SHANGHAI -- Harbour One Tower, a 30-storey building, has become the city's first office building to be certified LEED Gold by the United States Green Building Council.

LEED Certification (abbreviation of Leadership in Energy & Environment Design) is a professional green building grading system, which is regarded the most complete and influential assessment standard among the world's all building assessments in environmental protection, green and sustainability.

Jeffrey Heller, world-famous American architect and president of Heller Manus Architects, designed the tower building with a green concept to showcase that it is possible to enjoy world-class comfort at work with energy efficiency.

The project, standing on the Huangpu River, is part of the city's effort to turn the North Bund into a base for its international shipping center, said Kenny Ko, chairman of Shanghai Eastern Harbour Development Ltd.

The tower building, 120 meters high, provides offices of more than 40,000 square meters for rental as a base for business in finance, logistics, shipping, trade and modern service, Ko said.

He said the North Bund will witness completion of more than 1 million square meters of highrise buildings within five years. By then, it will become an important part of the golden triangle along the Huangpu River together with the Lujiazui Financial Zone and the Bund.

More than 30 per cent of its offices have been leased out for customers from financial institutions and trading companies, said Ko.