What is LEED®?
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ to encourage and accelerate global adoption of sustainable green building practices by creating a recognized standard for measuring building sustainability. The LEED rating system offers four certification levels for new construction; Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum, which correspond to the number of credits earned in five categories; sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality.
What is being done to meet the LEED Gold target in the BRIT Project?
The planning process for the integration of sustainable design strategies into the BRIT project began in June 2006 with the project eco charrette. This charrette was lead by our sustainability consultant, and involved all the project stakeholders. After discussing a range of possible green design considerations and strategies, including LEED and other green building rating programs, the project team identified BRIT’s environmental priorities for constructing the new facility. The following issues were identified as having the most importance and meaning for BRIT’s mission:
• Conservation, with an emphasis on water stewardship and energy efficiency
• Conservation, with an emphasis on materials
• Using biobased products and alternative species of woods where possible
• Making the sustainable design features apparent so that the building can be used as an educational tool that supports BRIT’s mission.
• Targeting LEED certification to a Silver or Gold level. LEED certification, although not an end in itself, would demonstrate BRITs commitment to sustainable design and environmental responsibility
The design process continued with the design team discussion of LEED credits in almost every design meeting through ecological site investigation and planning, space programming and the schematic design phase. Once the design process was underway, these design coordination meetings were held once a week, with face to face meetings with team members based in New York typically occurring once a month. Each meeting typically began with a review of LEED credits; this kept the project’s environmental goals at the forefront of the design team’s attention.
The development of the schematic design, which included investigations of systems, materials and the opportunities presented by the site, was guided by input from BRIT management and staff. The desire for the building to have an educational function was reaffirmed in the programming sessions, as was a desire for daylight in many of the spaces.
At the end of the schematic design phase, as part of a cost check, the building structural system was revised through creative discussions, to provide a very economical solution.
At the beginning of the design development phase the design was confirmed and BRIT directed the design team to aim for LEED Gold certification and to include a vegetated roof over part of the building.
Some of the main sustainable design strategies included in the design include:
• Stormwater management: The landscaping plan includes directing storm water from parking areas, and roads to flow across pervious paving in sidewalks to rain gardens between parking areas. The rain gardens filter and clean the water and the rain gardens overflow to a retention pond. The pond is the source of water for irrigation. The landscape will use many native plants with low water demands to reduce water consumption for irrigation. Rainwater is also collected off roof areas and led to the pond. The pond is topped up during dry periods using ground water from a well that taps into an underground stream.
• Green Roof and Green Walls: One of the two main sections of the building will be covered with an extensive and intensive green roof. This will be one of the first green roofs installed in the region. Research has been done to identify suitable plants for the North Texas climate. Many of the walls of the building will be covered in creepers and vines.
• Reduced Site Disturbance: The building has been carefully sited to preserve as many existing trees on the site as possible. A shared parking arrangement with the Fort Worth Botanical Garden allows for flexible use of parking spaces to minimize the parking areas.
• Energy Conservation: The project will have a geothermal system that uses the constant temperature characteristics of the earth as heat sink in summertime and a heat source in wintertime. The energy model for the BRIT building shows significant savings in energy use compared to a baseline of a building with a DX system. The environmental benefits of this include reduced loads on energy generating plants and therefore reduced emissions.
• Bio-based materials: Bamboo ceilings, cork wall coverings and wool carpets are used in various parts of the design.
Are there other LEED Gold or Platinum certified buildings in the Metroplex?
The USGBC website lists the following Gold and Platinum certified projects in the Metroplex;
The McKinney Green Building in McKinney, TX is Platinum certified.
The Hensley Field Operations Center in Dallas, the Texas Instruments – RFAB Wafer Fab Building in Richardson, The City of Dallas Northwest Service Center in Dallas, the Embrey Engineering Buildng at SMU, Toyota of Rockwall in Dallas are LEED Gold certified.
