Bhubaneswar, May 5: A state-of-the-art eco-friendly building built at a cost of Rs 4 crore in Paradip port town along the Bay of Bengal coast has earned praise from an American agency.

The building has got the platinum rating Leadership in Energy & Environment Design (LEED) certification from the US Green Building Council, said nodal officer of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project, Anupam Behera.

The building, which was thrown open on April 28 by development commissioner R. Balakrishnan, has a carpet area of 4,000sqft.

The structure has exclusive environment and energy-efficienct features.

"The building, which has been built on a sustainable site, is water and energy-efficient," said Behera, adding that the materials used in its making had also been sourced keeping the environment in mind. He said the results of all the planned is now evident in the quality of the structure's indoor environment.

It houses the Centre for Management of Coastal Ecosystem (CMCE) under the World Bank-assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project.

The centre will act as an extension of the State Pollution Control Board.

It will have a territorial jurisdiction of 80km from Paradip to Dhamra along the Bay of Bengal. It will take up activities such as assessment of the coastal stretch, study of biological oceanography activities by microscopic observation, real-time assessment of ambient air quality and preparation of geo-scientific database using the geographic information system.

The centre will act as a referral centre and play a vital role in the sustainable management of the coastal ecosystem, said Behera.