"Corporate America is starting to seek out LEED-certified buildings," says Jay Mitchell, senior vice president and regional development officer in IDI's Atlanta development office. "Companies realize that occupying LEED buildings is not only good for the environment but also good for business since these facilities, with their enhanced work environments, help attract and retain employees."

Both warehouse/distribution facilities were built with energy-efficient components including white TPO roof membranes to reflect sun/heat, extra insulation and skylights to bring in natural light. "The additional building hard and soft costs needed to achieve silver LEED equated to about $.03 per square foot per year of rental rate," Mitchell tells GlobeSt.com. Leasing rates at the project are at $3.50 per square foot for the Savannah property and $3.25 per square foot for the Atlanta warehouse. No leases have been signed at either development, but both are on the market for lease and sale.

IDI is widening its scope of LEED certified projects as more of their developments are completed. The company opened up the largest LEED certified building in the Southeast in the summer of 2008 at Crossroads Distribution Center Building F, an 800,308-sf warehouse and distribution center outside Memphis. Many of IDI's buildings are being certified LEED silver, the highest level that can be attained without interior work, IDI's CEO Tim Gunter told GlobeSt.com during an UpClose interview last year. "I think the higher levels of LEED are going to be driven by tenant demand," he predicted. IDI now has four completed LEED certified buildings, with another 5.5 million square feet of development being designed to achieve the designation by the USGBC.