New York City- and Bangladesh-based apparel maker VDS Group’s new Vintage Denim Studio
manufacturing facility in Bangladesh has earned the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Platinum certification. It is the first factory in
Bangladesh to earn LEED certification, and the first worldwide to achieve LEED-NC v3 status.
The 300,000-square-foot facility treats and reuses 100 percent of its wastewater, and has
installed a stormwater management system and water-efficient landscaping and fixtures, with
expectations of achieving water savings of 46 percent. A 100-kilowatt photovoltaic panel provides
13 percent of its total energy, and energy-efficient fixtures and other design features are
expected to cut energy usage by 45 percent. The facility also sends no waste to landfills. Other
green initiatives include site design geared to controlling erosion and sedimentation, heat-island
reduction, use of non-fossil-fuel vehicles, and monitors and controls to regulate water and energy
consumption as well as carbon dioxide emissions and other chemicals and pollutants.
July/August 2012
