boon for the local business community for years to come. It shows that Schaumburg has the resources to accommodate a company that could have gone anywhere in the country, she said.

Zurich North America Business Lead Jennifer Kyung, who played a strong role during the design and construction of the building, said many of its interior enhancements will be introduced at the company’s other offices across the country.

With the first traces of autumn coolness in the air Wednesday, Kyung’s listing of the site’s features received applause when she got to the enclosed walkway between the main building and the parking garage.

“No more wind tunnel!” she laughed.

Doug Widener, director of community advancement for the U.S. Green Building Council, was on hand to present Zurich North America CEO Mike Foley with the building’s platinum rating under the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification system. The rating recognizes the building as energy efficient.

Even as someone who’s seen many environmentally friendly buildings, Widener’s reaction showed that Zurich’s headquarters was something new.

“Let me start off by saying wow! I mean wow!” Widener said. “I can feel the inspiration here.”

Many Schaumburg village officials were on hand for the opening, including Mayor Al Larson, who took part in the official ribbon-cutting.

Village Trustee Tom Dailly was among those who were seeing the interior for the first time Wednesday.

“How do you put this into words? That’s the problem,” he said. “It really is a gorgeous place.”

The new headquarters honored the memory of four Zurich employees who were killed in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. A tree planted near the old headquarters in their memory has been relocated to be the central element in the KAMP garden just beside the new building’s fountain.

KAMP is an acronym of the last names of the four honored employees, but has also come to mean “Keeping a Meaningful Perspective” — a guiding philosophy behind the company’s community service projects.