ST. LOUIS, MO -- (Marketwire) -- 07/16/09 -- Solae, LLC announced today that its St. Louis headquarters building has been LEED® Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is the USGBC's rating system for designing and constructing the world's greenest, most energy-efficient, and high-performing buildings.

"We are very proud that our headquarters building is LEED certified, and this is consistent with our company core value of environmental stewardship," said Torkel Rhenman, CEO -- Solae. "At Solae, we continually improve key manufacturing processes to reduce impacts on the environment. We systematically track our environmental progress across all manufacturing sites and replicate successful improvements wherever possible."

LEED certification of the Solae headquarters was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively impacted the project itself and the broader community. These features include: site selection; allowing building occupants easy access to public transportation; providing reserved parking to drivers of low-emitting and fuel efficient vehicles; reducing light pollution and optimizing energy performance with natural lighting; innovative wastewater technologies using water reducing plumbing fixtures, and utilizing recycled content during construction.

The Solae headquarters building was built by Clayco Inc. to achieve LEED certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use as well as to incorporate a variety of other sustainable strategies.

"Working with an innovative company like Solae, the entire team pushed each other to explore and incorporate sustainable measures which aligned with all team members' corporate environmental principles," said Paul Todd Merrill, director of Sustainable Construction -- Clayco. "The issues of environmental responsibility for future generations were a core value of the entire team, from the top of company leadership to the fantastic on-site field crew leadership."

LEED verifies environmental performance, occupant health and financial return. LEED was established for market leaders to design and construct buildings that protect and save precious resources while also making good economic sense.

"Solae's LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair -- U.S. Green Building Council. "The urgency of USGBC's mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and Solae serves as a prime example of just how much we can accomplish."

The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations.