180° on Going Green in the Midwest

How Green is our Valley?
By Jim Romeo– Midwest Contractor

All across America, there is a clear buzz about the need to go green. The construction industry is hopeful that that this provides opportunity to prosper from new construction revitalized by a dearth of LEED projects, which were helped by government policy from a new administration. The construction industry in the Midwest seems quite conscious and hopeful of a new wave of green.

Part of the green growth, however, will hinge on collective thinking as to what constitutes “green.” “There is no doubt that there is incredible market demand for green technologies and green buildings,” says Brian Hendrickson, principal of 180° Urban Design in Kansas City, MO. “This demand will only increase, but those who demand green buildings will also continue to become more educated and savvy as to what is really green and what isn’t. I think the idea of the lone green building standing alone, dissociated from an urban context and accessible only from the interstate is a dead end. Smart consumers already see the fallacy in that idea.”

He adds, “The construction industry consumes just about every industrial resource that there is. There is an inherent responsibility to consume those resources in a more responsible and efficient manner. The next great step in building green will be to look at integrating green construction with sustainable transportation and planning practices. That’s where the real efficiencies are.”

While implementation of the economic stimulus bill could boost green construction, not everyone is optimistic that it will be a boon to green construction. “The stimulus bill will create many opportunities for construction projects in the Midwest; however, only a portion of those projects will be green construction projects,” says Paul Yambor, a project manager with Chicago-based Walsh Construction, who is presently overseeing work on Central Michigan University’s education building, a current LEED project. “Green construction opportunities will be available for mass transit facilities, schools and municipal buildings, among other building types.”

LEED Certification
A topic of interest to those with a hand in green construction is the role of LEED certification.

“LEED is a great tool to assist and guide owners to make wise, disciplined, verifiable, and principled sustainable decisions during the planning, design and construction process,” says Hoffman. “The USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) deserves a lot of credit for the work they’ve done to create standards that motivate owners, municipalities, states and federal government, and builders to move toward greater sustainability. However, it is important for people to understand that green does not equal LEED or vice versa.”

Hoffman adds, “There are times when choosing LEED is important to the project and is the best decision. However, there are times when pursuing LEED certification is not the right decision. For example, we recently moved our offices into a former retail space that we remodeled. Our office space is one of the most sustainable retrofit projects in the United States. However, for our business it did not make sense to choose LEED certification. It would have added $4 per square foot to our rent, without producing any real, additional benefit to the environment and our bottom line.”

From a labor perspective, it is hard to find anyone who is not upbeat about the future growth of green jobs for the construction industry.

Brian Hendrickson notes, “Green industries ranging from agriculture to building technologies to energy production have the potential to rebuild a manufacturing base in this country. Smart industry leaders will be the ones that plug into local green technologies.”
ad of just hollow hype.”