Sustainable bedrock:
Builders pursue green building opportunities from the ground up
Steven Hudgins,
Posted
08/01/2009
As a priority in
their business plans, more farsighted metal building contractors
are improving their design-build credentials to compete for the
growing opportunities in green facilities construction projects.
This new generation of construction programs emphasizes sustainable
and life cycle features as their bedrock instead of just lowest
initial cost.
The interest continues to gain momentum in the private and
government sectors, where customers have come to expect either
formal third-party certification or equivalent criteria applied to
their projects. The market for green projects also is
geographically spread.
The environmental movement influencing today's construction
industry firmly emphasizes energy and water efficiency, healthier
working environments, advanced technologies and improved materials
management. When properly addressed in the planning, design and
construction execution of a project applying metal building
systems, a building owner can gain significant operational
advantages from a green building for a nominal investment.
Recycled Steel
Because their content can range from 30 to 70 percent in recycled
steel, depending on a project's amount of metal building systems,
the metal building industry's structural framing, metal roof and
metal wall products enjoy a fundamental advantage as a project's
materials solutions. Many contractors and design professionals
either remain unaware of the fact or don't emphasize it enough to
environmentally conscious building buyers, so Butler Manufacturing,
Kansas City, Mo., has stepped up its training and marketing
initiatives. Associates within Butler and throughout the Butler
Builder network have received training through various entities,
such as Portland, Ore.-based The Green Building Initiative, or have
earned formal LEED Accredited Professional status from the U.S.
Green Building Council, Washington, D.C. In fact, hundreds of staff
members within the Butler Builder network are already LEED AP
ncertified or pursuing the credential.
Third-party Certifications
Several third-party certification agencies have emerged with the
green building trend, including LEED, Green Globes and Energy
Star.
Energy Star certification originated in the early 1990s under the
auspices of the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S.
Department of Energy. It recognizes energy-efficient products and
buildings. An Energy Star certification was awarded to the
152,000-square-foot (14,121-m2), two-story headquarters building
shared by Butler and the North American operations of its parent
company, BlueScope Steel.
Gorski Engeering Inc., a Butler Builder based in Collegeville, Pa.,
recently applied the Green Globes certification program,
administered by GBI, to a plant project for Koaxis Inc. in
Schwenksville, Pa. The project offered a collaborative opportunity
between Gorski Engineering, which wanted to experience the formal
environmentally friendly Green Globes certification program, and
the owner of Koaxis, who recognized the inherent environmental
benefits and energy efficiency of the metal building systems
project. Green Globes presented a green building program that
offered effective guidance and assessment criteria.
The Green Globes software tools and ratings/ certification system
address a project's environmental impact using a 1,000-point scale
in multiple categories. These segments include energy, indoor
environment, site, water, resources, emissions and project
management. After achieving a threshold of at least 35 percent of
the potential 1,000 points, new and existing buildings can be
certifi ed to receive one to four globes.
The Koaxis facility was designed using the Butler MR-24
standing-seam metal roof system on Butler Widespan structural
framing. It was insulated to R-27 and received roof panels coated
with Butler SRI 83-rated solar reflective white finish as a cool
roof feature. The owner wanted a geo-exchange energy system,
consisting of 20,270-foot- (6,178-m-) deep wells bored under the
new building's parking lot. The system pumps a transfer fluid to
exchange the relatively stable temperature of the earth with a 35
1/2-ton (32-metric-ton) series of five ground-source heat pump
units.
The Koaxis project earned two globes following the formal on-site
review by an expert from GBI.
GBI also offers the Green Advantage certification program for
contracting, skilled trades and related field personnel working in
the building construction industry. The training program has thus
far certified more than 4,000 individuals in the various working
groups.
Developed and administered by USGBC, LEED remains the most widely
recognized and respected of the certification programs. LEED
provides a national standard for green buildings; a rating system
for the design and construction program; and an assessment review
process by USGBC that results in points-based designations of
Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum certification. Many construction
professionals anticipate that LEED criteria eventually will be
incorporated into the model building codes (UBC, NBC and ICC), just
as the escalated energy prices of the 1970s brought on by the OPEC
Oil Embargo amended codes to improve building energy efficiency.
The green building movement, reflected in LEED design criteria,
could likely address even broader code guidelines.
Willis A. Smith Construction Inc., Sarasota,Fla., is a standout
contractor and Butler Builder with a wealth of green expertise. Led
by David Sessions, LEED AP, the company now includes 12 LEED APs on
staff and plans to add more in the near future. Sessions
spearheaded the recent construction program of a new
18,000-square-foot (1,672-m2) headquarters.
The building combines Butler structural framing with a heavily
insulated Butler VSR architectural standing-seam metal roof system
supplied with a Cool Roof reflective coating. An insulated concrete
form system was used to create the wall construction and low-E
insulating glazing to complete the R-30 rated building envelope.
Other measures produced a 72.5 percent reduction in total potable
water usage and energy-efficient operational technologies that
deliver savings and flexibility. The significant amount of recycled
content in the Butler systems and ICF wall construction helped to
qualify the project for LEED 4.1.
Sessions further enhanced the energy efficiency by adding a 12.3-kW
photovoltaic solar energy system that feeds any surplus generation
back through the electric utility's grid for a billing credit.
Sessions submitted the project for LEED Gold certification and uses
the building to showcase the company's capabilities. He estimates
his organization could repeat the LEED Gold criteria in a future
project for only a 3.5 percent premium over today's costs for a
standard building program.
Using Green
The future of any industry, including construction, will belong to
the best-trained organizations. As the construction industry claws
its way out of the economic downturn, those who understand and can
demonstrate expertise in green construction will be the most
competitive and have the best chance to grow and prosper.
Steven Hudgins, LEED AP, is a corporate accounts
manager for Butler Manufacturing, Kansas City, Mo. For more
information, visit www.butlermfg.com/green.
www.butlermfg.com/green