CREJ - Property Management Quarterly - October 2017
Green building is becoming more prevalent in the industry. Colorado is a leader in sustainable building innovations and practices. The state ranks in the top 10 states for LEED building. The state also is a leader in the movement toward net-zero energy districts as a partner of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Communities Alliance. Net-zero energy districts comprise a group of net-zero buildings that generate as much energy as they consume over the course of a year. Yet net zero is only one aspect of sustainable building. • The Living Building Challenge – net zero times 10. The Living Building Challenge is the world’s most rigorous sustainable building certification program. Developed as a standard for creating advanced sustainable buildings, certified Living Buildings are integrated with the environment from top to bottom, inside out. A building’s design, materials, resources, location and purpose must meet the highest standards to be certified as one. The Living Building Challenge program is comprised of seven performance areas – place, materials, water, energy, health and happiness, equity and beauty. Called the Petal Certification, each “petal” has a stringent set of standards and requirements. Architects and builders are required to achieve at least three of the seven petals to receive certification. One of the three petals must be the water, energy or materials petal. The water petal requires that 100 percent of the Living Building’s water needs must be supplied by captured precipitation or other natural closed-loop water systems, and/or by recycling used project water. Water must be purified without the use of chemicals. The energy petal requires buildings to rely solely on renewable forms of energy and operate year-round in a safe, pollution-free manner. The Net Zero Imperative states that 105 percent of the project’s energy needs must be supplied by on-site renewable energy on a net annual basis, without the use of on-site combustion. Projects must provide onsite energy storage. The materials petal requires the building meet indoor environmental quality standards. Traditional building materials are responsible for many adverse environmental issues, including personal illness, habitat and species loss, pollution and resource depletion. The materials petal requires building materials to be nontoxic and have zero negative impact on human and ecosystem health. Builders must certify that all materials used – from fixtures to wood finishes to wiring – are free of intentionally added chemicals or materials. The Bullitt Center in Seattle is the first urban infill commercial building to receive Living Building certification. Net-zero energy, net-zero water, onsite treatment of sewage and the use of toxic-free building materials are just some reasons the building is innovative. To achieve the Net Zero Imperative, the Bullitt Center’s 575-panel rooftop solar power system generates as much electricity as the building requires in a year. Heat is generated via 26 geothermal wells beneath the center. The root-like wells dive down 400 feet below the ground surface to create a ground-source heat pump and in-floor radiant system. Concrete flooring embedded with radiant tubes run through the building at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, warming the building in the winter. Five heat pumps help keep the building thermally comfortable throughout the year. • Concrete flooring: Nature’s green foundation. Most netzero buildings install concrete flooring, and for good reason. Concrete is a sustainable building material that meets Living Building Challenge indoor environmental standards as well as the Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. Thanks in large part to the advances in concrete flooring product formulas, low volatile-organic-compound concrete flooring contributes to clean indoor air quality. Additionally, concrete flooring embedded with tubing can provide economical, nontoxic space heating and cooling. Concrete-radiant floors reduce energy requirements by as much as 60 percent. Whether a space is a remodeled warehouse, apartment building or modern office, concrete flooring not only meets LEED green standards, but also concrete floors can be the basis of a design direction. “Many white-box projects we service require removing carpet adhesives from concrete floors,” said Mark Marone, general manager of Custom Concrete Prep and Polish. “Architects, designers and space planners often ask us to grind and seal the exposed original concrete flooring. This creates LEED certified flooring and a natural palette onto which unlimited decorative design options may be applied, such as microtoppings.” Applying a high polish or decorative microtopping to an existing concrete floor can transform the entire space, all while meeting Green Building Council’s LEED requirements, he said.