RTI International Celebrates Grand Opening of New RTP Office Building

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.—RTI International today celebrated the grand opening of a new 127,000 square-foot office building on its main campus in Research Triangle Park.

At four stories and 127,000 square feet, the building includes approximately 550 offices and workstations, an 80-person multipurpose room, several large and small conference rooms, a food kiosk run by the RTI cafeteria, and an adjacent parking deck.

The new parking deck will feature a battery charging station for electric vehicles, and designated parking spaces for those who carpool, drive a low-emission vehicle or ride a bicycle to work.

The high-performing green building was constructed with wood made using sustainable forestry practices, and the interior doors and millwork are all rapidly renewable bamboo veneer. Carpet and flooring were sourced locally and made from mostly recycled materials. Energy cost savings of 25 percent are expected from programmable heating, cooling and lighting systems and automatic and adjustable LED lighting.

The new office building houses RTI staff members in Social, Statistical and Environmental Sciences and the offices of Finance, Contracts, Research Protection and more.

"For more than 50 years, RTI has been committed to using our scientific knowledge, technical expertise, and business acumen to help our clients implement forward-looking sustainability and environmental stewardship practices," said Victoria F. Haynes, RTI president and CEO. "To ensure we live up to this commitment—and to serve as a leader and role model—we are taking steps to reduce our environmental impact and use of natural resources. This new building is a tangible indicator of RTI's willingness to invest in environmental sustainability in our own operations."

The building has been designed to meet the requirement to earn a LEED Gold Certification, which will make it one of only a few buildings in North Carolina to achieve such an honor. The LEED rating system, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, requires that a building meet a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. The system provides a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

"This building signifies RTI's ongoing commitment to being a great place to work," Haynes said. "I'm proud that we are providing our staff with a quality workplace that contributes to higher productivity and improved employee health and well-being. I'm also proud that at RTI we hold ourselves accountable for reducing our impact on the world around us. This new LEED building project is a testament to our commitment to doing the right thing."

With the opening of this building, RTI was able to move more of its staff members from leased office space onto its main campus.

RTI occupies 25 buildings on its main campus and leases offices elsewhere in Research Triangle Park and at its regional offices. In addition to its headquarters, RTI maintains seven regional offices in the United States and eight overseas, serving both government and commercial clients.