Taking an Early LEED

The company that owns and is renovating a 107-year-old building in downtown Cleveland has begun its quest for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification with a thorough deconstruction and materials source separation effort.

CRM Construction Services Inc. (CRM), property manager for the Schofield Building in downtown Cleveland, has nearly completed an interior strip-out of the 14-floor building that has resulted in segregated stacks of aluminum, copper, steel, wood and drywall as well as the collection of fixtures and machinery for possible resale. The company is performing the work for building owner Schofield Properties LLC.

The 156,000 sq. ft. building, built in 1902 and designed by architect Levi Schofield in part for his own firm’s use, has housed retail tenants on its ground floor and office tenants on its upper floors throughout its existence, according to David S. Calabrese, a partner with CRM.

CRM’s Brian Intihar and Paul Kovach have been overseeing the redesign and renovation of the property into a mixed-use residential, hotel and retail property. The decision was made early on to strive for LEED certification, with the collection of the landfill diversion/recycling points on the scorecard an initial target.

Kovach has been supervising work crews who have spent several weeks on an interior deconstruction project that has involved stripping out wallpaper, paneling, drywall, wiring, light fixtures, ductwork, pipes and lumber.

Rather than sending materials down a chute into a rolloff, however, the crews have been transporting materials via freight elevator to staging areas where like materials are stored together for eventual recycling.

CRM is working with hauling firm Cooper Disposal, Avon, Ohio, to identify recycling markets for less traditionally recycled materials.

Kovach estimates that Cooper Disposal will work throughout late July and into August of 2009 to haul recyclable materials from the Schofield Building (also known as Euclid-Ninth Tower) to scrap yards, wood recyclers, mixed C&D plants and other recycling destinations.