From the compost and recycling bins on the floor to the bicycles on wall racks and the 50-kilowatt solar power array on the roof, Entegrity's headquarters in east Little Rock practically screams that its occupants care about the environment.

But just how green did an extensive $500,000 renovation make the building, home to partners Chris Ladner, Matt Bell and Michael Parker and dozens of the company's nearly 100 employees? Here's a clue: It saves or creates enough power to balance out all of its energy use.

"It's the second building in the world to get LEED Zero certification, and the first in the United States," said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, who was in Little Rock to celebrate the sustainability and energy services company's achievement. "Of course it's a small world, with only 7.6 billion people."

LEED Zero is the highest distinction for building efficiency in the USGBC's ratings, the most widely used green building assessment system in the world, and Ramanujam gave Bell and Ladner a certification plaque, as well as leading a round of applause. "LEED," he said, referring to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, "demands leadership."

"It has become increasingly clear that we as designers, operators, owners and inhabitants of buildings have a mandate to minimize resource use," Ramanujam told the Arkansas Business. "LEED Zero recognizes those leaders who are pushing the standard for building performance even higher." Ramanujam, who was visiting Little Rock for the first time, was accompanied around town by Linda K. Smith, an Arkansas USGBC official.

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