The Green Idea

Green ideas don’t necessarily require overwhelming expense to become reality, according to Matt Murphy, an associate at Westlake Reed Leskosky, the lead designers and architects of the Cleveland Idea Center.

Murphy addressed attendees of an educational workshop discussing the Idea Center’s journey to becoming a green building, including the Silver Certification it earned in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) program. He said that by approaching the green building process as a series of small commitments to sustainable construction makes the whole process extremely cost efficient by just following the market. “The market is moving in that direction anyway,” he said, pointing out that many builders are turning to products with recycled content or low VOC products because of increased demand.

Kit Jensen, chief operating officer of Cleveland’s WVIZ/PBS and 90.3 WCPN ideastream, introduced the concept behind the Idea Center, a media broadcast and performing arts production facility shared by ideastream and Playhouse Square, Cleveland’s performing arts center. The Idea Center, a seven-story, 240,000-square-foot building, reused the shell of the original structure, which has been standing adjacent to Playhouse Square since the early 1900s.

The designers of the Idea Center decided to concentrate on energy savings as a sustainable building goal, installing more efficient HVAC systems, a motion-activated lighting system, T5 lamps and sensor-activated faucets.

In addition to those green building features devoted to cut energy costs, which can account for nearly 1/3 of a building’s operating budget, the building’s designers also incorporated existing building components in the new structure by refurbishing existing elements like elevators. Other building materials, such as the ceiling tiles, are made with recycled content, and many of the materials used were manufactured regionally. The designers also kept the original structure’s large windows to allow for more natural light.

The Idea Center also earned LEED points for reusing the original building’s shell and for its downtown location and proximity to public transportation.