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Located just blocks from the beach and in the heart of Virginia Beach’s oceanfront resort area, the Virginia Beach Convention Center (VBCC) has earned a LEED Gold in the Existing Buildings category.

VBCC is owned by the City of Virginia Beach and operated by the City’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. Constructed in phases, the 515,125-square-foot center opened the first phase in July 2005, followed by the second in January 2007. The Center has high quality generously proportioned front of house space, highly finished meeting rooms and ballrooms and quality on site food service to rival that found in four star hotels. The 150,000 square feet of column free exhibit halls offer a wide range of services and amenities such as proximate loading docks, convenient utility service (electric, communications, water, and waste) on a 30’ grid, variable LED lighting, wireless communications, and tall ceilings. In addition, the elegantly appointed 31,000-square-foot ballroom offers colorful LED lighting that can be matched to any event theme, excellent acoustics, and advanced audio/visual capabilities. Five meeting suites that can be subdivided into 26 individual areas complete the experience.

As a publicly owned building with a high profile, project leaders felt it important to set an example of good stewardship of public dollars. Operating efficiencies and sustainable practices achieved through the LEED process allow us to be that positive example. During the recertification process, VBCC received upgrades to the lighting and building automation systems. The upgraded building automation system provides real time thermographic color images to illustrate occupant comfort and provides live energy use data. In addition, an on-site vegetable garden, improved water efficiency, and the annual diversion of more than 140 tons of waste from the landfill helped VBCC earn necessary certification points. We are proud that over 85 percent of the work done to achieve LEED certification was completed by City of Virginia Beach staff.

Our staff is fully vested in the LEED process and continually seeks ways to share our sustainability initiatives with our over 583,000 annual visitors. VBCC enjoys continued acknowledgement of our green practices as we are often asked to share our knowledge by providing sustainable building tours and by speaking to the local businesses on sustainability best practices. VBCC is also an active partner in the Commonwealth’s Virginia Green program which promotes sustainability in the tourist industry.