Having placed a strong foothold in Central Virginia, SDC began making its presence known as a Richmond-headquartered hub of regional green building expertise. The James River Green Building Council, a direct predecessor of USGBC Virginia, recognized SDC’s impact by awarding the firm its Green Building Leadership Award, Private Sector Category! SDC was recognized for its “many contributions to greening the built environment both in Virginia and nationally”. SDC then moved into and greening downtown office space on the first floor of an existing, historic, industrial building formerly serving as a traditional buggy manufacturing and repair shop. Known as The Buggy Factory, this unique, adaptive reuse project example has been SDC’s main office location ever since. SDC provided its own interior fitout boasting cabinetry and casework made from rapidly renewable materials, repurposed wood furniture components, recycled-content carpeting and panel fabrics, energy-efficient lighting fixtures, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, and low-emitting finishes, among many more strategies a green building demonstration of the day.