One World Trade Center Not As Green As It Claims

Reports say flooding during Hurricane Sandy destroyed fuel cells in the basement of One World Trade Center, and they were never replaced

Mother Jones

One World Trade Center was supposed to be one of the greenest skyscrapers in the Western Hemisphere and was aiming for USGBC's LEED gold certification. One sustainability feature the building had planned to incorporate was a state-of-the-art onsite fuel cell installation, which would supply 10 percent of the building's electricty source. However, recent reports show that flooding during Superstorm Sandy caused critical damage to those fuel cells, and a third of them were never repaired or replaced. Reports say the cells were not replaced because doing so would have delayed the building from opening to tenants by the required deadline based on the contracts with the Port Authority.

Despite this questionable move coming to light, the USBGC may still award the skyscraper its LEED gold certification based on the building's other sustainable features.

(more on the damaged fuel cells at One World Trade Center...)

Latest