Adobe Gets Even Greener

LEED is a certification standard used to measure how "green" a building is, specifically measuring the environmentally sustainability of the design, construction, and operation of the building. There are 4 different obtainable rankings: LEED Bronze, LEED Silver, LEED Gold, and LEED Platinum... the last of which is essentially a tree-house powered by hugs. There are only 15 or so LEED Platinum high-rise buildings in the world, and 3 of them are in Downtown San Jose. As you might have guessed from this post's title, Adobe owns all 3. Despite already being at the very highest echelon of green, they managed to find a way to take it to the next level. 

Adobe will install 4 "Bloom Boxes" on top of each tower, which will generate 1/3 of the energy required to run the entire complex. In a nutshell, a Bloom Box is a futuristic fuel cell array that generates up to 100 kilowatts of electricity using air and natural gas while producing little to no emissions. Adobe will have a total of 12 of these to complement the 20 turbine wind farm they have already installed on site (seriously, take a good look at the towers next time you're in downtown, you can see them). For more information on Adobe's quest for LEED certifications that have yet to exist, check out this GreenBeat article.