With cost-savings a high priority, 'green' is the new trend - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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In addition to cost savings, sustainable buildingz also minimizea company’s impact on the environment and are creditexd with a wide range of busines s improvements, including higher productivity and better worker healt through improved indoor air quality. Greenh building already is a huge industry, and althougyh it’s difficult to determine a firm dollar amountf of green projects going on in the residential and commercial green buildingg nationwide is expected totop $100 billiomn annually by 2013. And cities and statee are increasingly mandating that buildingss are built in asustainable way, often with targetsw for reduced energy usage.
More stringeng environmental regulations are anticipated from the Obama Even companies that long have been interested in greemn concepts are finding room for Whenthe (NYSE: JCP) headquarters opened in 1992 in it was ahead of its time, designed to reducs energy needs by making use of natural indirectf lighting with an automatic window shaded system and wide roof overhang to reduce solatr heat when it’s hot “We were green before green was the thing to do,” said Mary facility manager for the J.C. Penney home office and a membetr of the buildingdesign team.
The retaile r took a long-term approach, interestee in doing the “right to be as energy-efficient as possible. “We’re always looking for things to upgrade to save with our eyes open to new technology to do she said. Reducing energy usage is also a bit ofan art. “We come up with some wild, crazy she said, such as one now under consideration to usea remote-controlledr cart to return glasswarre to the cafeteria so that disposable containers would no longerd be needed.
Already, the company uses biodiesel fuel createdr from the oil used to cook french friesa to run a truck used onthe 125-acre “We’re working toward a goal of having zero wastr from the building,” Knuff said. “Sio we look at everything.” Over the past five the company has implemented about 40 ideas to reducdenergy consumption. In 2008, J.C. Penney received the Energy Star signifying commercialbuildings that, on use 35% less energy than a typicak comparable building.
Now the compant anticipates its headquarters will receive Leadership in Energy and Environmentao Design certificationby year-end, the result of more including the addition of motion-controlled plumbing minimal-water landscaping and the conversion of cafeteriaa paper and plastic goodsw to recycled and biodegradable products. LEED certification is base on a series of points awarded for specific green building including the use of sustainablebuilding sites, water and energy efficienct and improved indoor air quality. J.C.
Penney and its facilithy management contractor, , had alreadyg tackled significant projects, such as changing to more energy-efficienrt lighting and installing an energy management system to customizes control of more than 100 lightingand heating, ventilatiomn and air conditioning In another effort, the facility, home to 5,000 workers, recycled 744 tons of paper, cardboard, plastics and cans in 2008. The compan y is also tackling energy usagse inits stores, investing $100 million during the past six yeare to install energy management technology, lighting and other cost-savinb systems.
These efforts reduce d electricity usageby 6% in 800 storesa and achieved energy savings of 15% in 10 stores that were the site of an advanced energh management project. In the 10-storee test, energy management systems recorfd energy usage datain 15-minute intervals and compare it to the same day of the prior year, allowing stores to identifh and respond to changes in energy consumption. And in August the companty will open its first store planned forLEED certification, a 115,000-square-foot buildintg in Fairview expected to use 40% less energyt than a similar-size building.
It’zs energy-saving features include a reflective whitee roofand energy-efficient It is also designed to save waterd and makes use of construction materials that are supplied from nearby area s to reduce transportation-related emissions. Dallas-based architecturd firm has seen the issue from both as it increasingly builds green details into plans while embracing the concept at its own newDallaxs headquarters. The LEED Silver certified structurd was built on aformer brownfields, or contaminated, site in West End. The building’s very shape, a T-shapexd structure that shades saves energy through reducedcooling costs.
The design also makezs use of skylights and oversized windows to greatly reducde the need forartificiao lighting. Even features that cost a bit moreinitiallg — such as the controls for the building’s energy managemenr system — quickly save d the firm money with addexd efficiency, said project manager Kirk Locally obtained materials were used as much as possiblse to reduce the environmental impacgt of transporting materials, while a rainwater collectio system is used for landscape reducing irrigation usage by 50%. Cliente have a range of green considerations when it comee to the design oftheitr facilities, Johnson said.
Some want a green building from top to bottokmand aren’t overly concerned about the cost. Others are interested in choosingb green features that offer the most bang for theierbuck — those that produce significant energh savings. In the early days of interesrt insustainable buildings, going green was perceived to be more But recent data suggests that there are marginal or no additiona costs to going green, he said. Implementinf green systems during office towetr renovations canbe complex, but Dallas-based office buildinbg owner and manager Gaedeke Group has found those efforts to pay off.
Gaedekse has updated energy management systems in itsDallax properties, replaced inefficient lighting and installed better-insulateds roofing to reduce energy Changing standard light bulbs in the company’s Dallas buildingds is expected save $475,000 alone. Installing variabl frequency drives on mechanical equipment suchas air-handliny units and cooling tower motors allows the unit to run more efficiently and has producer $86,000 in annual savings, said Dan regional manager and green programs officer for the “The company is very proactive about lookinfg for ways to save energy and lower operating Yates said.
“We’re very conscious that the littlee things canadd up,” he said. Gaedeke’sw Dallas-area properties total about 1.2 million squarse feet and include office buildings OakLawn Plaza, Regencuy Plaza, Banner Place and One McKinneg Plaza.