HOUSTON—Earth Day took on new meaning for an environmentally aware Houston-area development.

The Treehouse Memorial City, a 14,700-square-foot office building, has been certified double LEED Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The development received a score of 95 points -- a LEED BD+C: CS (Core and Shell) Platinum Level -- the highest credit point total for a project in Texas and the second-highest in the country. In addition, The Treehouse received LEED ID+C: (Commercial Interiors) Platinum Level with a score of 80 points.

The two-story building, designed by Studio RED Architects, evokes a sophisticated, modern day treehouse. Sustainable design strategies for the project include a geothermal cooling and heating system, daylight harvesting for lighting adjustments, solar panels, rainwater collection for landscaping and a rooftop garden. Energy efficient measures reduce the building energy costs to nearly 50 percent of a baseline office building. The water efficiency features work to reduce irrigation requirements by almost 70 percent, which resulted in an innovative technology credit award by the USGBC.