Greener Office Pastures

By Nicole Crowley

The ‘green’ building and office are the future of design. Several years ago the industry realized that office buildings must be more sustainable. There are many facets to this. It tool awhile, but now the ‘green’ attitude is catching on.

According to the Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development, a Project of the U.S. Department of Energy there are nearly five million commercial buildings in the U.S. today. The design, construction and maintenance of these buildings has a tremendous impact on our environment and our natural resources. Contractors and architects are very aware that this sustainable design encompasses the entire life-cycle of the building as well as its components, not forgetting the economic, environmental impact, and performance of the real estate space.

Another organization with green design as its focus is the U.S. Green Building Council. Since 1993, it has served as the building industry’s center for debate and action on environmental issues facing the industry’s multiple interests. The environment is not simply a factor that comes into play when building and developing a new office space, it is a consideration for existing office spaces as well. The Green Building Council has even established a self-assessing rating system, called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED rates existing commercial, institutional, and high-rise residential buildings. It evaluates environmental performance from a ‘whole building’ perspective and strikes a balance between known effective practices and emerging concepts.

Lots more than what was traditionally thought of as ‘environmental issues’ go into green design. Sustainable buildings factor in good design for air quality, water efficiency, day lighting, furniture, how far the furniture has to travel, emphasis on local materials, recycled carpet, engineering, heating and cooling, paint, glass, and many more components. Even putting a bike rack in front of a building and a shower for employees who want to bike to work promotes environmentally friendly design; employees are staying healthy and not polluting the air with fuel emissions.

Looking To The Future

The biggest change for green design right now is an increased commitment to the idea. Price is one reason. The initial cost of ‘green’ buildings and their technologies is coming down. The other is the increased awareness to conserve our natural resources and use them wisely.

Conservation helps businesses too. Charles Schlauch of GHK is seeing clients’ interest increasing. “The biggest push towards green design has come from our clients’ concern for healthy, more productive work spaces for their employees. There have been a number of case studies emerging in the past few years that indicate the positive influences of cleaner air, the extensive use of day lighting, and reductions in air borne irritants. This translates into increased productivity and reduced time off for employees, which has a corresponding positive impact on our client’s bottom line. Even the most traditional clients are beginning to see the advantages of this approach.”

Karl Stumpf, Vice President at RTKL is witnessing much of the same feeling from clients. “They are interested in creating ‘greener’ office spaces because of their desire to create the best possible work environment for their employees. Spaces that have better indoor environmental quality (IEQ), better/more effective lighting opportunities, minimize energy consumption, and focus on comfort issues are better work environments.”

Even the Federal Government is seeing the need for ‘green’ buildings. RTKL was the lead architect, working with Grunley Construction on the Ariel Rios Federal Building. The modernization and restoration of this office building combined extensive repairs, replication, and refinishing of existing historic elements with the installation of the new MEP systems, roofing, and finishes.

The building industry in fact, is seeing the unusual trend of the public sector being very involved in this green, sustainable building trend. According to Forrester Construction, the Navy is very involved in green alternatives to traditional building. This green trend includes refurbishing areas as well. If a real estate company is going to spend millions on office space, the growing feeling is why not spend that on an existing building and infrastructure.

The sustainable design we are seeing today also goes along with Maryland Governor Glendening’s ‘Smart’ growth design because developers are using already constructed buildings instead of adding to sprawl. Recycled buildings and renewable materials are what this is all about, even the materials right under your feet.

The floors of every office space must be comfortable, safe and durable. Business leaders don’t like to change carpeting because of the hassle and expense. Dupont Flooring Systems is doing something to make flooring a little easier and better for the environment.

Dupont has a lift system, which can lift workstations off the floor just high enough to install new flooring; this can even be done at night. There have also been improvements in carpet tile, which leaves them virtually seamless now. But even more important than that, the Dupont company offers a reclamation process. They will take your old carpet and send it to Chattanooga where it is totally recycled. Even the ground-in dirt in the carpet is recycled into mulch. Dupont makes padding from recycled carpet while they sell some parts of the recycled carpet to the Ford Motor Company for air cleaner housing and other miscellaneous parts. Andres Baxter of Dupont tells us more. “We offer many products with varying levels of recycled content and adhesives that are environmentally friendly, which is helpful when trying to keep specifications Green. However, many times the opportunity to keep products out of landfills is overlooked. The best way to avoid landfilling is to extend the life through proper care of the flooring. In addition, DuPont Flooring Systems reclaims all carpeting that we remove from an existing building regardless of manufacturer or fiber content.” In addition to recycling carpet, Dupont stresses maintenance because good maintenance cuts down cost.

Collins and Aikman is also making strides with their flooring to recycle more and more. Jeff Anders, Corporate Account Manager at C&A explains. “C&A has also led the carpet industry in the development of recycled-content floor coverings, and is the only manufacturer that offers a high-performance ER3 floor covering with 100% recycled content backing. Low-pile face weights, combined with reclaimed-content backing provide a high performance product with minimal resource use. We are currently the only manufacturer who meets all six of the FTC Guidelines for Environmental Marketing Claims. During the past three years, C&A has recycled more than 53 million pounds of waste carpet into new carpet products.”

Greener Buildings

Starting from the ground up seems to be an idea that is catching on. Responsible, Smart/Green Office design is growing in interest and commitment. An example of this pledge can be seen in The Tower Building on I-270 in Rockville, MD. The Tower Building is owned by The Tower Companies. The Tower Companies have made green design a primary goal for the future under the direction of Partner Jeffrey S. Abramson. Mr. Abramson is also on the Board of Trustees on the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. and he is currently co-chairing an exhibit at the National Building Museum called “Big and Green: Sustainable Buildings for the 21st Century”.

What makes this building design new and innovative is the improvement of every part of the building and work space. Advanced air filtration systems exchange outside air building-wide more than once an hour. Low-E glass in panoramic windows fills offices with natural light. The elliptical shape of the building brings to mind a sail in the wind and provides 180 degree views of the I-270 Tech Corridor and the Nation’s Capital.

Russell James, Senior Vice President, T.O.L.K., Inc. worked with The Tower Companies on engineering the building. “The Tower Building has numerous advanced features that reflect the Owner’s commitment to environmental responsible design and energy efficiency including: Low-temperature chilled water air conditioning system with economizer (that is typically 30% more efficient than market area packaged systems); 85% efficient three stage outside air-filtration system (with activated charcoal potassium permanganate media that removes airborne chemical pollutants), ventilation systems that exceed the ASHRAE 62 standard by more than 25%, ECM ‘smart’ motor technology (that improves fractional HP motor efficiency more than 45%), double wall construction for air conditioning units (providing cleanable interior surfaces and superior acoustics), moisture removal features that minimize microbiological growth, digital electronic building management system (BMS), variable speed technology, variable air volume (VAV) technology, and high efficiency lighting.”

You may ask why everyone isn’t doing this right now with all the advantages this building design has to offer. Russell James explains. “First, cost takes a higher priority than energy efficiency and environmentally responsible design. These advanced features cost a little more upfront. In many cases, the developer sells the building after completion or passes on the operating cost to the tenants. In either scenario, the developer does not pay for the operating cost and therefore is not as motivated to optimize energy efficiency. The Tower Companies have moved beyond this traditional market thinking into a leadership role. The Tower Companies have been willing to spend more up front while passing on the benefits of energy efficiency and environmentally responsible design to their tenants and their community. As tenants and brokers become more knowledgeable about life-cycle costs, indoor air-quality, and the effects of office buildings on the environment, projects like the Tower Building will become the standard.”

Architect Kishimoto Gordon, along with TOLK worked with The Tower Companies to make this first “Super Class A” building in the Capital area. The ten-story building also is made of recycled and recyclable building materials, has fiber optic wiring, traffic adaptive elevators that save energy, and is positioned on the site to maintain the natural topography, including an existing streambed.

All this smart/green design, whether it is on I-270 or anywhere around town, improves the health, comfort and productivity of employees and saves operating costs. It also helps companies attract and retain young, environmentally aware employees.