February 2011: Taking the lead in LEED
Taking the Lead in LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED
There are probably only a few electrical contractors who are not familiar with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). However, many of those who are familiar with LEED may not be familiar with all of the advantages and benefits that being involved in LEED projects can provide to their businesses.
LEED, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, is an internationally recognized green building certification system, LEED provides third-party verification that a building was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across metrics related to energy efficiency, water efficiency, C02 emission reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources. Certification is at three levels: Platinum, Gold, and Silver.
Weifield Group Contracting
IEC member Weifield Group Contracting in Denver, Colorado has been involved in LEED projects for a number of years. Its first success story was the Signature Centre in Golden, Colorado, which achieved LEED Platinum and won the 2008 IEC National Award of Excellence in LEED Approved Construction. “After this project, we realized that this would be an important part of business going forward,” reports Preconstruction Manager Jim Dent.
As a result, Weifield Group arranged for several members of its team to become LEED-accredited professionals. “We hired a local instructor to come in and offer a two-day class on LEED Version 2.2,” he states. “She explained the details of Version 2.2 and what the testing policies and procedures were, so that our people could begin to study and become accredited.”
After this, the company began to focus on LEED work whenever possible. “It has been very helpful to us,” continues Dent. “We are now working with LEED Version 3.0, which is targeted even more toward energy savings.”
According to Dent, the biggest challenge with LEED projects is not the technical requirements. “Rather, it is creating a new mindset,” he states. “Some people think of LEED buildings as costing more. However, we explain that, if you build energy efficiency into the design process, the costs are offset.” Recently, Weifield Group was involved in another LEED project – the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Research Support Facility (RSF), also in Golden, a $64 million, 220,000 square foot office facility that houses 850 employees. “This was a design-build net-zero-energy project,” he states. This means that the power consumed by the building would be offset by renewable power on the building footprint and/or the site. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires that all Federal buildings and remodels over $2.5 million will be netzero- energy by 2030. “The Department of Energy wanted the RSF to be a ‘living laboratory1 on how to achieve net-zero-energy,” he adds.
While the building ended up qualifying for LEED Platinum, the main goal of the design team was not LEED certification. Rather, it was net-zero-energy. “LEED Platinum was just something we picked up on the way to net-zero-energy,” he explains.
Weifield Group implemented the electrical and special systems for the facility. It constructed a design-build 13.2 KV infrastructure to support the RSF and future expansions. It also installed electrical for all of the subsystems and helped integrate a 1.6 megawatt photovoltaic system into the building.
To achieve net-zero, the building utilizes energy efficient lighting, daylighting, natural ventilation, wind power, biofuels, and the photovoltaic system. Weifield Group utilized every opportunity it could to reduce energy consumption. “In terms of lighting, ASHRAE 90.1 allows 1 watt per square foot,” states Dent. “With our lighting design, the building is drawing only 0.2 watts per square foot.”
The result is one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world. In addition, Weifield Group won the 2010 IEC National Award of Excellence in LEED Approved Construction.
For Weifield Group, though, this is just the beginning. “Going forward, we are capitalizing on the fact that we have been involved in a net-zero-energy project,” states Dent. “Because of this experience, it sets us apart in our market and provides us with opportunities that might not otherwise be available.”
“We are also taking our best practices from our ground-up construction LEED projects, and going to existing structures to do energy assessments,” adds Karla Nugent, vice president of business development. “We can then make recommendations on energy efficiency opportunities. They may not be able to achieve LEED certification, but they will still obtain energy savings.”
Article by William Atkinson
Read the full article in InSights Magazine, January/February 2011 http://www.ieci.org/