve a certification, a project earns points by following prerequisites and credits that address carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health, and indoor environmental quality. The Green Building scored 80+ points denoting its Platinum status — which is the highest rank in the system.

The Green Building under construction at 732 E. Market St. | Photo provided by Gill Holland

The resurrection of the 19th-century structure, which was done by architectural company (fer) studio, included restoring the brick shell and modernizing the inside with a 40-foot tall lobby, renewable energy systems, and recycled blue jean denim insulation — to name a few features.

Let’s take a look at the key characteristics that make The Green Building, well, green.

💡 Energy efficiency:81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system, and 12 geothermal wells 225 feet below the building save ~30,000 pounds of CO2 a month.

♻️ Recycled materials: 100% of the flooring, 70% of the windows, and 80% of the insulation, which was made from recycled blue jeans, used recycled materials — plus, the elevator shaft utilized mineshift blocks made from coal mining byproducts rather than regular cinder blocks.

🧱 Reuse: Original wood and bricks were used in the flooring, furniture, and facade.

🚰 Water-efficiency: Storm water is either absorbed by the green roof, collected in rain barrels, or directed into a rain garden.

Learn about other LEED certified places in Louisville including the Northeast Library and AC Hotel LouisvilleShould these be linked?.