Green commercial interiors
Green commercial interiors is a field coming into its own. Most of the focus of green design to date has been on new construction and major renovations of typically large buildings. For example, the average size of LEED-certified buildings is about 110,000 square feet (10,000 sqm).Yet most commercial interiors projects are smaller and take place in a shorter time frame, compared with the design and construction of new buildings. Nevertheless, there are important business drivers for green commercial interiors, shown in Table 6.1.
An additional complicating factor is cost, most landlords have fixed allowances for tenant improvements. A tenant exceeding those allowances must pay for them from its own budget. Despite these limitations, the growth of green
Table 6.1 Key business drivers for green commercial interiors
• Saving money in building operations, particularly if sub-metered
• Shows employees that healthy, productive workspaces are important to the company - aids both recruitment and retention
• Public relations and marketing benefits of LEED certification
• Productivity from improved lighting systems and controls commercial interiors has been robust. Let's look at the LEED standard and consider how an architectural firm might go about marketing these projects.
LEED for Commercial Interiors
The LEED-CI standard version 2.0 has been available for use by project teams since November 2004. Through the first three months of 2007, nearly 600 projects had registered and 110 had been certified, representing a total of more than 30 million square feet (2,750,000 sqm) of tenant improvement projects, or about 52,000 square feet (4,800 sqm) per registered project.1 In a typical building, this size would represent about two floors of commercial interior remodeling.
LEED-CI may affect both new construction and building remodels for new tenants who want to meet the higher standard. For new construction, the USGBC foresees that developers who certify buildings under the LEED-CS standard will also want to specify or recommend that their tenants meet the LEED-CI standard as well. In retail settings, individual stores may want to use LEED-CI as a rating system to assess and advertise their "greenness."
As with LEED for New Construction, LEED-CI follows the same basic five-category format (plus a category for innovation and design process), but with fewer overall credit categories and fewer total points. For example, LEED-CI has only a maximum of 57 attainable points vs. 69 for LEED-NC. In this rating standard, the focus is more on furniture and furnishings, lighting and occupancy controls, overall power use of office equipment and lighting, and other factors that might fall under the scope of a typical tenant improvement process. Figure 6.1 shows the five LEED-CI core categories and their relative weighting.
In terms of professional services, the beneficiaries of LEED-CI are likely to be architects and interior designers first, then also mechanical and electrical engineers advising them on tenant improvements, as well as the green building consultants who will assess the referenced sustainability measures and then document the project. As with LEED-NC, there are points available for using significant amounts of certified wood, rapidly renewable materials, and recycled or salvaged furniture and furnishings.
- A 6.1 LEED-CI credit categories.
In our estimation, LEED-CI is a very workable standard and is likely to see considerable use both in tenant improvements in new Core and Shell buildings and in remodels of existing buildings. The demand is likely to be strong from corporate users who will see an opportunity to pick up some "sustainability" credits and secure the business benefits of productivity and health gains, while not spending a lot more than a traditional tenant improvement project would cost. However, since the individuals at architecture and interiors firms who will have to sell the LEED-CI program tend to be different than those involved in new construction, each interior design firm should have its people accredited under the LEED-CI examination for LEED APs.2
Figure 6.2 shows the 29,000 square foot (2,663 sqm) Haworth showroom in Chicago, designed by Perkins+Will as a LEED-CI Gold-certified project.
- ▲ 6.2 Designed by Perkins+Will, the 29,000 square feet Haworth Chicago showroom is LEED-CI Gold certified. Photography by Bob Shimer, Hedrich Blessing.
With these criteria and caveats in mind, let's look at some of the typical measures that architects and interior designers might use to bring sustainable design principles to a commercial interiors project:
• Location is important, to give employees options other than auto commuting, as is providing bicycle lockers and showers for those who walk or bike. Of course, selecting a LEED-CS-certified building is the best location decision!
• Water use can be reduced by working with the landlord to change out older water-using fixtures for newer low-flush toilets and water-free urinals.
• Energy use can be reduced through re-lamping, better lighting controls and selecting only Energy Star office equipment and computers. A client can work with the landlord to install sub-meters and only pay for actual electricity use, instead of a pro-rated share of total use. Occupancy sensors can turn off equipment when no one is around.
• For materials and resources, look at buying high-recycled-content, locally produced materials wherever possible, including any new furniture. Consider using furniture and furnishings made with agricultural fiberboards, cork, bamboo or linoleum. Specify Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified lumber or composite wood products when possible.
• Indoor environmental quality can be affected by operable windows, use of low-toxic finishes, choice of low-emitting carpets and cabinetry, careful attention to indoor air quality during construction, supplying individual lighting and ventilation controls where possible, and creating view corridors so that everyone can see outdoors from their workplaces. Plants inside the workspace can help clean the air and lift the spirit.
From this brief rendition, it is clear that many professional disciplines can contribute to a LEED-CI project, including architects, interior designers, mechanical engineers, lighting designers, electrical engineers and even landscape architects. Since most projects happen fast, it is important for a firm to do its homework ahead of time and come equipped with standard approaches and specifications that can meet clients' budget and schedule needs.
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