As
one of the 100 most livable cities in
America
according to Money Magazine,
Denton
is a great place to live, work, and play. And the City of
Denton
is extending that livability to its employees by building
a new “green” fire station. The fire station,
Denton
’s seventh, is being built using LEED standards in its
design. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) Green Building Rating System® is a voluntary,
consensus-based national standard for developing
high-performance, sustainable buildings developed by the
United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The USGBC is
a nonprofit organization created for the establishment of
a common standard of measurement for green buildings.
LEED
provides a framework for assessing building performance
and meeting sustainability goals. It also emphasizes state
of the art strategies for sustainable site development,
water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and
indoor environmental quality. The design for the new fire
station has an eye toward sustainability, but also keeps
the people who will occupy the station in mind. The
sleeping rooms in the new fire station will each have
operable windows. Operable windows allow the room’s
occupants more thermal control and access to fresh air.
Every room in the building will have an exterior light
source, whether it is a window or a skylight. Exterior
natural light adds to energy efficiency by cutting down on
the electricity used to light the building as well as
improving the overall health of its occupants.
“The
health and well-being of our employees is very important
to us. Firefighters can spend 24 hours or more in a
station house regularly. They may spend more time there
than they do at home,” said Captain Brad Lahart, Denton
Fire Department. “Their level of comfort and health can
affect their job performance. Making the new station a
green building can help us cut down on sick days, improve
employee retention, and increase productivity.
It’s a win-win situation for us.”
Interior
air quality is also addressed by employing LEED in the
design of the building. All materials used in the building
including paint, carpet, and adhesives must meet volatile
organic compound standards. As construction progresses, at
the end of each day any open ductwork is cleaned of any
debris such as dust or particles and taped off to prevent
contamination. The builders have also been working with
the City of Denton Solid Waste Department’s Recycling
Division. The division has provided recycling dumpsters at
the construction site. All recyclable materials are being
put in the dumpsters for recycling instead of taking up
space in the City landfill.
The
building will also employ rainwater harvesting through the
use of four 5,600-gallon cisterns to capture rainwater
runoff from the roof. Less than 15 percent of the runoff
will go down a storm drain. This runoff will be used to
irrigate the property and cut down on the normal use of
irrigation water by well over 50 percent. The landscaping
around the building will use some turf, but the majority
will consist of water-efficient, native plants. The
building will also maintain a tree canopy that exceeds the
City’s requirement for “tree canopy and undisturbed
area.”
It
is also the first City building to use geothermal cooling
and heating in its design. A series of wells dug to a
depth of 250 feet collect water, which is cooled or heated
by the earth and runs through the building’s
heating/cooling system to maintain its temperature. Other
features of the building include energy-efficient
fixtures, the use of recycling materials in its
construction, carbon monoxide monitoring, and a gravel
parking lot.
“The
building industry is slow to react to change,” said
David M. Robinson, Project Manager, Kirkpatrick
Architecture Studio. “And I have been waiting about
eight years since I graduated for an organization to be
progressive enough to undertake a true green building
project. When the City of
Denton
made that decision, it was truly exciting for me. This
design helps the City cut costs by being one-third more
efficient than traditional buildings.”
The
fire department has plans to add the new fire station to
its list of stations for community tours upon its
completion. Each unique “green” feature will have
clear signage describing its benefits for those who tour.
For
additional information, please visit
www.cityofdenton.com,
go to Quick Information and click on Press Releases. All
comments are the sole responsibility of the author. This
article was originally posted 10/17/06.
