Green building design is not in full bloom yet in Northern Nevada, but the concept is taking root.
Public agencies are embracing green design, and a small but growing number of projects in the region are aiming for green building certification by LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
The national rating system, developed by the U.S.
Green Building Council, is based on a point system and certificates platinum, gold, silver, and bronze are awarded based on points earned.
The point system addresses such issues as site design,water efficiency, energy and resource conservation, indoor air quality and design innovation.
"I don't think the trend is widespread, but I think it's one of those things on the horizon, and it's not a distant horizon," says Ric Licata, president of American Institute of Architects Northern Nevada.
Consider:
* The Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission is designing its new transit centers in Reno and Sparks to achieve a silver LEED certification.
Construction of the Sparks transit center will start in early 2006, and construction of the Reno transit center will follow a year later.
* The University of Nevada, Reno, is shooting for a silver LEED rating in its design of a new $40 million student union.
Construction is scheduled to begin next year.
* Washoe County schools are incorporating green building principles in their new schools, such as the recently completed Yvonne Shaw Middle School and the new middle school planned for Cold Springs.
* The Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences at Sierra Nevada College is seeking green building certification for its 45,000-square-foot research and teaching facility under construction at Incline Village.
The center, which will focus on the preservation of alpine lakes and watersheds, is a partnership among Sierra Nevada College, the University of California, Davis, the Desert Research Institute and the RAND Corp.
Agencies are investing in green design to benefit the environment and the public's health.
Environmental Protection Agency studies show that indoor pollution may be two to five times higher than outdoor levels in buildings that don't incorporate green design.
Studies have also shown a link between good indoor air quality and the use of daylight in buildings with better student performance in schools and higher productivity in offices.
Green design can also benefit the bottom line.
Besides safeguarding the health of students and employees,Washoe County school officials want to save money on energy costs, says architect Jeff Lundahl, president of Lundahl & Associates in Reno.
His firm designed the Cold Springs and Yvonne Shaw middle schools, the UNR student center and the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences.
Doing right by the environment goes to the heart of the Regional Transportation Commission's public transportation mission.
Incorporating green design in its new transit centers will boost construction costs slightly, but the district will save money on energy in the long run, which can then be spent on services, says Engineering Director Robert Russell.
Some private developers and companies are also embracing green design.
Beaudin Ganze Consulting Engineers, which has offices in Colorado and Truckee, provides green design engineering expertise for a variety of clients, including mountain resort developers.
The firm was the engineer for the Villageat- Northstar under construction at North Lake Tahoe, for instance, which is seeking silver LEED certification.
The project, by East West Partners, could be the first multiplebuilding development in the region to achieve the green building rating.
Green design is a core value as well as a sales point for mountain developers, says David Lyle, a Beaudin Ganze principal.
It is also a core value for his firm; half of the 50-member staff is LEED-accredited.
Green design does come with challenges although they aren't as difficult as some might assume.A primary concern is cost.Yet architect and consultant Alan Scott of Green Building Services, a Portland, Ore.- based firm, says it doesn't always cost more to incorporate green design in a project."But it takes more planning." His firm works throughout the West helping design teams coordinate green building projects and work through the process to get buildings certified by LEED."We do a lot of work with energy analysis and consulting how to spend money wisely to get the best energy benefit and how to get the building more comfortable." Scott, who leads workshops for the U.S.
Green Building Council, says green design expertise is becoming an increasingly important part of the selection process for design professionals.
Architects and mechanical engineers make up the majority of those
attending green building seminars.
But Scott says a growing number of contractors are getting trained in green design, too.
Other professionals are also getting involved.
Interior designer Kimberly Phipps-Nicole of Blue Water Studio in Reno recently earned her LEED accreditation in green design.With the expertise, she'll be able to help steer a design team through the green building certification process.
Phipps-Nicole says clients who can't meet all the standards necessary for green building certification can gain benefits by accomplishing some of them.As an interior designer, for instance, she can help clients select energy-efficient lighting and environmentally friendly materials, such as paint and adhesives that don't harm indoor air quality.
"There are steps you can take for even very small remodel projects," she says.
Although green design isn't mainstream yet, Scott says it's only a matter of time probably less than a decade.He predicts appraisers will give greater value to green buildings and the public will demand environmentally sound projects.
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