April/May 2009
LEED
C O N T E N T S
Executive Director's Corner: Standing with Giants, by Deb Kleinman
Special: Remembering Greg Franta, by Annette Stelmack
LEED: Aardex Receives Second Platinum LEED Certification from the USGBC, by Mike Hehir
Energy Incentives: Xcel Announces New Incentives, by Erine Mathe
Sustainable Development: Grassroots Efforts Support a Sustainable Ethic, by Sarah Martinez
Government: Greening the Government: State Leads by Example, by Angie Fyfe
Case Study: Extracting Value From NAIOP's Highly Criticized Building Cost Report, by Courtney France
Go Green, Save Money: Rep. Perlmutter Legislation Promotes Going Green To Save Green, by Christopher Votoupal
Colorado Building Green is the official newsletter of the U.S. Green Building Council – Colorado Chapter, and is published bi-monthly. If you are interested in submiting a story, ideas or other information for publication, please contact the editor at sarah@usgbccolorado.org
Aardex Receives Double LEED Platinum From USGBC
The firm is one of only two in the world to achieve this distinction
By Mike Hehir, Sales, Aardex LLC
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Energy and Atmosphere
To reach the target goal of reducing annual energy consumption cost by 40%, Signature Centre was modeled according to ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (2004) to establish a base case building, from which different systems, components and energy design features were analyzed to determine optimal systems for inclusion in the design.
Notable elements:
- Low-velocity under floor ventilation achieved by high efficiency roof top units with outside air economizer
- Building perimeter conditioned with natural convection chilled beams and radiant heaters
- Hot water supplied from high efficient condensing boilers
- Chilled water supplied from evaporative cooled condensing chilled water units with variable volume pumping distribution
- Lighting controlled by occupancy sensors, dimmable switches and photo sensors
- Signature Centre was the first project in the country to use Solarban 70 for all perimeter glass– reducing solar thermal gain by 10-30% over conventional
- A white TPO roof reduces heat gain by 70% over conventional HDPE and built-up roofs
- Refrigerant used in HVAC equipment meets CFC reduction standards
- Additionally, the building will save 32.8% in annual energy costs. 100% of all building electricity is offset with clean renewably powered wind energy through the utility green power program.
Materials and Resources
The Signature Centre has 23% recycled content in its materials; and, more than 98% of construction waste was recycled.
Local materials used on the project include all pre-cast concrete and all steel.
The building was constructed with 6,900 tons of CIP concrete, 20% from recycled products.
245 tons of rebar – 100% from recycled products
3.7 miles of ceiling track, 4 1/3 acres of acoustical ceiling tile, 80% from recycled products.
The building skin included ~1¼ football fields of state of the art performance glass and an acre of
Hi-Tech Metal Panels – approximately 30% recycled.
860 tons of structural steel plus another 240 tons of other steel products – mostly recycled, as well as 190 tons of recycled (but undocumented) structural aluminum.
The site the building now occupies was previously a parking lot, 1,828 tons of asphalt and 659 tons of concrete were diverted from landfills and sent to be recycled; in turn the asphalt and concrete used in the construction of the new parking lot incorporated up to 20% recycled product.
Other material used include: VOC free adhesives, carpets, sealants and finishes, high performance, low-E glazing, under floor air distribution, recyclable carpet tiles and 50% FSC certified wood.