Cowtown residents seeing green

BY JOHN-LAURENT TRONCHE

October 15, 2007

Going green has turned into a billion-dollar industry and Cowtown is = joining=20 the herd.

Sustainable design =96 more commonly known as =93green=94 =96 is an = approach to=20 building that seeks to minimize impact on the environment, and = construction is=20 expected to exceed $12 billion this year, according to analytics firm=20 McGraw-Hill Construction. That number is likely to continue increasing = as=20 individuals and organizations move to update how we look at development=20 design.

Building a green school

Faced with exceeding enrollment capacity, White Settlement = Independent School=20 District teamed with Dallas-based architectural firm Corgan Associates = to go=20 green when the time came to build the district=92s newest

facility, C. F. Brewer High School.

Construction on the 2,400 student school began in December 2004 after = years=20 of planning, and will be completed in three phases, the last of which = includes a=20 5,000 seat stadium due to open next year.

The $72 million facility utilizes a range of green products and = materials,=20 including grasspave, a porous, turf-like product that acts as pavement = while=20

still permitting real grass growth. Additionally, the campus could = save as=20 much as 30 percent on electrical costs from a complex system of = underground=20 wells that pull heat into the school during the winter and expel heat in = the=20 summer.

Corgan Vice President Eric Horstman, lead architect on the project, = said he=20 and his team of 20 worked with the school district to create a building=20 incorporating a range of products and materials in an effort to make the = school=20 as sustainable as possible, which will save the district thousands of = dollars=20 each year. Horstman also said that a non-green facility of equal size = would cost=20 the same, but wouldn=92t provide short-term and long-term energy = savings.

=93School districts are owners, not tenants,=94 Horstman said, =93so = we feel like=20 it's a very good fit to have a long-term owner thinking about the = design.=94

The increasingly popular trend for large-scale buildings to go green, = Horstman said, is driven by two things:

=93One is the interest of owners in long-term operating cost and the = other is=20 legislation,=94 he said. =93More and more cities are actually requiring = some form of=20 sustainable design in the building.=94

Fort Worth encourages but currently doesn=92t require sustainable = design=20 concepts to be included in buildings, City Planning Director Fernando = Costa=20 said, but a task force has been created to assess whether the city = should issue=20 requirements.

Buildings are responsible for more than 70 percent of all electricity = demand=20 and more than 50 percent of all natural gas demand, larger than any = other sector=20 of the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. And = with 15=20 million new buildings expected in the next eight years, organizations = such as=20 the U.S. Green Building Council are leading the push to go green.

The council is responsible for the Leadership in Energy and = Environment=20 Design certification, which classifies buildings in four different = levels =96=20 certified, silver, gold and platinum =96 of green friendliness.

A smaller scale

Fort Worth-based Ferrier Custom Homes has been building green homes = since the=20 early 1980s, president and CEO Don Ferrier said. The company built = Heather=92s=20 Home in 2006, the third LEED platinum-certified home in the United = States and=20 the first in Texas. Ferrier said he built the 2000-square-foot, Parker=20 County-home for Heather, his daughter, as an affordable, near-zero = energy home=20 for about $240,000.

Like Brewer High School, Heather=92s Home incorporates the latest = green=20 technologies, including Structural Insulated Panels, a solar hot water = system=20 and rainwater harvesting. Although those additions cost more than=20 non-sustainable design options, Ferrier said the home will pay itself = back in=20 five to seven years. Heather saves $200 to $300 in monthly energy bills. = She=20 pays about $600 monthly for all her bills, which is about half of the = normal=20 bills for a house that size, Ferrier said.

A growing trend

Increased media coverage coupled with mounting energy prices have put = construction in high gear, Ferrier said.

=93I expected the trend to grow,=94 Ferrier said. =93All you had to = do was watch=20 what energy was doing: it was always going up, it was never going = down.=94

In addition to school districts, public works and the individuals, = Corporate=20 America is also making the leap to sustainable design as well, said Mike = Kawecki, chair of the U.S. Green Building Council North Texas = chapter.

Companies such as Citigroup, Ford Motor Co. and RadioShack have = already=20 initiated some sort of sustainable design concept in their newest = facilities,=20 Kawecki said, and the Green Building Council is working with hundreds = more on=20 incorporating green into their buildings. RadioShack=92s Fort Worth = campus is LEED=20 certified-silver, which Kawecki said is the most common rating = earned.

A survey by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development = estimates=20 developers sometimes overestimate green building costs by as much as 300 = percent. Although disparity exists between estimated and actual = construction=20 costs, Kawecki said, that gap is narrowing as developers gain more = sustainable=20 design experience and new technologies become available.

Contact Tronche at jtronche@bizpress.net

Online at: http://www.= fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=3D6576

Questions & Comments FortWorthBusinessPress.com.= Last=20 updated on 03-May-2007.
Copyright =A9 2007 by Fort Worth = Business=20 Press.