NEW YORK CITY-The Chrysler building has proved that it can indeed keep up with modern times as it was just awarded LEED Gold certification. An asset and major part of the city skyline, the building received the certification after owner Tishman Speyer made several environmentally-friendly adjustments to its infrastructure and operations.

According to a release from the company, Tishman Speyer chose to upgrade, among other things:

• Water fixtures, which were replaced with more efficient equipment to reduce water consumption by 64 percent.
• The building’s waste policy was adjusted to raise the recycling rate to 81 percent total waste recycled.
• Building systems - which led to a 21 percent decrease in energy usage.

With this certification, Tishman Speyer now has 49 properties with LEED or equivalent designations. This includes San Francisco’s 555 Mission and One Bush Place, New York’s Hearst Tower.

In the same statement, the firm’s co-CEO’s Jerry and Rob Speyer were quoted as saying, “Our commitment to sustainability is very strong and our investment partners care deeply as well. In addition, we find that more and more of our tenants are looking to work collaboratively with us to maximize the results of our efforts. The LEED and other equivalent designations tell us that we are succeeding in this very important area.”