Piedmont Natural Gas' Tennessee Operations Center Receives "GOLD" Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Status

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced that its Tennessee Operations Center facility in Nashville, Tennessee has received the coveted "Gold" rating from the United States Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED rating system.  The facility, completed in April, 2010, has won numerous other awards including the Urban Land Institute's Excellence in Development Award 2011, the 2011 Middle Tennessee Office Development of the Year Award from the Nashville chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and a McGraw-Hill Best of 2010 – Award of Excellence for Architectural Design.  The Tennessee Operations Center joins Piedmont's Tarboro (NC) Operations Center as the Company's second operations facility to earn a prestigious LEED rating from the USGBC and is Piedmont's first Operations Center to receive a "Gold" rating. The Tarboro Operations Center received a "Silver" rating.

Thomas E. Skains, Piedmont's chairman, president, and chief executive officer, commented on the LEED recognition, "We are certainly proud of the fact that this facility has been awarded a 'Gold' LEED rating from the USGBC. Coming just after the release of our inaugural Sustainability Report last week, the LEED recognition is tangible proof of our long-standing commitment to operate our business based on a specific set of values and sustainable practices and to be good stewards of our communities, the environment, and our shareholders' investment."

The USGBC is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that promotes the design and construction of buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. To obtain the group's GOLD rating, Piedmont's new operations facility was rated on six major areas including sustainable sites, water use, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and materials and resources.  Some of the facility's design features include LED lighting systems that use less energy and last up to five times longer than fluorescent or incandescent lighting; the use of solar powered lighting for the parking lot; protection from solar heat gain through the use of exterior building shades controlled by the sun's orientation; construction of the building using materials that contained recycled content of over 20 percent; and, a partial "green roof" that helps control solar heat gain through the roof.  The building site is also home to a five-acre wetland that was preserved during the construction process and upon which the Company has created mulched walking trails and pedestrian bridges.

Designed by C design Inc., the building was developed and constructed by Baron + Dowdle Construction.  The civil engineer on the project was Barge Cauthen & Associates.  

About Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial and industrial utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including 53,000 customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers.  Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, interstate natural gas storage and intrastate natural gas transportation.  More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the internet at http://www.piedmontng.com.

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas