Bullet Points: Reduce Costs, Save Energy, Building Green: LEEDing the Way

REDUCE COSTS, SAVE ENERGY — BUILDING GREEN: LEEDINGTHE WAY
Teresa Pohlman (master planner, Pentagon Greening);
Bob Fox (Cook & Fox Architects)

• On US energy consumption and buildings:
  • The US currently represents about 4.5% of the world’s population
  • Consumes 24% of the world’s resources
  • Buildings alone produce 43% of the CO2 in the US
  • We need to take carbon out of the equation — starting at the point of design
• Questions to ask when building the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) way:
  • How are you contributing to the bottom line?
  • What’s your payback?
  • How will you add value to the project?
  • How are you contributing to the mission?
• Pohlman on the Pentagon Greening:
  • Bringing Pentagon facilities to LEED certification was a 6-year project based at the Pentagon Renovation Office
  • The Pentagon was built in 18 months, under extreme wartime pressure
  • Renovation was allotted 15 years; like making a black and white TV into a color TV without turning the set off
  • The mission in renovation: save energy; realize energy efficiency and environmental sustainability on a budget
• The Pentagon covers 24 acres, 6.5 million square feet, with approximately 17.5 miles of corridors and 25,000 personnel
• Budgets often lead to cutting items/materials deemed not essential to the design of the project. Instead it’s more important to look for return on investment
• Fox on considering the design of Bank of America Tower, One Bryant Park, New York City:
  • The first thing is to look at what is free?
  • Sun/daylight
  • Rain/snow
  • Biological processes (cafeteria food waste into an anaerobic digester for power generation)
  • Thermal energy (constant temperature of the earth)
• Bank of America Tower, One Bryant Park, New York City, stand outs:
  • On-site power generation (4.6 mega watt cogeneration plant)
  • Health and productivity is prioritized with 95% air filtration, under-floor ventilation system, natural daylighting, use of low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) materials
  • Graywater system recycles storm water and wastewater; total savings of 7.7 million gallons per year
  • Thermal storage system produces ice at night, melting during day to shave daytime peak energy loads
  • High-performance curtain wall of low-iron glass with custom fit pattern that balances energy use with daylight and views
  •  All cement is made of 45% blast furnace slag, an industrial by-product; 56,000 fewer tons of CO2 were released by using this by-product when compared with the production of new cement
  • Nearly zero storm water contribution to New York City sewer systems
• Recommendations:
  • Unification of process as a fundamental principle:
    • Promote innovation and excellence — value-added components
    • Address acquisition strategy — getting sustainability in the very beginning

File Attachment: 

031907 bp.pdf