Over the last several years, North Texas has seen an explosion in green or sustainable construction. The goal of sustainable or ‘green’ design is to create high performance buildings, the results of which are reduced environmental impact, reduced infrastructure, and reduced building operations. Equally important, green buildings lead to increased value of facility assets, increased worker productivity and lessened risk management. But green has been around for several decades – why is it gaining such hold in the marketplace now?

In order to answer that question, we need to review a little history. Sustainability has been around for hundreds of years, so much so that it wasn’t even thought of as sustainability during that time. Up through the 50’s, the design of buildings had to take into account the climate of the region they were situated in for day to day use. In North Texas , capturing rainwater for drinking and irrigation was common, especially in rural areas. Windmills that generated power for wells were also the norm. In order to keep buildings cool, proper orientation of the building was factored in to reduce heat gain from the sun. Operable windows and natural ventilation strategies were also highly utilized for comfort. But then air conditioning was invented!

Air conditioning systems quickly reduced the importance of these strategies. With cheap power, it was no longer necessary to depend on the surrounding environment. Now, the same building type could be built in any climate, as long as the proper air conditioning system was installed to compensate and correct the building’s interior environment. We quickly forgot the design strategies that had been utilized for hundreds of years.

Then the oil crisis in the 1970’s hit! All of a sudden, power was not so cheap, resulting in the resurgence of sustainable design. There were two prevalent forms of sustainability that were experienced, with one style focusing on energy and the other on alternative materials. Great strides were made during this time. A new focus on reduced energy consumption resulted in higher performing motors and engines. Photovoltaic panels were improved upon, capable of transforming sunlight into energy to run buildings. There was also an emphasis on the use of alternative materials for building construction. Straw bale houses and earth houses were experimented with. But with the economic boom of the 80’s, this trend was again quickly forgotten. 

Jump to the last ten years. Weather conditions causing record heat waves and droughts year after year have become commonplace. Couple this with an increase in energy consumption by both commercial and residential users and the result has been rolling brownouts. Construction of new power plants have not been able to keep up with this increased demand. As a result, energy reduction once again has become a serious topic. One of the solutions to this in Texas was the adoption of Senate Bill 5 by the Texas state legislature in 2002. This bill required that all local jurisdictions reduce their energy consumption by 5% every year for five consecutive years, for a total 25% energy reduction by 2007.

During this same time period, a new rating system that measures building sustainability was launched. Developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), this new system named LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) had the ability to serve as a standard for measuring green buildings while recognizing that not all buildings have the same design criteria, LEED has become the system against which different buildings can be compared against; providing a way to compare a building that utilizes alternative materials against a building that is highly energy or water efficient. 

Faced with Senate Bill 5, the City of Dallas , along with other cities in Texas , started analyzing how they could reduce their energy consumption. With over 800 buildings, the City of Dallas owns and occupies a variety of different building types, including everything from libraries and police stations to convention centers and water treatment plants. It quickly became evident that new buildings that were being constructed could be designed to be more efficient and better performing for the short and the long term. In order to measure this, the City of Dallas looked at LEED. 

LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. These areas are further broken down into a point system, which when added up, result in a score. Depending on the score, a building can become eligible for one of four different levels, the lowest being Certified, then Silver, Gold, and the highest level of Platinum. 

In 2003, the City of Dallas passed a resolution requiring that all new city-owned facilities over 10,000 square feet achieve a minimum certification of LEED Silver. In the last 4 years, the City of Dallas has successfully completed 4 LEED buildings, with another 15 currently under construction. This number will most likely double with the upcoming 2006 Bond projects. Earlier this year, the City of Plano also adopted a similar resolution, and several other cities in the North Texas area are considering LEED for specific projects.

However, municipalities are not the only ones utilizing LEED to measure sustainability. Corporations are also seeing the benefits of going green. With the largest investment that a corporation can make being its people, green buildings are benefiting this segment in many ways including reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, and lower health costs. In North Texas , we have had several corporations adopt LEED for just this reason. Couple these benefits with energy use reductions, and you will see why there are over 400 buildings in Texas currently seeking LEED certification.

A typical LEED project can take anywhere from three to seven years from registration to final certification. This mimics the design and construction process of typical buildings. When utilized most efficiently, LEED is incorporated during early design via sustainable principles and continued throughout construction via sustainable practices. In North Texas , we currently have eleven LEED certified buildings. We expect this number to grow exponentially, as projects that were registered earlier are now coming to fruition. 

Projects in North Texas that have successfully achieved LEED certification*

Sabre Corporate Headquarters was the first facility to achieve LEED certification in North Texas . Located in Southlake, Sabre was an early adopter of LEED and actually had to perform some redesign due to the newness of LEED. Sabre achieved LEED NC v2.0 Silver certification in February 2003. 

The City of Dallas was next in line, with Hensley Field Operations Center achieving LEED NC v2.1 Gold certification in November 2005. Serving as a vehicle maintenance center, Hensley Field showed that LEED was not just applicable to administration buildings, and that workers in all environments, whether in cubicles or in a tire shop, deserved a healthy environment to work in.

This was quickly followed by Jack Evans Police Headquarters, also owned by the City of Dallas . Achieving LEED NC v2.0 Silver certification in December 2005, this six-story, 250,000 square foot facility was the largest building that the City of Dallas had built in 20 years. 

The Herman Miller Design Center in Dallas was the fourth LEED certified facility in North Texas , achieving LEED CI v2.0 Silver certification in February 2006. Herman Miller has a strong corporate history in sustainability, from not only design and construction operations but also in manufacturing and operating procedures. This facility is unique in that it is a tenant finish-out of a leased space. And in March of 2006, the City of Dallas achieved LEED NC v2.0 Silver certification for McCommas Eco Park . 

In January 2007, the Pat Lobb Toyota Dealership in McKinney achieved LEED NC v2.1 Silver certification, with the unique distinction of being the first car dealership to achieve LEED. Following this in February 2007, Heather’s Home in Weatherford achieved LEED Homes v1.0 Platinum certification as part of a pilot program addressing residential construction. With the pilot complete and scheduled for public release in early fall, we expect to see many more homes following this example.

In May 2007, two more projects were added to this list. The Northwest Service Center , owned by the City of Dallas , achieved LEED NC v2.1 Gold certification. Fluor Corporate Headquarters in Irving achieved LEED NC v2.1 Certified certification. 

And finally, in August 2007 we saw the most recent projects finishing certification. Citigroup DFW campus, located in Irving , achieved LEED NC v2.1 Certified certification. And Fire Station #7 in the City of Denton achieved LEED NC v2.1 Gold certification.

As you can see, North Texas is experiencing significant growth in Green Buildings. With over 100 buildings in North Texas currently registered under the LEED program, these numbers will continue to grow exponentially. And the USGBC North Texas Chapter is here to assist! There are several educational opportunities available if you are interested in learning more. Green Advantage (www.greenadvantage.org) is a program specifically targeted towards contractors and sub-contractor’s in order to evaluate and execute sustainable strategies during construction. There are also workshops focusing on LEED and different strategies that can be incorporated during design. For more information on educational opportunities, or the buildings mentioned in this article, visit the USGBC North Texas Chapter website at www.usgbcnorthtexas.org.

*This project list is based upon the publicly certified projects dated 8/10/07.

Michael Kawecki is a Project Manager for O'Brien Associates, a sustainable architectural firm. He recently completed the Hensley Field Operations Center, a LEED Gold certified facility, and has been involved in sustainable building since 2002. For additional information regarding this article, please contact Michael at mkawecki@usgbcnorthtexas.org. All comments are the sole responsibility of the author.

This article was originally posted 11/13/07.