Analysis 1. LEED Analysis of Laboratory Buildings. Penn State School of Forest Resources University Park, PA

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Bruno Henry
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1 Analysis 1 LEED Analysis of Laboratory Buildings Background The LEED program (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) established by the U.S. Green Building Council is becoming the standard by which universities and other institutions rate their buildings. The Pennsylvania State University has begun an initiative to design and construct buildings that meet LEED rating requirements. The new School of Forest Resources building is the second building being built on campus that is attempting to obtain a LEED certification. The goal for the building is to reach a LEED certification, which is the lowest of the four classifications for LEED rated buildings. In the LEED rating system there are 69 total points available for a building to earn. By earning points the building receives a LEED certification. Earning points will give the building a Silver LEED certification, points will give it a Gold LEED certification, and by receiving more than 52 points, the building will be awarded a Platinum LEED certification. Designing and constructing a sustainable or LEED rated building has many benefits. A sustainable building can greatly reduce the energy costs associated with heating and cooling. By increasing the overall energy efficiency of the building, which is worth 2 LEED points can save between $20,000 and $120,000 annually for a typical 100,000 square foot commercial building. In a classroom setting the increased air and daylight quality from a sustainable building has been shown to increase learning and comprehension 20 26% and class attendance can rise %. Another major benefit of a sustainable building is the savings from decreased water consumption. A typical 100,000 square foot commercial building can save upwards of 1,000,000 gallons of water per year. Green or sustainable buildings are commonly perceived to cost much more than conventional buildings. The increased costs associated with sustainable design have been dropping in the last few years and will continue to fall as experience in Spring

designing and constructing sustainable buildings increases. The development of new and better materials and installation procedures also helps to reduce the cost of sustainable designs.

2 designing and constructing sustainable buildings increases. The development of new and better materials and installation procedures also helps to reduce the cost of sustainable designs. In order to calculate the added costs of sustainable buildings the USGBC conducted a survey of 33 LEED certified office and school buildings across the United States and compared the construction costs to the cost of the conventional design. The results are summarized in the graph below. As you can see from the graph the cost of obtaining a LEED Certification can average below 1% of the total building cost. For a typical building this 1% increase in cost amounts to less than $2 / square foot. There have also been several examples where a LEED certification added 0% to the total construction cost. When designing a LEED rated laboratory building these premiums paid for LEED certification tend to increase due to the added complexities of the lab requirements, but generally the Spring

3 earlier green building features are incorporated into the design, the lower the cost will be. Problem One of the challenges when designing the Forest Resources building to be a LEED rated building is the laboratory spaces in the building. Unfortunately, laboratories, with their built-in demand for power, water, and other resources, find it harder to meet the standards crafted for less intensive kinds of buildings, such as offices. Labs have different occupancy densities and patterns, different waste and recycling profiles, different ventilation rates, and different energy loads. These added demands can drive the cost of incorporating sustainability up and shy owners away from the idea of LEED certification. Solution One remedy for this problem is a new initiative by USGBC called the LEED Application Guide for Laboratory Facilities. This guide would modify some of the LEED credits and provide suggestions on implementing the credits specifically for laboratory and research facilities. Even without the new application guide, laboratories have been achieving LEED certifications and one in particular is being called the greenest laboratory building in the United States. The Donald Bren Hall at the University of California, Santa Barbara campus (pictured at right) was completed in April 2002 with a platinum LEED certification. At the time of completion it was one of only four platinum buildings in the U.S. and is being used as a model for facilities on campuses across the country. Bren Hall is an 84,000 square foot four story facility with approximately 25% of the space devoted to Spring

4 laboratories. Because the size and distribution of spaces correlate closely to the Forest Resources building, Bren Hall will be used as an example of now the Forest Resources building may be able to obtain additional LEED credit points. Based on the current design of the Forest resources building there are 32 LEED credit points that the project could obtain. The University s goal is to achieve at least 26 of these design points to earn the project a LEED certification. The following table provides the list of all 69 possible points and highlights which credits the Forest Resources building is attempting, which credits would be possible with little or no cost, and which credits are cost prohibitive or unattainable. Credit Description Points Planned Possible With Little or No Added Cost Not Possible Without Large Added Cost Sustainable Sites Prereq. 1 Erosion & Sedimentation Control 0 X 1 Site Selection 2 Development Density 3 Brownfield Development Alternative Transportation -Public Transportation Access Alternative Transportation - Bicycle Storage and Changing Rooms Alternative Transportation - Alternative Fuel Vehicles Alternative Transportation - Parking Capacity Reduced Site Disturbance - Protect or Restore Open Space 5.2 Reduced Site Disturbance - Development Footprint 6.1 Stormwater Management - Rate and Quantity 6.2 Stormwater Management - Treatment 7.1 Heat Island Effect - Non-Roof Spring

5 7.2 Heat Island Effect - Roof 8 Light Pollution Reduction Water Efficiency Water Efficient Landscaping - 50% 1.1 Reduction 1.2 Water Efficient Landscaping - No Potable Use or No Irrigation 2 Innovative Wastewater Technologies 3.1 Water Use Reduction - 20% Reduction 3.2 Water Use Reduction - 30% Reduction Energy & Atmosphere Prereq. 1 Fundamental Building Systems Commissioning 0 X Prereq. 2 Minimum Energy Performance 0 X Prereq. 3 CFC Reduction in HVAC&R Equipment 0 X 1 Optimize Energy Performance 1-10 X 2.1 Renewable Energy - 5% 2.2 Renewable Energy - 10% 2.3 Renewable Energy - 20% 3 Additional Commissioning 4 Ozone Protection 5 Measurement and Verification 6 Green Power Materials & Resources Prereq. 1 Storage and Collection of Recyclables 0 X Building Reuse - Maintain 75% of Existing Walls, Floors and Roof Building Reuse - Maintain 100% of Existing Walls, Floors and Roof Building Reuse - Maintain 100% of Shell / Structure and 50% of Non-Shell / Non- Structure Construction Waste Management - Divert 50% From Landfill 2.2 Construction Waste Management - Divert 75% From Landfill 3.1 Resource Reuse - 5% 3.2 Resource Reuse - 10% Recycled Content - 5% (post-consumer + 1/2 post-industrial) Recycled Content - 10% (post-consumer + 1/2 post-industrial) Spring

6 Regional Materials - 20% Manufactured 5.1 Regionally Regional Materials - 50% Manufactured 5.2 Regionally 6 Rapidly Renewable Materials 7 Certified Wood Indoor Environmental Quality Prereq. 1 Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance 0 X Prereq. 2 Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control 0 X 1 Carbon Dioxide Monitoring 2 Ventilation Effectiveness 3.1 Construction IAQ Management Plan - During Construction 3.2 Construction IAQ Management Plan - Before Occupancy 4.1 Low-Emitting Materials - Adhesives and Sealants 4.2 Low-Emitting Materials - Paints and Coatings 4.3 Low-Emitting Materials - Carpet 4.4 Low-Emitting Materials - Composite Wood 5 Indoor Chemical & Pollutant Source Control 6.1 Controllability of Systems - Perimeter Spaces 6.2 Controllability of Systems - Non-Perimeter Spaces Thermal Comfort - Compliance with ASHRAE Thermal Comfort - Permanent Monitoring System Daylight and Views - Daylight 75% of Spaces Daylight and Views - Views for 90% of Spaces Innovation & Design Process 1.1 Green Building Education 1.2 Disease-Resistant Elm Trees 1.3 Central Plant Efficiencies 1.4 Innovation in Design 2 LEED Accredited Professional TOTALS Spring

7 As the above chart shows the Forest Resources building could receive a Silver LEED certification by incorporating all of the planned credits and adding only one more point. For a laboratory building, receiving a LEED certification or a Silver LEED certification can be done much the same way as a typical commercial building, but to elevate a laboratory building to the Gold or Platinum LEED certification level some special design and innovative techniques will need to be employed. The largest credit for LEED rating can come from optimizing energy performance. Ten points are available if the building s energy use is reduced by 60%. Bren Hall used several techniques to minimize that building s energy use. There was a 240 panel 42-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system installed on the roof. This system generates approximately 10% of the building s total energy use. Installing these solar panels on the Forest Resources building could be done for around $100,000. Each panel costs around $300 dollars plus the installation cost. Bren Hall also uses an innovative VAV system for its laboratory spaces. Phoenix air valves open and close based upon demand, which ensures maximum energy efficiency. Coupled with these air valves the three exhaust stacks for the laboratory wing are built in three increasing sizes and the stacks are staged based on demand for exhaust. This staging upon demand greatly reduces energy consumption. Of course these systems such as VAV and solar power also require additional monitoring devices, design time, coordination, and installation time. Many of the LEED credit points for energy efficiency listed for the Forest Resources building as cost prohibitive would be cheaper if incorporated with the original design. The additional cost of some specialized equipment would still apply, but the design and coordination of energy efficient systems would be cheaper than trying to retrofit the current systems to be energy efficient. Water efficiency is another category that the Forest Resources building could gain valuable LEED points in. The difficulty for the Forest Resources building is that several of the points involve water efficient landscaping. The landscaping around the building is not part of the Forest Resources project and it was designed as a separate Spring

8 contract for the entire East Sub-Campus. When the landscaping was originally designed, no special care was taken to ensure that it met the LEED criteria for water efficiency. Several credits could be incorporated relatively cheaply into the landscape design in order to earn more LEED credit points for the Forest Resources building. Although Forest Resources reduces its water consumption by 20%, worth one LEED point, by using water efficient toilets and infrared sensors on faucets, this could be increased for an additional point. Bren Hall uses a rainwater reclamation system for irrigation and for use in the toilets. This system cost around $70,000 dollars when installed in Bren Hall. Waterless urinals were also installed in Bren Hall and these could be used in the Forest Resources building for little additional cost. It is estimated that each waterless urinal could save 40,000 gallons of water per year. Several LEED credit points that could easily be obtained for the Forest Resources project deal with recycling. The goal for this project is to recycle 50% of the construction waste, but by increasing this to 75% an additional LEED point would be earned. The cost of recycling materials would not be increased because the planning and facilities are already in place to handle 50% of the construction waste. By using more recycled materials within the building could also earn some LEED points. While the cost of using recycled materials is generally higher, the costs are not prohibitive and are rapidly falling. Many materials such as roofing, carpet, aluminum door and window frames, and glass that are made from recycled materials could easily be implemented into the project. Conclusion Sustainability is the future of buildings and construction projects. As Americans continue to examine the damages they do to the environment, green buildings and the LEED rating system will continue to play an increasingly important role in how people interact with their surroundings. Designing a building to be more sustainable or to fall within the LEED rating system has many benefits over conventional buildings. Not only is money saved over the life of the building, but Spring

9 green architecture helps to ensure that a healthy environment will be here for future generations. The biggest reason not to design a sustainable building is the perceived added cost. As this report shows, however, the costs can be very minimal and easily recouped in energy and water savings over the life of the building. For example, Bren Hall achieved a platinum LEED certification for 4.8% of the construction costs, which is around $900,000. Owners of Bren Hall also estimated that a LEED Silver rating could have been reached for no additional cost. Sustainable aspects should be incorporated into the design and construction process from the very beginning in order to minimize the premiums for a LEED rated building. For the 33 buildings studied by the USGBC the average premium for receiving a LEED certification, across all levels, was 2% or about $3-$5 / square foot for a typical 100,000 square foot commercial building. In comparison to this upfront cost, the savings associated with Gold or Platinum LEED certified buildings are $75 / square foot over a conservative 20 year lifespan for the building. Penn State University is beginning to take steps in the right direction with the Forest Resources building. Many sustainable design ideas were incorporated into the project from the beginning, but even with the added demands of laboratory space, the Forest Resources building could obtain a Silver or even Gold LEED rating at a low premium. Incorporating a Variable Air Volume (VAV) system for the labs would be an important addition for energy savings, and this option is examined later in the report. Spring

Appendix C APPLICATION #: ADDRESS: CITY OF SANTA CRUZ GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM GREEN POINTS CHECK LIST FOR NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

Appendix C APPLICATION #: ADDRESS: CITY OF SANTA CRUZ GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM GREEN POINTS CHECK LIST FOR NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS November 2006 Version 2.2 Instructions for Completing Check List Use this