At SoL – Harris/Day, a conscious effort is being made to educate clients and one another on the importance of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™). In fact, the firm is an active member of the US Green Building Council and currently has four, fully accredited professionals on staff that have successfully completed the LEED™ 2.0 examination.
When most people think of “green” buildings, extreme and costly measures come to mind such as gardens on roofs or solar panels. Green building is actually about doing more with less when it comes to resources, which can actually translate into cost savings. An example of this is designing a building that uses more natural light because of how it is oriented on the site, where the windows are placed and how the ceiling is designed. Efficient designs are then utilized to create a better-insulated building. This results in lower electric lighting levels, lower electricity usage, lower natural gas usage and a smaller heating/cooling system. All of these items do two things: they conserve the environment and save money for the building owner.
More than 50% of the energy used annually in the United States is consumed by building operations. LEED™ Accredited Professionals have the knowledge and skills necessary to design within the LEED™ rating system’s requirements, resources and processes.
“We’ve incorporated a number of green principles into recent building design projects such as the Jackson YMCA and Hibernian Club,” said Matt Sutter, AIA, LEED™ AP, and firm Principal. Sustainable design elements included in the YMCA project were: natural lighting, sun shading, a light colored roof to reduce cooling costs, high efficiency heating systems, high efficiency glass, water and lighting automatic controls. In regards to the Hibernian Club project, storm drainage runoff swales were incorporated into the design to help lower impact on local streams and erosion.
State and Federal Grant programs are now in place for Business Owners for solar energy. A state grant program coupled with the federal tax credits and accelerated depreciation allowances make solar-energy systems financially attractive to business owners. An 11-kilowatt system (enough to run a 5,000 sf office) that costs $92,000, would qualify for a $37,200 state energy grant, $27,600 in federal tax credits, and accelerated depreciation allowances of $31,182. A federal tax on the state grant would cost the company $13,020. The actual cost of the system, after those incentives, would be $9,038. This translates into a 5-10 year payback on energy costs, making this a reasonable, economically feasible alternative.
According to the USGBC, LEED™ gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. “Our goal is to provide clients with examples of measurable savings due to energy efficient, sustainable design,” added Sutter. “As a firm, we’re committed to Designed for People, Designed for Life.”
SoL – Harris/Day’s LEED™ AP team is made up of: Matt Sutter, Dominic Ferrante, Chris Wojack and Burt Marzley.