Large new buildings that strive for and obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification have helped draw attention to green building, but the LEED-EB (existing building) process has also been gaining momentum.
At a Greenbuild 2007 session entitled “Existing Buildings: They’re Everywhere,” three different speakers offered views on how the LEED process can help retrofit old buildings.
Because there are some 70 billion square feet of existing commercial and industrial buildings in existence, upgrading those structures to save energy and generate less waste offers an array of opportunity, according to Treasa Sweek of engineering and contracting firm Paladino & Co. Inc., Seattle. “The impact can be much larger than it ever will for new construction,” said Sweek.
When involved in a LEED-EB project, Sweek said it will be important to line up internal advocates among the building’s owners or tenants. She also noted that there will be a monitoring period of anywhere from 3 to 24 months to gauge the performance of changes made in the effort to obtain LEED certification.
As a facilities manager at the
Among the existing building steps that his department has taken include major lighting replacements, the use of no-flush urinals and the deployment of energy-efficient heating and cooling systems.
Also in the
According to Beth Humphreys of the county’s Solid Waste Division, the effort grew out of the county’s long-standing construction and demolition materials recycling program.
Now, in addition to making sure C&D recycling and office recycling takes place, the county has obtained LEED certification for three buildings and has 11 more registered in the LEED process.
The 2007 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo was held at