Green building takes over 1821 Blake St!

USGBC Colorado is very excited at the news that our good friends at YRG Sustainability Consultants will be moving in across the hall from us here at 1821 Blake Street. This means that as much as a third of the square footage in the building will be leased by sympathetic companies - USGBC Colorado and YRG on the third floor, and Shears Adkins on the ground floor.

YRG and USGBC Colorado are intimately intertwined - YRG staff have served on our Board of Directors here in Colorado (and at the national level), volunteered on numerous committees, and are of course contributing LEED consulting services to this project.

In addition, many of our long-term plans will require the buy-in and cooperation of the building's owners - whether it involves upgrading the central plant, changing how operating costs are allocated to tenants, or adding renewable energy to the roof.

So, come on down to 18th and Blake - it's going to be the new hot spot for historic green retrofits in downtown Denver!

Behavioral Controls or Just Behaving

There are a couple of fundamental themes that keep running through my green building world right now.

The first can be summed up quite simply as internalizing the externalities. If we took into account the cost of the human health impacts of mining coal, the cost extracting the coal, moving it to the coal fired plant, burning the coal, the cost of the added air pollution on the environment and human health, etc. etc. we'd be paying a great deal more for our electricity.

The second theme is really a debate we keep having in the context of our office renovation. To what extent do we want to emphasize the importance of human behavior, versus using automated controls to such a degree that we as building occupants don't need to think about our environment at all.

This afternoon and into the evening we were discussing plans for lighting design and daylighting.When the conversation turned to controls, we started exploring the functionality of a potential system, a cutting edge system that can be controlled on site, via the internet - I could turn lights on and off just for kicks when I'm traveling to the farthest ends of the earth - they've probably already developed an app for that. It allows for constant data collection and monitoring of energy use, the wiring and zoning is completely different than a traditional set up - it's really really cool.

And yet - the question came back around to what are we trying to accomplish with this renovation project? This super slick system is really expensive - and while we would only use the system if it were donated, that is still a factor we need to consider. 

We want to strike a balance between demonstrating the easily achievable and affordable strategies to green an office with the up and coming cutting edge technologies of the future. We want to be able to monitor and measure the impact of our work over time. Most of all, we want to use the space to educate the community about green building and sustainable work environments.

And it's important that in some ways, our actions continue to matter. Maybe we decide that we want the computer to turn the heat up when we're getting off the bus on the way to work, but we'll be the ones manually turning the lights on or off, or opening the windows, or adjusting the shades.

Technology is critical to the impact green buildings have on the built environment - but humans matter too.

Energy and Atmosphere & Embodied Energy

We had our first energy & lighting team meeting this morning, after a 3 or 4 week break to allow team members to do some research and analysis on the various strategies we're considering as we work towards LEED CI Platinum Certification.

Aleka Pappas from Group 14 Engineering (formerly know as Enermodal) came with the preliminary results of her energy model, an effort that was helped by a building system tour with the landlord a couple of weeks ago. Based on her preliminary analysis, the top three issues we have to deal with are heating, cooling, and interior lighting - which is no surprise.

We have already been brainstorming for a couple of months about potential heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting strategies, and the energy model is providing us with invaluable information as we start to identify preferred strategies based on reaching our environmental and education goals. We also continue to mull over the balance between pragmatic and cutting edge systems, first cost and long term financial payback, and of course who we can get to donate specific systems and installation support!

Thanks to Group 14 Engineering, we are also able to contemplate conducting a project embodied energy assessment on at least some elements of our project. This morning we had a preliminary conversation about what this might mean, an interesting dialogue since this takes place more often in new construction using the Athena Calculator, a tool which is focused on the building envelope.

Our project scope is limited to our office space, and so we are doing some creative thinking about how to define the scope of an embodied energy assessment in that context. We're starting to think we'll explore two main questions. The first is the embodied energy savings from moving into a historic existing office space compared to moving into a new building. The second is to look at the embodied energy in specific products and systems, for example the lighting, windows, HVAC system, flooring, furniture, etc. Lastly, there is an interesting question about integrating this assessment into the tenant improvements versus into our ongoing operations.

Quote of the Day: Daylighting

"Daylighting is incredibly unreliable at night." Michael Mutmansky, Clanton and Associates

Welcome to Enermodal

We'd like to welcome our newest partner to our LEED CI project team!

Enermodal Engineering is now working with us to perform energy modeling on the project. Even though the space is small, their analysis will provide invaluable information to help guide decisions that we make pertaining to the energy performance of our headquarters. Enermodal also has someone on staff who conducts project-wide embodied energy assessments, and we're hoping that that can be a part of our project.

Lighting Design, Living Walls, Cabinets, Appliances - oh my!

I have fallen behind in staying up to date on this blog, because we were all really engrossed with the actual nuts and bolts of moving! Suffice it to say that while our office will remain a work in progress, we are fully up and functioning in the new space and have been for about three weeks. We've already thrown our first small gathering, have hosted a number of meetings, and have had several partners contemplate moving in with us. Actually, more than one member of our staff threatened to give up their home and sleep at work - something that is not sustainable from a social sustainability perspective.

So much has happened on the greening of the office front as well since last I blogged - so I want to give a brief overview of some of what's in the works.

Most recently, two companies are helping us make the kitchen something truly spectacular. Whirlpool is on board to help us create an ecokitchen - a model kitchen for businesses and homes alike. We're still finalizing the specifics, but Whirlpool in general has made a substantive commitment to green building and energy efficient appliances, and we're very excited to partner with them.

These new appliances will be complimented by products from one of the more amazing companies Annette and I have come across in a while - the Denver-based custom frameless cabinet manufacturer General Casework. General Casework builds sustainable cabinets using materials that contain no added urea formaldehyde (NAUF) and come from plants that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). And their manufacturing facility is one of the greenest, healthiest, and cutting edge shops Annette and I have come across. 

Many thanks to the Colorado Chapter's Residential Green Building Advocate, Sean Smith, for introducing us to the team at General Casework. And we're hoping that Sean takes on installing the cabinets for us when they're ready! (You can also see Sean in his starring role on HGTV's Professional Grade - we're still waiting for our shout-out on national TV).

Our LEED / Energy / Mechanical team has coalesced around a core group representing some of Colorado's finest firms. M.E. Group is providing enhanced commissioning, MKK Consulting Engineers & RMH Group will be providing mechanical & energy design services, and YRG Sustainability Consultants are providing LEED consulting services. We are in the early stages so far in this endeavor, but the current focus is on the two ugly, loud and inefficient fan coils (one on each floor). And the effective, low-tech solution of ceiling fans upstairs and down (I'm still looking for a sponsor-source for these).

A related effort has to do with lighting design. We are very fortunate to have one of the nation's leading firms working with us to develop a comprehensive lighting design strategy - addressing both daylighting and the electric lights. We had a wonderful preliminary conversation with Clanton & Associates and are looking forward to this particular collaboration. My favorite part of our initial meeting was when Gregg Adams asked which was more complicated - exploring lighting design or setting up a phone system with Qwest. I'll let you guess what my answer was.

Another exciting development is our partnership with Bristol Botanics, the largest independently owned foliage company in Colorado. Those of you who know me well know that I used to dabble in forest ecology, and plants are near and dear to my heart. We're several steps closer to having an interiorscape and exteriorscape, complete with at least one living wall - hopefully constructed out of donated Woolly Pockets. This very cool product is a modular customizable living wall system. 

Of note from a sustainability perspective, plants help not only with the ambience and indoor environmental quality, but chosen correctly can help remove VOCs from the air. They also have some acoustical properties which are of great interest to us, in particular in the upstairs meeting area.

The journey continues! Please come visit us if you're in the neighborhood, just call first to make sure that someone is there to show you around. Our new phone number is 303-292-6180.

We've moved in!

Ecofriendly Cabinetry

We are excited to welcome General Casework to the list of companies supporting the greening of USGBC Colorado's new headquarters!  General Casework manufacturers eco-friendly cabinets for cabinet shops and end users, and is based right here in Denver. Steve Johnson, the company's President, has generously offered to donate new cabinets for our kitchen and one of the bathrooms.

General Casework is committed to sustainable practices in their manufacturing. Many of the products we use inside homes and offices are significant sources of indoor air pollutants.  Many materials used in the manufacturing of typical cabinets such as particle board off-gas formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

General Casework exclusively uses materials that contain no added urea formaldehyde (NAUF), and plants that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Examples of some of the products and strategies used by General Casework include:

• NAUF particle boards and medium density fiberboards
• NAUF veneer core plywood
• Man made veneers and laminates
• Using low VOC water based and 100% Ultra Violet coatings
• Water based glues and contact cements with little to no VOC and carry a GreenGuard certification

For more information, you can visit General Casework's website. 

Water Efficiency in Our New Office

Our new fixtures and commodes were installed on Friday! As expected, they dramatically outshine the existing countertops and cabinets - a situation which we are hoping to remedy soon! 

 

Each of the donated Kohler products will help USGBC Colorado achieve a high degree of water efficiency within our offices. The relevant LEED credits have not yet been calculated, but this will help us with both the Water Efficiency section and the Regional Credits under Innovation and Design.

GBCI Waived LEED Registration Fee!

Today we officially signed up our new headquarters as a LEED Registered Project for Commercial Interiors! GBCI generously waived the registration fee, saving us $900.

We had a team meeting yesterday and walked through the scorecard - it is definitely possible that we'll be able to achieve LEED Platinum!

Professional Photographer Documenting Progress

Many thanks to Marcus Farr for his willingness to help the Colorado Chapter document our progress as we green our new office space. Marcus stopped by during the American Clay Advanced Applicator Training and took a bunch of photographs for us.

Marcus is one of those people in our community who has worn many different hats: architect, landscape architect, architectural photographer, and most recently Principal in a new venture called Wetland LLC, a company that specializes in the design, planning and construction of water and landscape environments throughout the world.

Expect the Unexpected: Historic Buildings, Carpet Tile & Acoustics

Rule number one: expect the unexpected.  Rule number two: even the experts never stop learning. Rule number three: be prepared to try new strategies to meet the demands posed by the former and to foster lifelong learning opportunities presented by the latter.

1821 Blake Street is a gorgeous old historic firehouse in Lower Downtown Denver.  The tenants are attracted to the classic brick warehouse architecture in the neighborhood, and to the historic elements that are preserved in the building itself. Archival photographs documenting firefighters from the late 1800's adorn the entryway, and an antique horse-drawn fire "truck" hangs from the atrium at the center of the building. And  of course the tenants love their exposed ceilings.

There are several obvious acoustic challenges already: we will be using an open floor plan, and the building boiler & chiller are directly above one corner of the office. The upper level which will house our conference table is not closed off and the walls are not going to help muffle our raucous meetings. We're already looking at acoustic wall treatments, isolation pads, and acoustic strategies to mask noise throughout the office.

The exposed ceilings throughout the building, it turns out, lead to another interesting challenge. To prevent the office below us from having to be exposed to too much of our noise, the owners have established stringent requirements for flooring material in terms of acoustical ratings.  The manner in which InterfaceFLOR carpet tiles are typically installed (e.g. without a traditional rolled out carpet pad) works perfectly well in most settings - but don't meet the acoustical requirements as set by the landlord.

Our dear friend from InterfaceFLOR, Rob Luedke, is looking into potential strategies to meet the landlord's requirements and allow us to use the beautiful carpet tiles we've picked out.  It's actually exciting (assuming that it works out) because it will be a strategy that he hasn't used before, and if it works could be a workable and sustainable approach for tenants improving spaces in similarly challenging spaces.

Resources on Acoustic Comfort - Here are a few that I've found (let me know if you have more!): 

Acoustical Society of America

Acoustic Comfort article from the Whole Building Design Guide

Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers - Noise & Acoustic Management SECTION 01 57 19.12 (SECTION 01353)

Day One, American Clay Advanced Applicator Training

Organizing the tenant improvements and coordinating the move has already become the major whirlwind in my life. You could probably say that it's a stronger force then the hurricane force winds we've been having lately up and down the Front Range. All that to say, it's pretty incredible to me that work has already begun on our new office.

Our interior walls are being finished as part of a three-day American Clay Advanced Applicator Training (see previous post from 5/18/2010). The training began on Tuesday, after a frenetic process of educating the landlord about the product, getting approval, and ensuring that all the requisite insurance was in place.

Before the training even started, our space was transformed! Here are some photos from day one of the training - call them the "before" shots. We'll have more photographs tomorrow - and you can experience the transformation of the space. It's going to be beautiful. And don't worry - we're not going to cover up the gorgeous original brick walls.

American Clay Advanced Applicator Training, Day 1

 Deborah Hall - Owner of Hall's Walls & American Clay Trainer

Herman Eppinghaus, Hall's Walls

Laurie Hessemer, Owner, Casa Verde Paint

Training participants looking at their practice walls

American Clay before mixing

M.E. Group to contribute Fundamental Commissioning!

Our friends at M.E. Group have offered to do the fundamental commissioning on our new building! Fundamental commissioning is a prerequisite for the Energy and Atmosphere category under LEED.

As discussed on M.E. Group's website, commissioning of existing buildings (otherwise known as retro-commissioning or re-commissioning) is an important tool in ensuring the performance of a building over time. It helps building owners realize cost savings, and helps facility managers make the case for increased maintenance and energy efficiency improvements.

The resulting report it identifies both low/no cost implementation strategies and capital intensive facility improvement measures. 

Our landlord is not familiar with commissioning - yet.  In addition, because leases at 1821 Blake Street are all modified gross, the owners pass through the operating costs of the building to the tenants and so won't directly benefit from the cost savings that would result from commissioning.  

 The first step will be to educate them on what commissioning involves and the benefit to the entire building, and  to make a case for the benefit it will have to the owners' bottom line. They will need to give us permission to access the building-wide systems - so the process of building a strong relationship with the owners will be critical.

Commissioning Resources: 

Building Commissioning Association

Urban Office Food Production

One of the things we're most excited about at our new office is the roof deck. Yes, we're looking forward to watching the festivities before and during Rockies home games, and to hosting small receptions during the summer. 

The deck provides us with a great opportunity to literally green our space with plants. We will be talking later in June to our friends at GROWWEST about installing a demonstration green roof.

We're also looking forward to growing some of our own food for consumption in the office. 

Imagine a row of tomato and cucumber plants growing upside down around the bay windows in Topsy Turvy planters - providing local produce, shade, and a nice view for board members during meetings. Imagine a mini-greenhouse in a spot touched by the winter sun, allowing us to grow salad greens year round. Perhaps some day we'll be able to have a mini-chicken coop, with hens producing eggs and fertilizer for our plants. 

Greening our office space isn't just about sustaining the external physical environment. It's also about creating a healthy, life-sustaining space for our employees, volunteers, and other visitors. 

As an aside, still related to the roof deck, we are looking for sustainably-built patio furniture that can either stay put in a stiff breeze or can be easily folded up and stored.  If you'd like to help us out with this particular item from our wish list, email Deb.

Some Rooftop Garden Resources: 
City Farmer News (Blog out of Vancouver, Canada)

Denver Urban Gardens

Urban Agriculture:A Guide to Container Gardens (Technology for the Poor)

Urban Farming, a Bit Closer to the Sun (Marion Burros, NY Times, June 16 2009)

Urban Rooftop Farming will Save the World (a blog entry by No Impact Man)

Some of my Best Friends are Designers

I am not an architect, an engineer, or a designer. I know what I like, but need to have people with a more finely tuned aesthetic to take the lead in creating a professional, sophisticated, creative, vibrant, and sustainable home for the USGBC Colorado Chapter. Fortunately, we are blessed to have so many talented experts in our community, who are not only willing to help me out - but excited to work on this project with me.

Annette Stelmack and I met yesterday with friends from Casa Verde Paint, InterfaceFLOR, and Haworth, to pick out products and color schemes.  I can't tell you how fun it is to work with people who are passionate about their products and pick carpet and furniture without concern for a tight budget - due entirely to their generosity and commitment to our mission.

Haworth has been incredibly kind to the Colorado Chapter for over two years now, bringing Pear Commercial Interiors on to provide space design services and to consult on color schemes, and even providing movers and installers. If you've visited us in the last year, you may have relaxed in one of our "Hello" lounge chairs, or worked in one of our Certified Cradle to Cradle Zody Chairs. This will be the third office that they have donated sustainable furniture to the Colorado Chapter - each time incorporating our existing furniture into the new layout.

If you'd like to contribute your expertise, enthusiasm, or donate products, please track our "Green Office Wish List" on the Home Page of this blog.

Casa Verde Paint & Hall's Walls Using New Office as Applied Learning Opportunity

USGBC Colorado is working with Casa Verde Paint to host an upcoming workshop providing training for application of award-winning American Clay Earth Plasters in its new office space. The 3-day Advanced Applicator Training in Denver from May 25-27 is open to professionals in the design/building industries.  Participants will help green the new offices of  USGBC Colorado, and learn how to create a beautiful and sustainable space using American Clay Earth Plasters

The all-natural interior finishes – which have received Best Product accolades from Architectural Record and BuilderNews, as well as Outstanding New Green Product from NAHB – are chosen as often for their beauty, ease of application and longevity, as for health and environmental reasons. 

Offering more than 40 standard colors, unlimited custom colors, and a wide range of textures, American Clay is available in the original adobe-like Loma, super smooth Porcelina, reclaimed shell Marittimo and new single coat Enjarre.  As zero VOC products, there is no off-gassing and no inherent waste on-site when using American Clay.  Moreover, the plasters are non-flammable, mold resistant, sound absorbent, humidity buffering and low maintenance, giving additional masonry mass to interiors walls and ceilings.  The clay also produces negative ions that, according to experts, counteract the negative effects of positive ions produced by electronics.  American Clay plasters earn up to seven points in LEED certified projects.

During the workshop, participants will learn everything about American Clay Earth Plasters, from basic installation to advanced design techniques, manipulating the clay in a variety of circumstances and with a wide range of creative ideas.  The class includes learning about clay plaster textures, blending, sealing, application, mixing colors, recoating and repairs.  Attention will be given to specifying projects, as well.  This workshop will be taught by Deborah Hall and Herman Eppinghaus of Hall’s Walls, owners of a successful interior finish business and leading national trainers for American Clay products.

For more information about the training, please contact Casa Verde Paint at (303) 717-6337 or info@casaverdepaint.com.

Links: 

American Clay

Casa Verde Paint

Greening Our Lease

USGBC Colorado launched a Commercial Real Estate Initiative last fall, intending to integrate the various players in that sector with the goal of greening the entire system.  This initiative is pulling together architects, general contractors, developers, tenant representatives, property managers, academics, and a few brokers to jump start this effort.

It is in this initiative that some wonderful attorneys have started to get involved with our Chapter.  There are some fascinating legal issues that start to come up around green building contracts, building performance, emerging technologies and products, and green leases.

It is one thing to begin to understand the issues and complexities from a theoretical perspective. It's quite another thing to put things into place on the ground.

Our new landlord is excited to have us, they love what we do and are about. But they have no experience with doing green building, and are a little tentative about making binding contractual agreements that might have a financial or legal impact on them down the road.  So a major part of our relationship moving forward is going to be about developing relationships and doing some owner education.  Which is exciting - it's all part of our mission.

When we started negotiating our lease, I brought in Paul Means from Davis Graham & Stubbs, a local attorney who has volunteered with the Chapter and who has a particular interest in green leases, to help with the process. 

Some of the critical elements were set in place before the lease negotiations started.  Specifically, we agreed to take the space as is, without tenant improvements, for two reasons. First, it helped us negotiate a significantly lower lease rate. Second, it allowed us to ensure that any of the TI is done as sustainably as possible - and already a number of sustainable product manufacturers have committed to donating products & services to the Chapter.

In addition, while most of the building operating expenses are building-wide and passed through to tenants, the electricity in our office is sub-metered, allowing us to measure the impact of our energy efficiency improvements, and directly benefit financially from those investments.

The basic goals going in to the negotiation were:

1. Set a collaborative and mutually respectful tone to both the lease negotiation and our working relationship with the owners and the owners representative
2. Ensure that nothing in the lease would prohibit us from seeking LEED for Commercial Interiors Certification - for example, we wanted to be sure to have access to the building systems so that we could do fundamental commissioning (LEED CI E and A Prereq 1)
3. Establish a basic and soft commitment from the owner to not inhibit our efforts to green our office, and to (at no cost to them) be open to greening the building over time
4. Establish transparency in the overall building operations - for example, being able to access historical and future utility & water bills for the building

While the overall tone of the negotiations (still ongoing as of this post) is really positive, the actual process of greening our lease in a significant way can be summed up in a comment written by Paul earlier this week: "Now you see why I call green leasing still more aspiration than practice right now."

We had attempted to include a green building section to one of the addenda to the lease. As of this writing they have all been stricken from the lease by the owners, out of fear that they'd be committing themselves to unknown and potentially significant cost.

That is where we are at this point in time. Ultimately it looks like we have the foundation for a great  collaborative relationship, the interest of the owners in our efforts, and possibly a few of the key things that we were looking for.  In the new publication released by USGBC, "Green Office Guide: Integrating LEED into your Leasing Process", they wrote something which is incredibly appropriate and reflects our current green lease reality: 

"Especially when dealing with a landlord who is not very experienced with LEED and the greening of tenant space and building operations, tenants (especially small, nonanchor tenants) must be careful not to scare off potential landlords by requiring all the green lease clauses in this guide. Using a collaborative approach to lease negotiations requires give and take, and it is nearly impossible to incorporate every green lease clause in any transaction."

Stay tuned for the final outcome of our lease negotiations.

Green Lease Resources:
Green Office Guide: Integrating LEED into your Leasing Process (USGBC)
 The Real Property Association of Canada
BOMA Green Lease Guide
Energy Efficiency Lease Guidance

USGBC Colorado is Moving!

Two and a half years ago, the Colorado Chapter moved into the Alliance Center in Denver, CO - a multi-tenant non-profit center operated by the Sustainable Alliance for Colorado. This has been a wonderful home for us as we've increased staff 500% (from one to five), expanded our geographic reach, and launched new programs and initiatives.

Along with the green building movement in Colorado, we've grown rapidly - so rapidly that for the second time we've outgrown our office at the Alliance Center.

Beginning in the winter of 2010, I began looking for new office space in Denver, ultimately settling on a wonderfully creative space in LoDO, in a converted brick historic firehouse. The building is not LEED Certified, nor is the office (yet) - but as a hundred year old building it is sustainable by definition.

This blog will chronicle our efforts to secure the space, negotiate a green lease, educate the owners on green building, green the space on a minimal (a.k.a. zero) budget, and create an educational resource for the green building community in Colorado and around the country.

If you'd like to contribute to our efforts, offer comments or suggestions, or visit us once we move in, please let us know. We'll keep an updated wish list on this blog, as well as questions and topics for discussion.

All the best,

Deb Kleinman
Executive Director
U.S. Green Building Council Colorado