high-profile monthly's annual green supplement 2010

December, 2010 1

www.high-profile.comGreen Development News

High-Profile: Annual Green Facilities Developments

Mary M. Hooker Environmental Sciences Magnet School completed

The Sins of (Building Professional) Greenwashing by Barbra BatshalomA Call for Better Green Building Information by Allison FriedmanGo Green by Phillip HorowitzPlus sustainable facility news, events, people, projects and more...

Also Inside:

Nexamp named a silver winner in MassEcon’s Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards.

Dellbrook Construction’s sustainable conversion of the Bourne Mill

Solar Installation LLC installs Spectrum Lighting’s solar array

BCBS of Rhode Island exemplifies advantages of going “green.”

2011 Edition

http://www.high-profile.com

December, 20102

www.high-profile.com Green Development News


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December, 2010 3



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December, 20104



Hello All,We’re excited to present our sec-

ond Annual Green Facility Developments supplement to our High-Profile Monthly readers!

In this year’s supplement we have editorial contribu-tions from some of the most knowl-edgeable green re-sources in the New England A/E/C in-dustry including Rate It Green, the on line community di-rectory resource and portal for the green

building industry, and The Green Round-table / NEXUS, the Massachusetts Affiliate of USGBC.

Since its inception in 1996, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has grown to more than 14,000 projects in the U.S. and 30 countries covering 1062 bil-lion sf of development area! Developed by the USGBC, Leadership in Energy & En-vironmental Design (LEED) is intended to provide building owners (both commercial and residential) and operators a concise framework for identifying and implement-ing practical and measurable green build-ing design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

NESEA’s BE11You will find many companies that

offer services and products to building owners and sustainable building profes-sionals at this year’s BE11, NESEA’s renewable energy conference and trade show at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. Mark your calendars, March 8 thru 11, 2011.

The keynote speaker is lifelong edu-cator and sustainability expert David Orr, offering a unique perspective at the Open-ing Plenary session Wednesday, March 9.

Two highly anticipated offerings by Chris Martenson (Crash Course) and Jason McLennan (Living Building Chal-lenge) are among the new workshops to take place. Workshops receive continuing education units from the following profes-sional organizations: AIA, BOMI, BPI*, InterNACHI, NAHB and NARI.

Trade Show will feature 170 exhibi-tors displaying the products and services that support renewable energy, energy ef-ficiency and high performance building. Those who exhibit are vital resources for state-of-the-art technology and practical applications in the renewable energy and sustainable building industries.

Other highlights of the show in-clude:

Critical training for energy profes-sionals; HERS workshop accredited by RESNET, a Massachusetts Stretch Code workshop, and a Sustainable Communities workshop.

Educators’ Summit; Sixty educa-

tors will engage in focused workshops and network with the multi-disciplinary group of professionals. Attendance is limited to educators and administrators.

High Performance Green Modular; Innovative design using high performance green modular is the challenge presented by the 2011 Student Design Competition. Students of architecture are welcome to form teams to take the challenge.

Hands-on Demonstration Stage; a new hands-on demonstration stage on the Trade Show floor will allow a close up look at best practices in high performance construction and retrofit.

A Special Welcome to Emerging Professionals will offer those who register as emerging professionals the chance to request a one-on-one mentoring session, as well as an opportunity to submit a re-sume and be connected with pre-screened potential employers on the trade show floor.

You can find more information at www.nesea.org

Be sure to visit us at our booth #420 and learn more about how we can help you market your company’s services through a series of articles and advertising!

Enjoy the supplement.Best,Anastasia Barnes

t 617.654.9000f 617.654.9002

160 Boylston Street 3rd floorBoston, MA 02116

Tucson, AZ - The new 54,000sf Student Recreation Center Expansion (SRCE) at the Uni-versity of Arizona is the first collegiate level recreation center in the United States to earn LEED Platinum certifica-tion from the U.S. Green Building Coun-cil, the highest category of sustainable design and construction.

Designed by Sasaki in collabora-tion with M3 Engineering of Tucson, the project integrates passive solar ori-entation, programmed outdoor space, day-lighting strategies, and indoor en-vironmental quality as fundamental properties of the building.

Passive solar measures significantly contribute to the facility’s energy efficiency, including optimal building orientation, daylight and views on the north and south, opaque walls on the east and west, deep overhangs that shade glass and ground surfaces, high efficiency building envelopes, and cool roofs.

The SRCE incorporates high effi-ciency plumbing fixtures, which reduce by 47.5% its water use (compared to the LEED baseline). Passive stormwater har-vesting strategies have been utilized in the landscaped areas, increasing permeability and reducing runoff through the use of in-filtration basins.

Most of the plantings that surround the SRCE have been selected for their abil-ity to thrive in an arid environment. Mate-rials using recycled content make up over 20% of the total value of the materials in the SRCE.

More than 10% of all the materials used for construction were either manu-factured or produced within 500 miles of Tucson. Utilizing local materials not only resulted in fewer trucks traveling fewer miles, but also helped local businesses and local economies to thrive.

SRCE Earns PlatinumDesigned by Sasaki

Student Recreation Center Expansion at the University of Arizona

Anastasia Barnes

Message from the Associate Publisher

P:rovidence, RI - Rhode Island is the first state to adopt the International Green Construction Code (IGCC).

The Rhode Island Green Build-ings Act identifies the IGCC as an equivalent standard in compliance with requirements that all public agency major facility projects be designed and constructed as green buildings. The Rules and Regulations to implement the Act took effect in October.

The IGCC applies to new and existing, traditional and high-perfor-mance commercial buildings. It in-cludes ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1 as an alternative com-pliance requirement.

“The emergence of green build-ing codes and standards is an important next step for the green building move-ment, establishing a much-needed set of baseline regulations for green buildings that are adoptable, usable and enforce-able by jurisdictions,” ICC CEO Rick Weiland said. “The IGCC provides a vehicle for jurisdictions to regulate green for the design and performance of buildings in a manner that is integrated with existing codes as an overlay, al-lowing new and existing buildings to reap the rewards of improved design and construction practices.”

R.I. First to Adopt IGCC

http://www.copley-wolff.com

December, 2010 5



Concord, NH - North Branch Con-struction, Inc. of Concord has completed construction of new workforce housing in Concord. Parmenter Place is a rental com-munity consisting of six buildings with 25 two and three bedroom apartment and townhouse units for a total of 27,600sf.

The wood framed buildings feature vinyl siding, asphalt roof shingles and were built using energy efficient green building techniques. The buildings have received certification from the US EPA Energy Star program and Silver Level Green Home Certification from NAHB Resource Center. Three of the buildings include 2 units each with the remaining three buildings ranging from five to eight units in each. There is also a community laundry room.

The buildings are owned by the Con-cord Housing and Redevelopment Author-ity and were designed by architectural firm Burnell-Johnson of Manchester.

North Branch Construction, Inc., one of the largest construction firms in the state of New Hampshire, has been serving their clients construction needs since 1958.

Providing a level of value, quality and service that is unrivaled in theconstruction industry.

North Branch Construction, Inc.76 Old Turnpike Road, Concord, NH . (603) 224-3233 . www.northbranch.net

Parmenter Place, Concord, NH - EPA Energy Star Certified and Silver Level Green Building Certified by NAHB Resource Center

North Branch Completes Parmenter Place

Recent North Branch projects include additions and renovations of the Sullivan County Community Corrections Center in Claremont, the Dalianis House (conversion of former furniture store into Veteran’s Hous-ing) in Nashua, and the new Windy Hill School at Colby Sawyer College in New London. Current projects in-clude a new multi-purpose building for the Governor Wentworth Regional School District – Kingswood Region-al Schools as well as the additions and renovations of the three schools (vocational, middle and high school) on the Kingswood Regional Schools Campus in Wolfeboro; the new North-east Rehabilitation Hospital in Ports-mouth; and a new DPW Building for the Town of Sutton.

Parmenter Place rental community consists of 25 two and three bedroom apartments.

Interior kitchenInterior living room

http://www.northbranch.net

December, 20106



Newington, NH - Brookstone Build-ers, Inc., construction managers and gen-eral contractors headquartered in Man-chester recently announced that they have been awarded an energy-saving renovation project by the NH Air National Guard in Newington.

The scope-of-work will involve re-placing the site’s central heating plant with more energy-efficient decentralized gas-fired burners, which will be fed by ap-proximately 1 ½ miles of new underground gas lines.

Each of the buildings involved will also be outfitted with roof-top solar-heated

arrays, which will reduce the amount of energy required for hot water. In addition, each of the Air National Guard’s aircraft maintenance hangars will be outfitted with gas-fired radiant heaters, which are more effective for heating open-areas with high ceilings.

Jack Boardman of Brookstone Build-ers is the quality control manager for the project, while David Giovagnoli will serve as project manager. Mario Machado is the site superintendent.

A woman-owned enterprise, Brook-stone Builders, Inc. was founded in 1984.

Air National Guard Green RenoBrookstone Builders CM

Boston - KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm, has received gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for its new 96,000sf of-fices at Two Financial Center.

The six floors of energy ef-ficient, environmentally friendly and customized space serve as KP-MG’s new Boston headquarters.

Jones Lang LaSalle served as construction manager for the project.

KPMG is the anchor ten-ant in the new 220,000sf mid-rise office tower. Two Financial is the first new building constructed in the city’s Financial District since 2003.

To achieve LEED gold status, nu-merous sustainable design features had to be implemented. Water efficient plumbing fixtures and appliances were selected to reduce water use by 40 percent more than

is called for under the Environmental Pro-tection Agency (EPA) guidelines. Highly-efficient light fixtures, lighting controls, and Energy Star rated equipment were used to dramatically reduce energy consump-tion and save operating expenses. Light-ing power density achieved was 25% more

than the LEED standard. More than 90 percent of the

waste typically generated during con-struction was diverted from landfills through recycling and reuse. All new materials have an aggregate recycled content of more than 25 percent, and more than 50 percent come from with-in 500 miles of the job site.

Perkins+Will is the project ar-chitect and AHA Consulting Engineers the engineer.

KPMG’s Offices Earn LEED Gold Jones Lang LaSalle CM / Perkins+Will PA

© 2010 DamianosPhotography.com New LEED Gold certified offices

© 2010 DamianosPhotography.com Interior of KPMG at Two Financial Center

Providence, RI - The major office move from LaSalle Square and 1 Empire Street by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) can boast a very happy side effect: support for 42 non-profit organizations.

After significant advance planning, the move team hit the ground running, spurred by a BCBSRI “community call” to charities they had served in the past.

The move team, led by Walsh Movers, knocked down 1,000 cubicles in record time in order to meet the aggressive schedule. Leading charitable distribution was green-Goat, itself a 501(c)3 and a WBE as well.

BCBSRI helped the team prioritize charities that fell in well with their overall mission – addressing health care needs and helping families stay focused on getting (and staying) well.

The project team had double the or-ders than they had inventory. They found recipients and distributed all furniture in just over two months.

The project entails distribution of un-needed office furniture to local non-profits.

The team began by taking a detailed inventory of the available assets. Once complete, communications went to BCBS’s charity list, and the deluge of wish lists went into in full swing.

Once the initial requests were orga-nized into lists, greenGoat began leading tours of the LaSalle Square building so that prospective recipients could see “the goods.”

Within two weeks, over 100 had perused the floors of the building, making out their orders and waiting for their gift to arrive.

News from greenGoatTons of Furniture Given To Charity

by Phillip HorowitzGiven a choice, most people will

opt to do the right thing. But, particularly in an economy as we face today, far fewer people are willing to pay more to do the right thing.

Until now, the rap on green and sus-tainable construction has been that it’s a lot more expensive than using traditional methods. But, that doesn’t have to be true. Making the decision to go green at the start of construction results in far lower costs that trying to retro-fit later.

It also maximizes the financial benefits of green construction. They include reduced operating costs and higher real estate values. Building occupants also have a healthier and more productive environment, which can result in enhanced rental revenue.

School construction is an area in which green construction is particularly important. One out of every five Ameri-cans goes to school each day, and too many school buildings are unhealthy and not energy efficient. A focus on building sus-tainable schools would preserve scarce re-sources and help promote development of a generation of responsible citizens.

Much of the attention around green construction is focused on energy savings, but it’s also important to remember that wa-ter is another precious resource that’s being wasted at an alarming rate. Water shortages

are generally less severe in our area, but 36 states anticipate shortages in the next seven years. Low-flow toilets, faucets and shower heads also save money and promote a sus-tainable environment.

The United States Green Build-ing Council has the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System to serve as a guide for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of buildings that are healthier for people and profit margins.

By building green, our generation can be remembered as the one that reduced energy and water consumption and left our children a planet in as good or better shape than we found it, all without sacrificing our own prosperity.

Go Green

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December, 2010 7



New York - It’s expected that within 25 years, three-quarters of all buildings in the U.S. will be new or renovated, provid-ing both an opportunity and an urgency to ensure they are environmentally friendly. But getting to that point invites a myriad of legal issues to first consider.

That is the impetus behind The Law of Green Buildings, co-edited by Michael Gerrard, Director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.

“The book provides an overview of sustainable development and green build-ings, including a look at significant laws and regulations that lawyers and clients

need to be aware of when seeking to build or lease a so-called green building,” Ger-rard said.

“Building green is no longer just a good idea, it’s something that potential owners and tenants of certain kinds of buildings expect, and an increasing num-ber of municipalities require.

“However, developers and builders can be confronted with a complex set of rules that may vary widely across jurisdic-tions. Hopefully, the book can provide a blueprint to help ensure new construction projects don’t encounter unexpected road-blocks when going green.”

Keeping Buildings Green... and LegalWaterford, CT - JM

Coull, Inc. (JMC) with of-fices in Shelton is building F.W. Webb’s newest branch facility in Waterford.

JMC has teamed with Design Science architects to deliver the design-build project for April, 2011. Con-struction began in July on the multi-purpose building, which will feature a show-room for F.W. Webb’s plumb-ing supply products, office and self-serve areas and a warehouse.

An important feature of the project is the closed loop hybrid solar-geothermal system, to be used for heating and cooling the facility and for hot water. The state-of-the-art system combines geothermal and so-lar technologies to handle 85 percent of the heating and cooling load for the building.

JM Coull hired Turner Building Sci-ence & Design to advise F.W. Webb on the selection and engineering of the hybrid system. In addition to supporting the com-pany’s “Go Green” initiative, an analysis of the high cost and relative inefficiency of propane (the alternative fuel source in the area) demonstrated the financial wisdom of the choice. Jeffrey Harrison, Turner’s senior vice president and the engineer who designed the system, says F.W. Webb can expect to save $24,000 to $60,000 annual-

ly, depending upon fluctuations in the cost of propane.

Twelve 500-foot earth coupled bore-holes—each of which contains a closed-loop, U-tube heat exchanger—will allow the building to make use of the relatively constant temperatures below the earth’s surface—warmer than the surface in winter and cooler in summer.

Fifty roof-mounted thermal solar pan-els are integral to the system, harnessing so-lar energy and feeding it into the 10,000-gal-lon underground solar storage tank. High efficiency and lower environmental risk- features include the use of a solar panel drain-back configuration using plain water instead of glycol which eliminates the need for efficiency-robbing heat exchangers or glycol additives. A single evacuated tube, high-temperature thermal solar panel will provide domestic hot water.

Coull Installs Hybrid System for Webb Design Science Architects

Rendering of F.W. Webb’s newest branch facility.

Boston – The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) announced grants totaling more than $1 million to sup-port eight new wind energy projects un-der the Commonwealth Wind Community Scale Wind Initiative.

“These grants will help communities and public and private entities across the Commonwealth reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, cut their emissions, and contrib-ute toward Governor Patrick’s goal of 2,000 megawatts of wind power by 2020,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secre-tary Ian Bowles, who serves as chairman of MassCEC’s board of directors.

The awards include two design and construction grants totaling more than 5 megawatts (MW) in capacity, and six feasi-bility studies for wind energy that would to-tal roughly 17 MW in capacity if built. The

eight grants go to private and public proj-ects, including cities and towns. The Com-monwealth Wind Community Scale Wind initiative is a program of MassCEC’s Re-newable Energy Generation division, which is funded by renewable energy charges on electric bills, generating approximately $23 million a year to support renewable energy installations and companies.

The wind projects receiving design and construction grants are in Plymouth and Cohasset. The five projects receiving feasibility awards will support efforts in the towns of Westport, Gloucester, Petersham, Blandford, and Amesbury, and a Spring-field Water and Sewer Commission project that will be on a combination of publicly-owned land in Blandford, Russell, Tolland, or Granville.

Projects Receive $1M in Grants

Why keep a low profile? Ask Anastasia about Green News promotions and discounted monthly rates. Call 781-294-4530 or e-mail [email protected].

Why keep a low profile? Ask Anastasia about Green News promotions and discounted monthly rates. Call 781-294-4530 or e-mail [email protected].



December, 20108



congratulates General Mills of Methuen on its new 110-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array.

Contact Nexamp, New England’s leading turnkey clean energy solutions provider, for a clean energy assessment of your new or existing facility.

Let us help you reduce your energy costs: Nexamp makes clean energy simple and profitable for you.

General Mills’ 110-kW solar PV array is offsetting approximately 55% of the facility’s total electricity use.

energy advisory, construction, & management servicesgeothermal · solar · wind · high-efficiency lighting

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with our partner

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Wellesley, MA - Nexamp has been named a Silver winner in MassEcon’s (The Massachusetts Alliance for Economic De-velopment) Seventh Annual Team Massa-chusetts Economic Impact Awards. These awards celebrate companies from across the state that have made outstanding con-tributions to the Massachusetts economy.

Nexamp works with businesses across the Commonwealth to help them reduce energy costs through clean energy

master planning, projects such as solar power and efficient lighting retrofits, and ongoing energy management.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by MassEcon for our work helping our clients achieve economic development through energy cost reduction, and for our own growth here in the Commonwealth,” said Nexamp President Dan Leary. Nexamp has doubled its employee count from 35 to 70 since the beginning of 2010.

Nexamp Wins Team Mass. Award

Shown here are many of Nexamp’s employees in front of the Nexamp-installed 103-kilo-watt solar array at Osgood Landing in North Andover, where the firm is a tenant.

Willimantic, CT - The S/L/A/M Collaborative, in association with Wil-liam Rawn Associates Architects, Inc., has been selected by the State of Con-necticut’s Department of Public Works as architects for the new Fine Arts In-structional Center on the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.

This 136,811sf facility will con-solidate the visual arts and performing arts programs into a single, distinctive new building and will celebrate the arts in the University’s everyday life.

The Fine Arts Instructional Center is to include space for public gatherings, display of student and travelling art pro-grams as well as three state-of-the-art performance spaces: a 1100-seat audito-rium, a 350-seat proscenium theatre and a 150-seat “black box” theatre. Addi-tionally, it will house support and office spaces, art studios, galleries, computer labs, music instruction/practice rooms, multi-purpose instruction space and a 135-seat Lecture Hall.

This new campus landmark will be designed to the standards of High Performance Building requirements.

For the new Fine Arts Instruction-al Center, The S/L/A/M Collaborative will be providing project documentation

and management, academic planning/programming, building information modeling (BIM), campus planning and landscape architecture, and code analy-sis. William Rawn Associates, Archi-tects, Inc. will lead the design, guiding the client and design team throughout all stages and bringing deep expertise in arts centers.

SLAM is cited among the nation’s Top Design Firms as ranked by Archi-tectural Record, Engineering News-Re-cord, Building Design + Construction, and the American Institute of Architects’ Architect magazine. In addition to the firm’s Connecticut headquarters, SLAM office locations include Boston, Atlanta, and Syracuse. Since its founding in 1976, SLAM has actualized a unique role in the industry as an “inquiry-based practice”, focusing on outcomes-driven environments of excellence for higher education, healthcare, and research.

William Rawn Associates, Archi-tects, Inc. of Boston is America’s lead-ing “Architects for the Arts.” Having designed over 24,000 seats for the per-forming arts, the firm brings expertise in the design of both quality performance spaces and rigorous teaching and re-hearsal spaces for a broad range of top institutions.

S/L/A/M Selected for Fine Arts CenterWilliam Rawn Associates Architects

http://www.nexamp.com

http://www.the-bac.edu

December, 2010 9



Bourne Mills Project, Tiverton, RI

We are proud of our association

with USGBC and The Green

Roundtable.

Together we went back in time

and created something very

special, a historic achievement.

One of the earliest LEED

Certifiable Mill Restoration

Projects in the Country.

We along with TAT and EAF

are pleased to receive ABC

Eagle & Green Awards for this

historic project.

Ed DannBusiness Development Director 536 Granite Street, Braintree, MA [email protected]

781.380.1608

www.dellbrook.com

Tiverton, RI - The Bourne Mill Apartments project involved the adaptive reuse of a historic (1881)

former Textile Mill in Tiverton. This conversion project encom-

passed 186,808sf within seven different buildings, comprising 166 units of mixed income housing. The total project value was $29 million and the project duration was 16 months.

“We enjoy the challenge of the mill restoration process because you are con-stantly assessing the quality of the struc-tures and developing innovative means to address any challenges that arise, said Mike Fish, President of Dellbrook Construction, ”It is satisfying, in this economy, to put a derelict building back onto the tax rolls for its community.”

The project was determined to be a brownfield site and extensive remediation and soil removal was performed at the start of the project.

According to Ed Dann, Business Development Director, Dellbrook Con-struction, “Reusing existing infrastructure, building and site, is the best place to start for sustainable design. The energy that is involved in constructing a new building is so immense that it takes 30 years for the new building to use as much energy as the energy that was needed to construct it.”

Located on a site near public trans-portation, local amenities and services, the project provides preferred parking for al-ternative fuel vehicles, bicycle parking and showers for staff and visitors.

Restoring open space for residents was an important mission of the proj-ect, minimized parking footprints and hardscape allowed for green open space throughout.

Water use reduction, both for the landscape and building, was another criti-cal goal. There is no permanent irrigation installed and through the use of high effi-ciency water fixtures, i.e. showers, lavatory sinks, water closets, urinals, kitchen sinks, and janitor sinks the result was an approxi-mate 50% reduction in water use.

The green initiatives which resulted in cost efficiencies in water and electric usage contributed greatly towards keeping the units affordable.

“This proved to be one of the most challenging rehabilitations of a historic

building that our firm has endeavored to complete, ” stated Betsy Collins, EA Fish Development. “Some of the characteristics of the Mill that we valued in considering its redevelopment into residential use pre-sented some of the obstacles that Dellbrook was able to successfully solve.”

Fish added, “We were able to pro-vide much needed quality affordable rental housing to the community. Additionally, we are proud that we were able to partici-pate in the process of taking this historical 1880 mill, which was once the largest cot-ton mill in the world, and bring it into the current age while simultaneously striving for LEED silver status in the process. This was one of the first LEED certifiable mill conversion projects in the country.”

Dellbrook, EA Fish and The Architectural Team Convert the Bourne Mill

(Above) The 1880 mill was once the largest cotton mill in the world. (Below) The best place to start for sustainable design was reusing the existing infrastructure, building and site.

http://www.dellbrook.com

December, 201010



by Barbra BatshalomIt’s uplifting to read reports about the

increased demand for green building despite the severely reduced demand for building

overall. However, the increased com-petition in the green building space has forced building pro-fessionals to claim expertise in green building and market themselves as such, whether or not they can really deliver on this claim.

As I’ve written in recent posts, our 2010 industry survey and other experienc-es have revealed a significant gap between aggressive marketing and institutional ca-pability. Terrachoice illustrated this last week for products in their excellent pre-sentation on “The Sins of Greenwashing” – today we’re offering our own version of this framework focused on building pro-fessionals.

The Sins of Building Professional Greenwashing:

1. Sin of Fibbing: Stretching the truth, making irrelevant claims. “We’ve been green since the 1970’s,” or “we spec-ify green carpet all the time.”

2. Sin of Over-Reliance on LEED: This happens when building professionals think delivering LEED projects is equiva-lent with delivering sustainable projects. This sin can be thought of as necessary but

not sufficient. Many firms who took our survey (link) said that they had worked on LEED projects but did not have the capa-bility to deliver consistent green design.

3. Sin of Misusing LEED: This hap-pens when projects do design to LEED re-quirements instead of using it as a measure-ment tool. This problem is compounded by the credit-hunting mentality that prevents projects from realizing their full potential.

4. Sin of “Certifiable”: This includes claims such as, “This is a green building because we designed it using the LEED checklist”? Rarely has this claim been verified. In fact, in most projects that have taken this approach, third-party evalua-tions have found the buildings to be non-compliant.

5. Sin of the Leadership Void: This happens when there is a lack of follow-through on promises from leadership. There is no evidence that sustainability is a priority within the organization or a fun-damental approach to design excellence. Without a structure of accountability and a clear message of priority, public declara-tions are meaningless.

6. Sin of the One-hit Wonder: This happens when teams claim that a project is green because they held one kick-off meet-ing that was a green/LEED charrette but did not incorporate integrative design into their project management. The team starts the project with a feel-good focus on sus-tainability, but walk away from the char-rette without a workplan, responsibilities or deliverables related to performance targets. As a result, the momentum dies and the in-tegrative design process disintegrates.

7. Sin of the Status Quo: This hap-pens when teams continue to repeat the tra-ditional linear approach to design but ex-pect a different outcome. Highly integrated building systems require an integrative and collaborative design process, which is it-erative and performance based.

8. Sin of First Cost: This happens when the team fails to look at the life cycle cost impacts of the building or products. Even in the case of public projects, where the capital funds are separate from the op-erating budget, there are critical elements of building systems that require life cycle costing.

9. Sin of Attitude: This happens when the team says “That can’t be done”,

“We’ve tried that and it doesn’t work”, or “It’s too risky.” Bringing a bad attitude to the table makes it harder for the team to deliver a successful project. However, this isn’t nearly as bad as the…

10. Sin of False Representation: This happens when individuals claim that they are “on board” and committed but in real-ity don’t make any efforts to support sus-tainability goals.

Such greenwash may be understand-able from the point of view of the difficult economy, but it prevents clients from un-derstanding a firm’s capacity to deliver sus-tainability services. For example, building owner Doug Noonan says, “Every service provider who comes to us tells us they’re experts in sustainable design and construc-tion. In truth, there’s no way for them to back that claim up.” That is now changing. Companues such as Vanderweil, Shawmut and Goody Clancy are going through the SPI Green Firm Certification program, becoming certified as organizationally ca-pable to deliver consistent, high-quality sustainability services.

As with products, professional greenwash creates the illusion of sus-tainability without actually transforming building practices and projects. But as cli-ents become more sophisticated, they look for professionals and teams that can dem-onstrate measurable, performance-based sustainability. Sometimes, we “sin” out of ignorance or complacency, and sometimes we may be intentionally misrepresenting in order to win a project. The bottom line is that we need to be honest about our level of professional practice and the claims we make (us included). At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is the impact of the buildings we design and if we are con-tributing to a sustainable future.

Barbra Batshalom is executive director of The Green Roundtable/Nexus in Boston, MA.

The Sins of (Building Professional) Greenwashing

Barbra Batshalom

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December, 2010 11



Fall River, MA - Spectrum Lighting in Fall River recently leveraged non-reve-nue generating square footage at its manu-facturing facility by adding a custom roof top solar array supplied by Munro Solar, a Massachusetts leader in clean energy and electrical distribution.

Munro’s solar division designed and provided the components for a 58.8kW solar array at Spectrum’s 120,000sf manufacture, showroom and office facility. The system consists of 299 solar modules panels along with an innovative ballast mounting system which does not penetrate the roof.

By using all the available incentives Munro designed the system with a four year payback. Many of the components used for the solar array are American and even

Massachusetts made such as the Solectria invertors.

The system was in-stalled and commissioned by Raynham based Solar Installation LLC.

“The program as presented by Munro Solar was easy to understand and their expertise and consult-ing installation throughout the entire process has been excellent. The installation is near complete and had no manufacturing or other down time. The installation looks amazing, clean and simple.” Chris Roemlein, President, Spectrum Lighting. Munro con-

tinues to set the standard for new-economy businesses, with offerings such as lighting, water and gas conservation, complemented by solar-electric solutions. The clean en-ergy initiatives that Munro advances are not short term trends but rather emerging sustainability standards.

The nationwide demand for energy efficient lighting has enabled Spectrum to hire and train local Fall River residents and trans-form their 138 year old former mill building and manufacturing facility into a lean energy efficient facility which is great for their bot-tom line. Spectrum’s future plans include an addressable LED lamp retrofit coupled with a daylight harvesting system.

Spectrum took advantage of the roof-

top activities by replacing their aged roof with a white thermoplastic roofing system supplied and installed by CentiMark Cor-poration’s Massachusetts division.

The new white roof system, with one inch R six of insulation, is UV rated which drastically cuts cooling costs and extends the life of the roof. The reflective charac-teristics also enhance the solar arrays per-formance.

These are just a few examples that a facility can implement to directly impact their bottom line while also fostering U.S. job growth and energy independence.

To view the power being created by the system in real time and photos of the installation please visit www.munrodis-tributing.com.

Munro Solar and Spectrum Lighting Confirm the Value of Sustainable Facilities

The system consists of 299 solar modules panels along with an innovative ballast mounting system which does not penetrate the roof.

http://www.munrodistributing.com

December, 201012



Hartford CT - The recently complet-ed Mary M. Hooker Environmen-tal Sciences Magnet School sits on

15 pristine acres near downtown Hartford and is one of the first schools in New Eng-land and the first in the City of Hartford to be designed to the USGBC LEED Gold standard. Designed by Meriden, Connect-icut-based architectural and engineering firm BL Companies, the existing 75,000sf facility was completely renovated along with the addition of 31,000 sf of new aca-demic areas.

The theme of the school is Education in Energy Efficiency and Environmental Responsibility. The ecologically and en-vironmentally inspired spaces include a

greenhouse, a butterfly vivarium for raising and studying live butterflies, an interactive science theater providing a 28-foot dome for the digital projection of astronomical and meteorological educational programs, and an aquatics laboratory with over 60 tanks for the study of both fresh and salt water species, as well as aquaculture tech-niques.

A 3,500-gallon eco-pond located in the school’s main lobby complete with plants, trees and a waterfall provides a complete ecological system to enhance the

educational programs at the school. The entire school facility is used as a teaching tool, including the boiler room, cogenera-tion plant and main electrical rooms, which provide observation windows for the stu-dents to learn about the systems that run their school.

One of the focuses of the school is recycling; the construction materials uti-lized in the project exceed 20% recycled content and 98% of all construction waste was recycled. In addition, two composters

Mary M. Hooker Environmental Sciences Magnet School

Continued on next pageStudents will raise and study butterflies in the butterfly vivarium.

Building Controls

http://www.absddc.com

December, 2010 13



have been provided to process biodegrad-able waste generated by the kitchen and cafeteria.

The City of Hartford challenged the design team to integrate state-of-the-art mechanical systems into this 60-year-old facility to bring it into the 21st century. Among those systems are high perfor-mance features such as a fully integrated digital energy management system with extensive levels of control and monitoring of the interior environment. Interior CO2 levels control the introduction of outdoor air to reduce energy consumption during periods of reduced occupancy.

Photovoltaic panels and a 60 kW co-generation plant provide electrical genera-tion and the simultaneous re-use of com-

bustion exhaust to heat domestic hot water and to provide supplemental heat. Also included are ultra-high efficiency gas-fired condensing hot water boilers and domestic water heaters. High efficiency lighting sys-tems were designed to less than 1 watt per square foot with occupancy, time-of-day, and day-lighting controls to reduce artifi-cial illumination when there is sufficient daylight. Energy savings for the project achieved 10 out of 10 LEED points for Energy Performance and the maximum 4 points out of 4 for innovation in design.

Six acres of the site are designated as an outdoor nature center and trail system used for environmental instruction in an urban environment. This extraordinary site

Continued from previous page

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Continued on page 14

The cafeteria bright with daylight overlooks the outdoor nature center and trail system.

The success of the Mary Hooker School project can be cred-ited to a team of dedicated contractors who approached the LEED process with enthusiasm and earnestness. Without their constant pursuit of regional and recycled materials, maintaining optimum indoor air quality measures, and overall teamwork, we could not have strived to make this school a LEED Gold project. Working with this team was truly a privilege.

-Cynthia M Kaplan, LEED AP BD+C, Assoc. AIA

Program Manager

-

MARY M. HOOKER ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES MAGNET SCHOOL

AS PROGRAM MANAGER, DIGGS CONSTRUCTION

WOULD LIKE TO THANK AND CONGRATULATE THE PROJECT

TEAM ON THE COMPLETION OF THIS SCHOOL.

1010 Wethers�eld Avenue, Hartford, CT 06114860.296.1664 DIGGSCONSTRUCTION.COM

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Mary M. Hooker Environmental Sciences Magnet School · Hartford, Connecticut

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extends the learning experience beyond the walls of the school and enables the faculty to develop a wide-ranging environmen-tal curriculum. The site also includes a bio-swale to provide for the natural filtration and treatment of storm water runoff that is discharged to Cemetery Brook, a natural resource unique for an urban environment.

The Mary M. Hooker Environmental Sciences Magnet School project is just the latest in BL Companies’ academic port-folio to reach completion. Other projects the firm is currently involved in include the Davis Street Arts Magnet School in New Haven, Meeting House Hill Elementary School and the High School in New Fairfield, as well as projects at Southern Con-necticut State University and the University of Connecticut.

Continued from page 13

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An interactive planetarium provides digital projections of astronomical and meteorological educational programs.

Project Team for Mary M. Hooker SchoolOwner: Mary Hooker Env. Studies Magnet School

Architect/Civil Engineer: BL CompaniesProgram Manager: Diggs Construction

EEO/AA Consultant: Nutmeg Planners, LLC.Building Controls: Automated Building Systems, Inc.

LEED Consultant (for PDS): CMK LEEDConcrete Contractor: Division 3 Technologies

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Structural Engineer: Santo Domingo Engineering, LLCLEED Consultant (for BL): Veridian Energy & Environmental

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December, 2010 15



Providence, RI - The new 327,000sf headquarters for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island in down-

town Providence demonstrates the value of a green workplace and achieves signifi-cant and measureable cost savings. Work-ing with Cambridge, MA-based Symmes Maini & McKee Associates and Dimeo Construction, the 1,100-employee health care company fulfilled its health and well-ness mission through the design of its new 13-story headquarters (completed October 2009). The team’s success has translated into high productivity, low turnover and high marks in the form of awards and rec-ognition.

Among the achievements of note:Energy cost reduction

The new headquarters building has reduced energy usage by more than 21% beyond the requirements of ASHRAE 90.1-2004., according to a third party re-view of building systems and benchmark-ing against commercial real estate data. Primary savings come from selection of high performance HVAC equip-ment, building envelope tech-nology, and reduced reliance on electrical power through innovative lighting design and ample use of daylighting Sustainable Interior Design

The building’s interior space is designed as open of-fice floors that benefit from abundant natural light and fea-ture views through the floor-to-ceiling glass curtain-wall facades

Rainwater collection and water recyclingStormwater is collected

from all roofs and drains, and stored onsite; recycled water is used in the building’s cooling towers, and recycled graywa-ter is used to flush toilets and urinals; 20,000 gallons of rain-water are collected, stored and reused, and water savings are 31% over conventional office

benchmarksGreen roofs

Three vegetated green roof areas ease urban heat island effect; 25% of the roof surfaces are vegetated or green roofs

Curtain wallHigh-performance insulated glass re-

duces solar gain in summer and keeps heat inside in winter contributing toward the overall building energy savings. Daylight reaches 75% of interior spaces, and 90% of occupied spaces have exterior views.

TransportationThe new building is within walking

distance of 26 bus lines and steps away from Providence’s commuter rail and Amtrak station. BCBS RI pays for public transit passes; preferred parking for bicy-cles and hybrid cars is provided.

Resource recycling and reuse86% of all waste materials during

construction were recycled; more than 20% of building materials contain recycled

content. An aggressive reuse and recycling program is in place, embraced by BCBS RI employees; compost and recycling sta-tions throughout the building are cutting the waste stream; green-certified furniture is used throughout the building.

Printing ProtocolsPrinting in the building was trans-

formed into a high-tech centralized service, allowing employees to print from their computers to central printing stations. This not only helps keep the insurance provider in compliance with the confidentiality re-quirements of healthcare regulators, it also saves the company significantly compared with cost and paper waste of individual desktop printing

Indoor Air QualityThe ventilation and air conditioning

system serving the building is automati-cally controlled to adjust the amount of conditioned outdoor air to occupied spaces based on occupancy using a demand con-trol ventilation strategy; when occupancy is high, the systems increases the amount of ventilation air as appropriate; when oc-

cupancy is low, the system automatically reduces the amount of outdoor air, thereby saving a substantial amount of energy.

The biggest transformation within the BCBS workplace is in the employee participation and leadership in the new green workplace. Shortly after occupancy, a green educational program was started. Signage was placed in break rooms and the cafeteria regarding what could be recycled and composted. The staff embraced the recycling of paper, plastic and other ma-terials, and the sustainability program ex-perienced its greatest boost with the eager adoption of green practices and programs throughout.

Today, the employees recycle all pa-per, and was recently named the #1 recy-cler among clients of Cintas, the document management company. An estimated 5200 trees are saved annually by the recycling, along with 718 barrels of oil and 2.2 mil-lion gallons of water that would have been required to produce new paper.

“We’ve been amazed at the way our staff has responded to the opportunity for a healthier, more sustainable workplace,” stated Tom Bovis. “As a health and well-ness company, the practices adopted throughout our business are proving to be a powerful contributor to productivity and staff satisfaction.”

BCBS of Rhode Island Exemplifies Green AdvantageSymmes Maini & McKee Associates Architects, Dimeo Construction CM

Exterior view of new headquarters for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island

View of interior lobby

Design/Construction TeamArchitecture/Interior Design: Symmes Maini & McKee Associates

Contractor: Dimeo Construction CompanyMEP/Civil/Structural Engineering: Symmes Maini & McKee Associates

Landscape Architecture: Symmes Maini & McKee AssociatesLighting Designer: Lisa Zidel Lighting Design

Sustainability Team

LEED Consultant: Symmes Maini & McKee AssociatesCommissioning Agent: BVH Integrated Services

Energy Modeling: DMI Inc.

Awards• Providence Business News: 10 Best Places to Work (2010)

• Environmental Design & Con-struction Magazine: 2010 Design Excellence Award (Commercial category)

• CoreNet Global New England: 2010 Best New Workplace Award (Large Building category)

BCBS headquarters at dusk.

December, 201016



Camp Pendleton, CA – Oldcastle Precast was contracted by Synergy Electric to design, engineer and manufacture the precast solar panel ballasted foundations for the more than 6,000 solar panels that cover six acres.

The $9 million NAVFAC solar ener-gy project is located on top of an old land-fill on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton known as the Box Canyon Landfill.

The Camp Pendleton solar project is the Navy’s largest photovoltaic system in San Diego County funded by federal stimulus money. The system will provide almost 1.5 mega watts of renewable ener-gy, enough to provide electricity to power 400 homes.

Oldcastle Precast, manufacturer of precast concrete products, supplied the so-lar precast concrete ballasted foundations to Synergy Electric who was awarded the

contract to construct the Navy’s largest photovoltaic system in existence.

Synergy Electric owner, Diane Kelt-ner, explained that to avoid disturbing the earth, the solar panels will be attached to frames anchored by precast concrete blocks, set in beds of gravel on the ground. She believes the design is likely to catch on, as people realize the panels can be installed without affecting the ground beneath.

Oldcastle Precast’s non-soil penetrat-ing precast ballasted footings that support the solar panel assemblies are designed for use in the most demanding solar panel applications where the panels need to be secured on unstable, environmentally sen-sitive, or impenetrable ground conditions such as landfills, contaminated sites, or in-stallations going in over bedrock.

AECOM is the architect of Record for this project.

Navy’s Largest Photovoltaic SystemFoundations Designed by Oldcastle PreCast

The Camp Pendleton solar project will provide enough to provide electricity to power 400 homes.

by Allison FriedmanI don’t like Greenwashing. Before

anyone gets excited and agrees, let me clarify. I don’t like the term “Green-washing.” We’re at a point where the green building in-dustry is expanding rapidly, and good, clear information can be hard to find. Does it really help to presume that manu-facturers and service

providers are hiding behind trees waiting to jump out and dupe the rest of us with bad information? While I agree that false or misleading claims are not ok, I don’t think this perspective is true or helpful.

Buyers are confused and want better information. But so do manufacturers and service providers. They don’t have credible and affordable ways to reach out, and they aren’t always sure what information is required, which vendor to work with, or what method might be best for finding target clients. Many are also small companies that can’t pay or make the time to apply for the latest and greatest or every certification.

I created an online resource called Rate It Green (www.rateitgreen.com) years ago when I could not find the information I needed. Rate It Green is a directory, peer review resource and online community for the green building industry. I went through a green building learning experience where I struggled to source materials effectively, and I just wanted advice from people who had “been there” and could share some of what they knew. My idea was to help in-crease the amount and availability of green building information. I am still building this resource, and I am eager to add social networking to create the most robust con-versations and content. But this is just one piece of a wider information puzzle.

Advertising materials made up the bulk of green building information when I first created Rate It Green. But today, fed-eral, state, and local regulation have prolif-erated, Rate It Green is now one of perhaps 50 related online resources, and certifica-tion and labeling programs have grown rapidly. Some report that there are over 400 labeling and certification organiza-tions, and my company counts over 1,000 green building information resources in our information resource guide. The FTC is working on revising the agency’s Green Guides, and I hear that Congress is con-sidering Eco-Labeling legislation as well. So, with a veritable flood of information, how do you navigate, who can you trust, and how do you even know what to fairly claim as a manufacturer or service provid-

er? The answer is unfortunately that you often don’t know.

Back in 2007, I attended a meeting at the EPA’s Chicago offices where a group of industry participants discussed what a sus-tainable information infrastructure might look like. This meeting produced so much excitement and hope. We talked about how to drive market change while remaining open and fair to a variety of constituents, and we discussed how regulations might fit together with certifications and labels.

I was surprised to attend a follow up meeting this year around a similar topic. How had so much time gone by? This was a meeting hosted in May by the EPA, Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and GreenBlue to see if it would be advis-able to establish a Green Building Prod-ucts Coalition. At this meeting, companies and information providers expressed their concerns. Potential challenges included

the number of certifications and labels, the changing nature of information and how to educate buyers, the fuzziness of certain measurements, and the lack of funding for an organization that might be able to help. Companies were clear that their budgets were stretched. So how do we reach con-sensus, who makes the rules, and how can such an effort be funded?

I believe there is a call for an orga-nizing body or coalition to organize infor-mation across the green building industry and offer advice to industry members. And that means the creation and funding of a consensus-based body to provide informa-tion and services to companies so they can navigate better and provide better and more organized information. A first step would be to identify the stakeholders in such an effort and invite them all to the table. Next, we need to map out the current space and work to agree on the best environmental and economic outcomes. And finally, the industry needs a real action plan to orga-nize and distribute information more effec-tively.

If we can create better information and resources for both buyers and sellers, perhaps we can reduce misinformation and the use of negative terms like greenwash-ing. We can also let companies get back to focusing on what they should: providing the best green building products and ser-vices. I look forward to working with any-one who wants to be part of the solution.

Allison Friedman is the founder of Rate It Green.

‘I don’t like Greenwashing’ A Call for Better Green Building Information

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U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory

N.Y. - The S/L/A/M Collaborative has been retained by Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC (Manager to Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Depart-ment of Energy) to provide design phase construction management services for a ma-jor science laboratory renovation project.

Called “RSL-II” the project is in-tended to provide newly renovated and modern laboratories, offices and support functions for detector development and en-ergy-related R & D in two separate mission critical laboratory buildings. The work represents 80,000sf totaling $ 31.5 million in direct 2012 construction dollars.

This Construction Management contract continues a relationship between SLAM and Brookhaven, initiated in 1996 with the Laboratory’s 5300-acre Site Mas-ter Plan which created a framework to improve campus organization, locate 23 new buildings, and provide room for continued campus expansion. The Master Plan was most recently updated by SLAM in 2007-2009 with a comprehensive plan for mod-ernization, of which “RSL-II” is a component. SLAM also provided programming ser-vices to Brookhaven for “RSL-II” under separate contract. “Greening” of the U.S. Forest Service’s

northern research stationConn. - Construction Services of

Somerset, Inc. (CSS) was recently awarded the design-build greening and renovation of the U.S. Forest Service’s northern re-search station facilities in Hamden and An-sonia. Selected by the U.S. Forest Service, Eastern Region, CSS will be joined by The S/L/A/M Collaborative as Architect, Code and LEED Specialist and by MEP Engi-neer Consulting Engineering Services of Middletown. Work will involve construc-tion and design for renovation/replacement of existing infrastructure, equipment, and systems as well as the study and potential installation of new equipment and systems. Additional scope may involve investiga-tion of the potential for solar power on both the Hamden and Ansonia campuses, evaluation of energy savings potential for heating and cooling system replacement in the Ansonia Greenhouse and the design of user amenities. The project is funded in whole by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Construction Services of Somerset, Inc., is a subsidiary of The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM).

US Department of Energy’s New CBT Initiative

Nationwide - The S/L/A/M Collab-orative was recently selected as part of a technical expert team led by Hallam-ICS of South Burlington, VT by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Na-tional Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Labora-tory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) initiative.

The Commercial Building Partner-ship targets actual, measured energy sav-ings of over 50% for new construction and 30% for existing buildings. CBP al-lows companies to explore energy-saving design alternatives that may be too tech-nologically challenging or expensive to consider without the doe-funded technical expertise of the national laboratories and national technical expert teams.

The strategies and technologies used to achieve these savings will be document-ed and shared to help improve the efficien-cy of all US commercial buildings-though a concurrent call for projects, agencies are in the process of selecting a group of participants to engage in multiple new and existing building construction projects to create, test, and validate design features.

The CBP objective is to develop a set of energy-efficient, market-ready building solutions that will be deployable throughout the commercial building sector.

SLAM will be responsible for providing lead architecture and design services for the North and South Regions, represent-ing approximately two-thirds of the United States, as a key contributor to a national team of experts in architecture, HVAC, lighting, day-lighting, energy modeling, controls, building auditing and data col-lection, cost estimating, commissioning, refrigeration, computational fluid dynam-ics and renewable energy expertise. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Industry “2030 Commitment” to Carbon Neutral Design and Practice

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently welcomed The S/L/A/M Collaborative as one of 103 firms nation-wide to support the Institute’s “2030 Com-mitment” to reach at least a 60% carbon emission reduction by 2010 and carbon neutral buildings by 2030.

The AIA 2030 Commitment is a vol-untary program for AIA member firms and other entities in the built environment that asks these organizations to make a pledge, develop multi-year action plans, and im-plement steps that can advance carbon neutrality in both design and practice.

Architects are confronting the fact that buildings are the largest single contrib-utor to the production of greenhouse gases and almost half of the total annual produc-tion. In order to reach the goal of carbon neutral buildings by 2030, there is a cru-cial need for design experts, like SLAM, to apply their experience, innovations and talents to current practices that will lead to significant reductions in the use of natural resources, non-renewable energy sources, and waste production.

S/L/A/M Green Happenings

“The CBP objective is to develop a set of energy-efficient, market-ready building solutions that will be deployable through-out the commercial building sector.”

Green News

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Spruce HQ Gets Solar System

A solar array provides electricity for Spruce Environmental Technologies headquarters

Ward Hill, Mass. Spruce Environ-mental Technologies, Inc., an Energy Star® Partner, recently completed the installation of a solar array to provide electricity for its Ward Hill headquarters building. The 78.8-kilowatt (kW) array was installed by clean energy company Nexamp.

For more than 20 years, Spruce, a manufacturer of inline ventilation fans and the parent company of RadonAway; Ac-cuStar Labs; and HomeAire, has been com-mitted to researching and developing new technologies, techniques, products, and services to make the indoor environment a healthier, safer place in which to live.

“With the installation of a system that captures solar energy,” said David Kaptur-owski, Spruce’s Executive Vice President, “Our Ward Hill building will be generating one-third of our electrical needs from the sun. As an added bonus, when Spruce is not using the solar energy generated by our new system (weekends, holidays, etc.) the unused power will be available to National Grid for use elsewhere.”

A Commonwealth Solar Stimulus re-bate for $91,250 helped make the project

more affordable and reduced the payback period.

“Massachusetts is in the midst of a solar boom that is creating the clean energy jobs of the 21st century. By the end of this year, the Commonwealth will see a nearly 20-fold increase in solar installations over what we had when Governor Patrick took office,” said Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles. “I congratulate Spruce Environ-mental Technologies for becoming part of the Massachusetts solar success story.”

“Spruce Environmental Technolo-gies understands the value of clean energy from an environmental and economic per-spective,” said Scott McClintock, Vice President at Nexamp. “We are proud to partner with Spruce on this project to help them reduce electricity costs with solar power.”

The 78.8-kW solar array offsets ap-proximately 137,150 pounds of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of taking 12 cars off the road each year or growing 1,595 trees from seed for 10 years.


December, 201018



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by Paul Hauser, LEED AP and Ryan Haggerty, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP

Providence, RI - Vision 3 Architects of Providence is known for their sustain-able approach to design. Although not ev-ery project the firm designs is designed for LEED certification, Vision 3 works closely with each client to integrate sustainable de-sign elements to fit their unique project and budget goals.

In 2008, Anthony Bodine of Cran-ston approached Vision 3 with an inno-vative idea: to design his new company, Protech Automotive Services, as a “green” auto repair shop on Plainfield Pike in John-ston. Bodine wanted to provide customer, and environmentally friendly automotive services, in a sleek, high-end setting that had a European feel.

“I chose to open a “green” shop be-cause I felt there was no other way,” com-mented Bodine. “The entire automotive industry is going green; the car manufactur-ers, the parts suppliers, collision repair, etc. It’s time that the auto repair industry gets cleaned up. Protech will set the bar, and hopefully other shops will follow. “Green repair” will soon be the new standard.”

A unique building design, Protech’s exterior is built using a combination of black and white, ground face concrete block, where each color defines different programmatic elements within the build-ing. The main entrance features a high-re-cycled content, aluminum metal panel sys-tem prefinished in the company’s signature neon green. The neon green metal panels are also used throughout the building as a complementary accent to the black and white concrete block.

Vision 3 specified a white thermo-plastic polyolefin (TPO) roof to reflect sunlight, and minimize the heat-island ef-fect created by black roofs. This small but significant change in the building design will save Protech roughly 30% in heating, cooling, and ventilation expenses.

Protech’s two oil change bays are located in the front of the building to the right of the entrance. This allows custom-ers quick, in-and-out access. Running along the length of the building are six service bays with glass overhead doors. This, when combined with skylights above each service bay, provides ample natural light. On bright, sunny days technicians can turn off the overhead lighting and rely on daylight. In addition, oper-able windows across from each overhead door allow for cross ventilation and passive cooling on mild days.

As an integral fea-ture of Protech’s sustainable design, Vision 3 specified a boiler that can be fueled by recycled waste oil that is typically discarded. At Pro-tech, all superfluous waste oil is stored in a holding tank where it is pumped to the boiler. Waste oil is filtered and burned as a heat source for the radiant floor heating system.

Protech’s signature neon green color is used with a bright orange, to create a lively and welcoming atmosphere for cus-tomers in the lobby and lounge areas. All interior and exterior paints are specified to

be low V.O.C. In addition, all restrooms use low-

flow toilets and sensor operated faucets to reduce water consumption; and high ve-locity electric hand dryers to cut down on paper waste.

Additional sustainable elements:• A waste management recycling

program was used during construction.

• Lighting throughout the building is energy-efficient.

• Countertops are made from recy-cled glass bottles.

• Protech recycles almost every part or liquid that they replace, including anti-freeze, oil based products, batteries, tires, oil filters, wheel weights, metal parts, pa-per, and more.

Protech Automotive Services’ new building was completed in March of 2010.

“The best part about the design is the transparency, in both green design and automotive service,” remarked Bodine. “From where the customers sit, they can see everything, with no obstructions. Most shops have a waiting room that is separate from the service bays, with walls that block the customer’s view of their vehicle. Our waiting room is separated from the service area by only glass walls. This creates a feeling of trust between customers and em-ployees because nothing is hidden.”

An Autobody Shop that Glows Green

Photo credits: (add) ventures and Bob DiCaprio Protech Automotive Service in Johnston, R.I.

View of Protech’s Service Bays

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December, 2010 19



St Paul, MN - The Institute for Global Citizenship (IGC) exemplifies Macalester College’s mission, showcasing a commit-ment to internationalism and community participation in a building that demon-strates a new standard for energy conser-vation and sustainable design. As a result, the building is a citizen of the world.

The IGC unites three academic units that previously were dispersed across cam-pus: the International Center, the Center for Civic Engagement and the administrative offices of the IGC. Principally a series of offices, workrooms and conference rooms, the program is organized on three floors around a central gathering space.

The design acknowledges the con-servative architectural traditions of a mid-western campus while also embracing oth-er architectural traditions from across the world. The texture and finish of each sur-face responds to solar orientation to create the widest possible array of patterns, tex-tures, shapes and shadows. These patterns change with time of day and the season of the year.

The IGC is the first project imple-mented after the ratification of the college’s 2005 Master Plan. The Plan identified the IGC site as an important gateway to Ma-calester’s campus and link to the St. Paul community.

The IGC is designed to withstand Minnesota’s frigid winters and hot humid summers. A super insulated envelope sur-rounds the workspaces maximizing oc-cupant comfort with individual operable windows, an abundance of natural light and individually controlled radiant heat-ing/cooling panels.

The design exceeds the 2030 chal-lenge’s 2010 goal of 50% reduction, is performing 63% better than the base case energy model, and has achieved LEED Platinum certification. This performance was accomplished by sensibly siting and massing the building, and then designing the high performance envelope. The con-struction cost was competitive with the cost of other high quality campus buildings recently completed in Minnesota.

The low cost of electrical energy

in Minnesota made the payback for pho-tovoltaic systems unfeasible, and the re-gion’s coal-sourced electricity generation made ground-source heat pumps unattract-ive. Instead the greatest efficiencies were achieved by connecting the new building to the campus central utility plant. The en-ergy load of the new building is less than the load of the building it replaced. As an added benefit, LEED process induced Macalester to upgrade their central chiller plant to meet contemporary standards.

As the first project built after the campus master plan, the IGC provides a benchmark for future construction. The design team worked closely with senior administration, building users, and campus facilities in a process that focused on whole building design and measurable results. The resulting thermal performance and oc-cupant comfort are being incorporated into Macalester’s campus standards.

The project team includes Architect: Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc. Cambridge, MA; General Contractor: McGough, St. Paul, MN; MEP/HVAC: vanZelm Hey-wood & Shadford, Inc., Farmington, CT; Structural: BKBM Engineers, Minneapo-lis; Commissioning: Karges-Failconbridge,

Inc., St. Paul; Specifications: Kalin Associates, Inc., Newton, MA; Lighting: Lighting Mat-ters, Inc., Minnepolis; Sustain-able: Energysmiths, Meriden, NH; Landscape: Close Land-scape Architecture. St. Paul; Code: Department of Safety and Inspections, St. Paul; Building Envelope: Thompson & Lich-tner Co. Inc., Cambridge, Ma; Roof: Roof Spec Inc., Minne-apolis; Photography: Richard Mandelkorn, Lincoln, MA.

The Institute for Global Citizenship Unites Academic UnitsArchitect: Bruner/Cott

Interior lobby welcomes students, faculty and visitors. FSC certifi ed American Cherry lines the walls. Floor is composed of recycled glass and ceramic tile.A ‘green’ touch-

screen connects visitors to the building and provides data and educational information on sustainable design around the campus.

Main entry embraces ‘global’ architectural traditions

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December, 201020



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high-profile monthly's annual green supplement 2010

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