By mid-2008, Wells Fargo had been awarded pre-certified LEED-Silver designation by the USGBC based on the company’s adoption of ecofriendly design parameters. Those called for a 20% reduction in energy use and 40% reduction in water consumption, long considered pivotal benchmarks for green buildings.

该银行加入了USGBC简化认证试点计划的40多个公司成员，该计划根据LEED Silver的加急批量认证，针对新建的新建筑物。

“Participating corporations in the pilot program account for 1,745 buildings totaling more than 135 million sq ft (as of summer 2009), a number likely to continue increasing,” says Deb Kleinman, executive director of USGBC’s Colorado Chapter. “It was because of organizations like Wells Fargo, which are committed to ensuring that their facilities are sustainable and which hold enormous portfolios of various types of commercial real estate, that this program came about.

“The pre-certification program is intended to streamline LEED-certification processes in order to help businesses ensure that their buildings are performing at peak efficiency and providing maximum benefits to occupants and the environment,” Kleinman adds.

“We first heard of the USGBC program through Chong Partners Architecture, San Francisco, with whom we were working regarding ways to green our new stores,” says Sheri Elbert, head of LEED standardization for Wells Fargo. “When Chong mentioned the USGBC program, we made inquiries to USGBC and were subsequently invited to join.

“I describe the driving force behind the LEED effort at Wells Fargo as a triple bottom-line: people, planet and profit. It’s a means of setting Wells Fargo apart from more conventional businesses,” she says.

Elbert says that LEED also is a way for Wells Fargo to keep ahead of mandates such as the California Green Building Code, set to become mandatory on Jan. 1. “Because none of the local standards will ever get ahead of LEED, we will always be on the leading edge,” she adds.

富国银行在预认证计划下完成的第一家零售银行商店是在科罗拉多斯普林斯；加利福尼亚州曼哈顿海滩和德克萨斯州的韦科。

In Colorado, two additional stores, one in Denver and another in Boulder, are currently in design, while others are expected to follow across the state.

最近，科罗拉多斯普林斯的两个前Wachovia地点重新命名为富国银行，并在LEED下改造了现有建筑物运营和维护计划。

埃尔伯特说：“即使在数量下，获得认证的途径也非常严格。”“我们需要设计内部和外部设计质量的保证和教育计划。每个接触该项目的人都必须接受LEED和知识渊博的教育，并了解富国银行满足LEED要求的方式。”