PLATINUM PROJECT PROFILE Uga
McKinney Green Building, McKinney, Texas
Completed in April 2006, the McKinney Green Building is a 61,000-square-feet, three-story speculative office building. The facility is projected to reduce energy use by more than 70 percent and reduce water use by 30 percent compared
to a similar, conventional office building. A rooftop photovoltaic system comprises 152 panels that provide approximately 10 percent of the building's electricity requirements. Two cisterns, each with a 9000-gallon capacity, collect rainwater for landscaping use. Nearly 18 miles of underground geothermal well piping and 120 wells in the parking lot will support the groundwater-based cooling system.*
We asked, "What if we estimated that productivity for the occupants in this building would increase by one-half of a percent because of the focus we gave on building occupant health?" We were able to model what the economic value might be for the client. That's been extremely valuable for us. We collectively look at the cost impacts of sustainable solutions and their benefit to the environment. We have printouts that show the expected reductions in carbon dioxide, for example, because of the solutions we're considering.
The tool is used for a number of different things. It helps clients understand the technologies. For developer-led projects, it helps them market the building. Our results showed that productivity far outweighs a lot of the benefits from even the energy side. You can show a client that a building might operate 40 percent more efficient in terms of energy, but if you can make building occupants one percent more productive, or if you can help with retention and recruitment, those benefits far outweigh the other benefits.
You can see that leading companies are all coming to the same conclusions. Highperformance projects must include a strong analytical component that can be used not only to guide project decisions, but to convince skeptical owners that these measures have value in strictly economic terms. Part of the skill set of the integrated designer will have to include strong economic (as well as technical) analysis, as high-performance buildings move into the mainstream.
*HDR [online], http://www.hdrine.eom/13/38/1/default.aspx?projectID=300, accessed April 2006. Katie Sosnowchik, "McKinney Green Building Earns LEED Platinum Rating," iGreenBuild, June 5, 2007 [online], http://www.igreenbuild.com/ed_2876.aspx, accessed April 2008. Curt Parde, "What Makes the Building Green?," Environmental Design & Construction, November 1, 2006 [online], http://www.edcmag.com/CDA/Archives/ 506dd8b741fde010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0_, accessed April 2008.
This page intentionally left blank
Post a comment