Eisai Inc.’s U.S. headquarters at 200 Metro Blvd. in Nutley. — All photos by Mike Van Tassel/Courtesy: HLW
By Joshua Burd
Pharmaceutical company Eisai Inc. has earned three well-known environmental and health and wellness certifications for its 300,000-square-foot headquarters building in Nutley.
The drug maker, known for its work in Alzheimer’s and other diseases, has occupied 200 Metro Blvd. since early last year after agreeing to move to Prism Capital Partners’ ON3 flagship campus. It has now taken a key step in showing what it described as a commitment to sustainability through a focus on energy usage, water consumption, recycling and air quality — as well as health and wellness — announcing that the building has secured the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Fitwel and WELL Health-Safety Rating certifications.
“We wanted to not only ensure the Eisai US hhceco Center is a safe, effectively managed place for collaboration, but also be good stewards for the environment,” said Terry Carothers, Eisai’s executive director for strategic procurement and site services.
SLIDESHOW: Inside the Eisai US hhceco Center
Eisai’s announcement included the following descriptions of each designation:
- LEED certification, created and maintained by the U.S. Green Building Council, rates the design, construction, operation and maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighborhoods to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently.
- Fitwel is a building certification program that focuses on creating healthier workplaces and environments, as well as enhancing productivity by evaluating the site across 12 categories, including location, building access, workspaces, water supply, cafeterias, vending machines and snack bars and emergency procedures. It also offers 63 design and operational strategies to improve a building’s Fitwel® performance.
- The WELL Health-Safety Rating system focuses on operational policies, maintenance protocols and emergency planning to create a healthy and safe environment by keeping spaces clean and sanitized; communicating the company’s health and safety efforts; preparing all employees for emergencies and assessing air and water quality.
Prism, which has since sold 200 Metro Blvd., announced in 2020 that Eisai had signed a full-building lease for ON3’s landmark 15-story office tower. It is the largest pure office tenant to date to commit to the sprawling former Hoffmann-LaRoche campus, which straddles Clifton and Nutley and sits just south of Route 3, after the drug maker relocated from Woodcliff Lake.
SJP Project Solutions spearheaded the buildout, working with Eisai’s in-house team to complete the project while working with Prism on the base building improvements and global architecture firms HLW and AMA. Eisai, the U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of Tokyo-based Eisai Co. Ltd., says it has also prioritized minimizing its environmental footprint by teaming with Green Standards to donate 8.1 tons of furniture to local schools and nonprofit organizations when it moved from Woodcliff Lake, turning potential waste into $42,600 in charitable donations, while diverting 98 percent of waste from landfills and eliminating 905 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Globally, the company has established three goals for climate change mitigation across its footprint: using 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, attaining carbon neutrality by 2040 and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.
SJP touts completed buildout of 300,000 sq. ft. Eisai U.S. headquarters at Nutley’s ON3
