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Alberici Corp. embarked on an ambitious plan to have its new headquarters achieve the highly selective platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System. Several sustainable design elements were incorporated into the project, but perhaps the most significant is that the structure will use 60 percent less energy compared with a conventional structure. And, yes, the project did receive the highest LEED rating ever.
Alberici Corp. has turned green into platinum.
In 2002, the construction firm had started to outgrow its headquarters in northwest suburban Hillsdale, Mo., said Thomas Taylor, vice president of subsidiary Alberici Group, the general service provider to the companies that Alberici Corp. operates.
After considering whether to expand the office as had already been done once before or to locate elsewhere, the company decided to renovate a building in northwest suburban Overland that was originally constructed in the 1950s for a metal products manufacturer.
The decision meshed well with Alberici's membership in the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council, a coalition of companies in the building industry that promotes environmentally responsible construction and design. Recycling a structure represents the wise conservation of an existing resource.
More important, Alberici sought the platinum rating, the highest, under the USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System to satisfy a requirement that John Alberici, chairman of the board of Alberici Corp., set for the project.
The decision to achieve the platinum rating was made in an executive meeting, and "a couple people looked at him because we had an inkling of what it was going to take to get there," Taylor said. "He said, 'Why would you set a goal to get anything less than an A©'" The other ratings are gold, silver and certified.
Alberici Constructors Inc., the organization's construction services arm, served as the design-build contractor on the $21 million project.
In December 2004, the construction of the office was finished and, as hoped, the building in July received the platinum rating in LEED's new construction category.
"Being a leader in the green construction industry, Alberici felt that it was important to be able to talk the talk and walk the walk," added John Guenther, principal and project designer for St. Louis-based architect Mackey Mitchell Associates.
The Long Run
Alberici's walk was a veritable marathon because the project is the highest quality ever to be evaluated under the LEED banner.
Taryn Holowka, communications manager of the USGBC, said projects seeking LEED certification are evaluated under six different categories:
- Indoor environmental quality
- Innovation and design process
Under each, there are a number of sustainability issues that projects are evaluated against and awarded points for achievement.
"If you have a rainwater-capturing system on your roof, that would give you a point," Holowka said. "If you build near a bus stop, that would give you a point. You have to do different sustainable things or use different technologies to get your points."
Each point requires documentation, such as third-party verification, architectural drawing or similar method. "We don't go by their word, necessarily," Holowka added, “They have to submit something that tells us what they did.”
LEED is in its second version, and the highest grade is 69 points. Projects that seek the platinum rating must get a minimum of 52 points.
Alberici received 60 points, which was “the highest [point total] in LEED version two,” Holowka said.
A total of 273 projects, mostly in North America, have received LEED certification under the two versions, but only 12 have received the platinum rating – 10 in new construction, one for an existing building and one for a commercial interior.
The Alberici project is the only one in the Midwest to receive platinum under LEED’s second version, though the Chicago Center for Green Technology received a platinum certification under LEED’s 33-point-maximum pilot version.
It and the Alberici project are pioneers in the Midwest because “all the other platinum projects [in the U.S.] are on the coasts,” Holowka said.
The sustainable method of construction and design is becoming a popular trend because in early September, 2,164 projects in North America were under consideration for LEED certification.
60 Percent Energy Savings
Because of the drive to achieve platinum status, the Alberici team members were encouraged to immerse themselves in the green philosophy and come up with alternative ideas.
“All decisions were tempered with [questions like], ‘Is the quality there? Is the sustainability there? Is the cost there?’” Taylor said. “We never stopped challenging the documents because the documents to us were a starting point.”
There were several unique elements in site sustainability, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality. A couple project achievements stand out as especially noteworthy.
For instance, the building will use about 60 percent less energy than a comparable structure with conventional systems, said Mackey Mitchell’s Guenther.
Several elements were incorporated to achieve the enviable savings, and the most dramatic is the wind turbine that has become a landmark for motorists on nearby Interstate 170.
The approximately 124-ft.-tall turbine will produce 65 kilowatts of energy annually, or about 20 percent of the facility’s energy needs every year, Guenther said. The wind turbine itself is recycled as part of the project because it had once been used in California.
Other energy-saving elements include an HVAC system that uses a combination of efficient under-floor air distribution and natural ventilation; solar panels that will use solar energy to heat water; efficient boilers and chillers; and location of the central utility plant in the parking garage where utilities enter the site for improved efficiency and reduced noise.
Water conservation is another unique project element.
The restrooms incorporate water closets and urinals that abide by the Energy Policy Act of 1992 for water consumption and have low-flow lavatory fixtures.
The approximately 20 grasses planted as part of the 6-acre prairie restoration, 250 Missouri native trees and 4,000 native perennial plants make the property look nice but also eliminate the need for permanent irrigation, Taylor said.
All stormwater is captured and conveyed to ponds, thereby reducing the burden metropolitan sewer district. Rain is captured on the garage roof, conveyed to a 30,000-gallon cistern beneath the garage, processed and used to convey sewage and reduce the building’s need for potable water.
“That (the catchment system) came to us from one of the plumbers working on the site,” Taylor said.
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