BNY Mellon Garners New U.S. Green Building Council LEED Gold EB Certification

NEW YORK and PITTSBURGH, Dec. 20, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon, the global leader in asset management and securities servicing, today announced that its 525 William Penn Place facility in Pittsburgh has been awarded a Gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the existing building (EB) category.

BNY Mellon's 525 William Penn Place is the largest building in Pittsburgh to obtain the LEED EB Gold ranking to date, and one of only three buildings in the region to obtain such ranking. The property's LEED EB Gold certification was awarded based on superior energy, lighting, water and material use, along with a variety of sustainable building strategies. Specific highlights include:

• Significantly decreasing electrical energy consumption by some 7.7 million kWh over the last five years through the use of lighting control systems and lighting motion sensors, as well as the installation of Variable Frequency Drives to control the power supplied to a motor so that it matches the actual demand;
• A five-year contract for the purchase of off-site, Green-e certified renewable energy credits equivalent, at the time of purchase, to 100% of the anticipated annual electrical consumption;
• Exemplary recycling and waste management programs;
• Modifications to the plumbing fixtures which resulted in a higher water efficiency;
• A green cleaning policy with environmentally-sensitive products, equipment and processes; and
• A sustainable purchasing program that encompasses office supplies, lamps, furniture, electronic goods, cleaning and other building supplies.

"With the support and participation of our employees and tenants, we are reducing our impact on the environment," said Vince Sands, chairman of BNY Mellon of Pennsylvania. "This latest 'green' achievement is a result of a long-term, strategic focus on utilizing our resources in a responsible way."

"Sustainability makes strong business sense and this award reinforces BNY Mellon's commitment to growing our global businesses in an environmentally sustainable way," said Thaddeus "Chip" Logan, BNY Mellon's director of Corporate Facilities Services and Sustainability.

LEED focuses on the design, construction and operation of high performance, environmentally-sustainable buildings. To achieve this certification, the building's sustainability and operations plans, maintenance practices and procedures were reviewed by a third-party to ensure energy efficiency and sustainability based on the USGBC's high performance standards and metrics. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability and recognizes performance in targeted areas such as water and energy savings, materials and resources, as well as indoor environmental quality.  

In addition to its LEED EB Gold recognition, 525 William Penn Place has attained the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR award since 2008 due to the sustainability team's prior work and building-wide energy efficiency improvements. BNY Mellon worked closely with property manager Jones Lang LaSalle to achieve these awards.

In October 2010, BNY Mellon was named an EPA Green Power Leader, a national honor, resulting from significant investments in renewable energy sources. Today, the company offsets the equivalent of 77 percent of its domestic electrical utility use with renewable energy credits derived from wind and solar sources.

525 William Penn Place opened in 1951 and once served as the headquarters for the U.S. Steel Corporation and Mellon National Bank. Today, the 41-storey, 940,000 sq. ft. office property is home to more than 1,500 of BNY Mellon's 7,500 Pittsburgh-based employees and also serves as the regional headquarters for Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania, a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

BNY Mellon is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 36 countries and serving more than 100 markets. BNY Mellon is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing superior asset management and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team. It has $24.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.14 trillion in assets under management, services $12.0 trillion in outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.6 trillion per day. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available at www.bnymellon.com. For more information about BNY Mellon's environmental sustainability initiatives or its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility, visit www.bnymellon.com/csr.

SOURCE BNY Mellon