N.C. High School Seeks LEED Silver

I have the privilege of being the Commissioning Authority/Project Manager on the following LEED project. I am excited about working with Carrboro City School System and Moseley Architects on this project!

MORRISVILLE, N.C. - Designed by Moseley Architects, construction has begun on the new 148,000-square-foot high school for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District. A LEED rating of silver is the goal for the finished project, which is scheduled to welcome students in August 2007.
In recent years, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board adopted the "Policy Code: 9040 High Performance Building Design Criteria," which includes such criteria as energy conservation, water reduction, high efficiency lighting and positive indoor air quality.
"The criteria, which are referred to as Policy 9040, really show the investment this district has made in its children, teachers and the environment. This policy is not optional," says associate Steven A. Triggiano, AIA, LEED AP, of Moseley Architects.
"We simply had to execute the district's requirements and design a building that met its policy. The project is LEED registered and will be submitted for silver certification. This certification will validate that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board's High Performance Building Policy 9040 is one of the most progressive in the nation."
Some of the green features at Chapel Hill-Carrboro High School #3, which will accommodate an initial enrollment of 800 students (with core capacity for an eventual 1,200 students), include:
Low-kilowatt chilling systems, T-8 lighting and occupancy sensors that will reduce kilowatt use dramatically.
Hot water provided by solar energy.
Use of low-VOC, enabling a higher quality of indoor air.
Use of FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council)-certified wood doors, which are manufactured using wood from forests that practice sustained-yield management.
A construction waste diversion system is in place to recycle/reuse 50 percent of construction waste materials.
Currently, there is only one LEED-certified school in North Carolina, Third Creek Elementary School, which was also designed by Moseley Architects.

Green Building Initiative Becomes ANSI-Accredited Standards Developer

PORTLAND, Ore.—The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) formally recognized the Green Building Initiative™ (GBI) as an accredited national standards developer. GBI plans to develop its Green Globes sustainable building program as an ANSI standard.
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Architects/Engineers Beware!

In the LEED-NC Version 2.2 EA-Prerequistite 1: Fundamental Commissioning of the Building Energy Systems (which is in public review), the scope for the Commissioning Authority is more defined. You now, at a minimum, have to commission the following energy-related systems:

* Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems (mechanical and passive) and assoicated controls
* Lighting and Daylighting controls
* Domestic hot water systems
* Renewable engergy systems (wind, solar, etc.)

Architects remember this when you are in budget mode! The commissioning authority has very little room to decrease scope to fit your budget. My suggestion would be to ask before submitting a proposal.

Waterless Urinals - A Technical Evaluation

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UPPERCUT - Fastest Way to Start Saving Water!

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Ask the Green Architect: Top Ten Green Building Questions

These are the most common questions I receive in regards to building green:

1. Why do green buildings cost more than traditional buildings?
   
2. What is a "LEED" building?
   
3. What do you mean by a "green" building?
   
4. What is indoor air quality?
   
5. Which is better: a recycled material or a natural material?
   
6. How can I determine if a material is green or not?
   
7. Where can I purchase green building materials and products?
   
8. Are there any building code restrictions on the use of green materials?
   
9. Why should I care about green building?
   
10. Why aren't ALL buildings built to be green?

by Eric Corey Freed

Study Of Green Building Reveals LEED Cost Impacts

Washington DC – The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees the majority of the federal government’s design and construction projects, has released a study estimating the costs of developing green federal facilities using the U.S.Green Building Council’s LEED rating system, Version 2.1.The study was prepared by Steven Winter Associates, Inc., with cost estimating support provided by Skanska USA Building, Inc.

The report provides a detailed and structured review of both the hard and soft costs of achieving LEED Certified, Silver, and Gold ratings for two common GSA building types. The two buildings compared in the study-a new mid-rise federal courthouse and a mid-rise federal office building modernization-reflect a significant portion of GSA’s planned projects over the next five to ten years.

An analysis, including DOE.2 energy modeling, was performed to identify green building measures above and beyond those included in GSA’s standards that would likely be implemented to meet the specific LEED ratings. From these measures, the design and construction costs were estimated for each prerequisite and credit, with variations defined for both the courthouse and office building models.

The entire study can be downloaded at no cost from http://www.wbdg.org/newsevents/news_040105.php