Yes, all the lights were shut off immediately after this picture was taken, honest!

The $81.3 million Whitehead Biomedical Research Building opened in 2002 as Emory's first Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED)-certified building. The LEED program was established by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to promote environmentally friendly, whole building design practices.

Buildings on campus with LEED designation save energy and water, feature improved air quality, are sited appropriately--such as in areas with public transportation, and are constructed using a percentage of recycled, local or rapidly renewable building materials.

Academically, the Whitehead Building is home to the Departments of Human Genetics and Physiology, the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, and research programs in the departments of Medicine and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Whitehead's environmental friendliness was a harbinger of things to come ... by the end of the 2009-10 academic year, Emory is projected to cross the threshold of 2 million square feet of LEED construction.