Taking the LEED The Advocate Sunday, December 24, 2006
By Richard Lee, Assistant Business Editor Download
PDF
Eco-Friendly buildings begin taking shape in the area
Imagine going for a walk in the park – just by stepping outside your office door.
That’s what employees of businesses at the i.park Norwalk office complex on Main Avenue will be able to do when they begin occupying the former Perkin Elmer headquarters next year.
Greenwich-based National RE/Sources LLC is converting the sprawling 300,000-square-foot main building into a Class A office complex. The material covering more than an acre on a roof outside the cafeteria will be covered with vegetation.
National Re/Sources, Nestle Waters and Starwood Capital Group have adopted LEED building strategies for their Greenwich facilities. LEED stands for leadership in energy and environmental design. Embracing those standards can result in certification by the Washington D.C. based Green Building Council.
The roof is one of many aspects of the i.park project that will qualify it for certification.
The i.park “eco-roof” will be constructed to allow rooftop vegetation to grow but will protect the underlying roof. It is designed to reduce energy expenditures, purify the air and reduce stormwater runoff- as well as allow office workers to take outdoor break, said Lynne Ward, vice president of leasing at National RE/Sources, which is spending $50 million on the conversion.
Revolutionary roof
“It’s new in the country. There are none in Fairfield County,” she said, estimating that more than an acre of the roof will be green. “California was far ahead on this.”
Solar panels will be installed on another section of the roof.
A second building in i.park also will be converted into a LEED – certified building. LA Fitness will occupy the 50,000-square-foot building late next year.
This is the first LEED project for National RE/Sources, which specializes in converting former manufacturing complexes into large office complexes. Other National RE/Sources projects include the former Lockheed plant in Lake Success, N.Y., as well as former industrial sites in Yonkers and Tarrytown, N.Y.; Wiscassett, Maine and Edgewater, N.J.
“This is the way to go now. This is not just politically correct anymore. It’s good for business,” Ward said, adding that construction to LEED standards adds about 20 percent to the redevelopment costs.
But that can be recovered through energy and other savings.
“Over the life of the leases, it will easily be paid back,” she said.
“Green building state”
LEED standards are developed to create a healthy work environment – from heating, ventilating and air conditioning units, to glass and low emissions paint and carpeting, she said.
The buildings are constructed with five elements, including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
“The interior is a big part of it – carpeting, furniture, using recycled materials, energy use and building near public transportation,” said Taryn Holowka, spokeswoman for the Green Building Council.
National RE/Sources’ Norwalk project would be the seventh LEED project in Connecticut.
There are four in New Haven, one in Hartford and one in Danbury.
They are among 669 certified across the United States, but the number will dramatically increase. Developers are building 4,912 sites with aspirations of attaining LEED certification.
In many states, the certification can result in tax reductions.
Connecticut is gaining a reputation as a green building state, and Greenwich based Nestle Waters, producer of Poland Spring, Deer Park and other bottles waters, was a trailblazer in obtaining LEED certification for manufacturing facilities, Holowka said.
Five of its bottling plants have achieved LEED certification and several others are on the way.
Efficient and functional
Nestle Waters plants in Stanwood, Mich.; Cabazon, Calif.; Hawkins, Texas, Lee, Fla.; and Red Boiling Springs, Tenn., were built to LEED standards. A newly constructed warehouse expansion in Hollis, Maine and a new Nestle Pure Life plant in Breinigsville, Pa., also have been built to qualify for certification.
A plant under construction in Kingfield, Maine, and a Nestle Pure Life plant in Dallas, Texas, under design also will meet standards.
“It speaks to our environmental stewardship policy. That’s huge for our company. It’s really putting money where our mouths are,” said Nghia Tran, senior design manager for facilities for Nestle Waters, based in Coppell, Texas. “There are significant additional costs, but we proceed with it.”
Nestle Waters has undertaken such steps as landscaping with native plants requiring less irrigation to developing wetlands and cleaning wastewater rather than piping it to a leaching field.
“We’re very careful with our designs to stay out of wetlands and minimize site disturbance,” Tran said.
Inside its building, the company uses high-efficiency air filtration, low volatility construction materials, waterless urinals, low flow toilet fixtures, no ozone depleting refrigerants and skylights.
“It creates a nice environment for employees. It’s very bright and airy,” Tran said, adding that in the past year the measures resulted in the reduction of 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide and 1,500 megawatt hours in energy savings.
Eco-friendly hotel
Starwood Capital Group has enlisted the National Resources Defense Council as its environmental advisor as it launches its “1” Hotel and Residences luxury eco-friendly global hotel brand.
The first of four “1” hotels to be built in the United States is scheduled for completion in late 2008. Others are planned in Mammouth Mountain, Calif.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The first international “1” hotel will be a renovation project in Paris.
“While some hotel brands pay lip service to the environment by asking guests to reuse towels, and adding plants to a lobby, ‘1’is not using eco friendly jargon simply as a marketing tool,” said Barry Sternlicht, chairman and chief executive officer at Starwood. “Our intention with ‘1’ is to build hotels and residences that are truly green and minimize their impact on the environment. All of our buildings will be built to LEED standards and all of our interiors will be LEED compliant.”
Each property will donate 1 percent of its revenue to local environmental organizations guided by a steering committee with NRDC representation.
“With such critical issues facing us as foreign energy dependence and global warming, we cannot afford to ignore the growing consumption of our natural resources and the inability to sustain our enterprises,” said Sternlicht, who anticipates having 15 hotels signed or under construction within 24 months.
Downtown green
W&M Properties, with headquarters in New York City and Stamford, and Jonathan Rose Co. have proposed an office and apartment complex next to the Stamford Transportation Center that would be built with the goal of attaining LEED certification.
W&M properties declined to comment further, pending the approval of the application by Stamford planning panels. But Jonathan Rose, founder and president on Jonathan Rose Co., said the site is environmentally sensitive because of its east access to the train station.
“Both of our firms are very committed to environmental standards,” said Rose, whose firm is designing the residential segment of the project.
Because the Green Building Council is considering its LEED Neighborhood Design standards, Jonathan Rose is designing the development as an Enterprise Green Community Standards Project, set by the Enterprise Foundation and the National Resources Defense Council.
“These are the best guidelines for housing,” said Jonathan Rose, who has applied to the Green Building Council to be a LEED Neighborhood Design test site.
More companies are adopting a green building philosophy as they realize the long-term cost savings and impact on the environment, said Lisa Mercurio, director of the Fairfield County Information Exchange, an initiative of the Business Council of Fairfield County.
The business council has been a leader in assisting its members in retrofitting their facilities to save in energy costs.
“With the high cost of energy, we need to be looking at LEED standard. LEED holistically looks at a building,” she said.” It’s the right goal to pursue environmentally, as well as being a strong business case.
Cost v. benefit
LEED certification, however, is not for all companies because of the expense in the application process, said Adam Ney, co-founder and president of AuctorVerno, a Bethany based consulting firm focusing on environmentally sensitive design and construction.
“Because of the business Nestle Waters is in, it makes sense for them,” he said. But many smaller companies that incorporate environmentally responsible measures in their buildings may not have funds for the LEED application process. “I advise them to spend it on other things.”
LEED standards, however, often lead to a higher worker productivity.
The philosophy is gaining momentum across the United States, particularly after Goldman Sachs announced last year that it only will invest in socially responsible companies, Ney said.
“I think LEED in the next five years will be standard operating procedure,” he said.
