The Foreign Service Journal, April 2014

38 APRIL 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL “Energy efficiency is the way of the future. Our countries are world leaders in developing smart technologies.” –Finnish President Sauli Niinistö “Energy efficiency is the way of the future. Our countries are world leaders in developing smart technologies. I understand the Innovation Center is on track to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED Platinum certificate. This would make it the third building in Helsinki ever to achieve Platinum level, and the first-ever embassy building in the world [to do so]. This is a remarkable achievement. “In turn, we have tried to do our share in Washington, D.C. Our embassy building was the first in the United States to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star for superior energy efficiency. It was also the first embassy in America to achieve the LEED certificate for green buildings. This is true green diplomacy.” It’s All About the Little Steps Acting on climate change is a top priority both in Finland and in America. The U.S. government is actively promoting green growth, while in Finland the government aims to develop the clean-tech sector into a $50 billion industry by 2020, creat- ing as many as 40 000 new jobs along the way. Taking all this into consideration, it is only natural that the Finnish embassy in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. embassy in Helsinki make efforts to stay at the forefront in green building initiatives. “Going green” is all about little steps and small environmen- tally friendly actions. As the embassy of Finland celebrates its 20th jubilee, it is renewing its LEED certification and wishes to achieve even better results than the first time. However, a building’s green status doesn’t come from a certificate. It comes from its tenants—the people committed to living up to the environmental standards required for such a prestigious certification. As experience has shown, significant strides toward sustain- ability are very possible even in a relatively small organization such as the Finnish embassy. We therefore hope that other diplomatic missions, both in Washington, D.C., and around the world, will follow our lead. n