Southface: A Model of Sustainability

Project Will Serve as Showcase for Green Office Building Construction, Design

By Scott Judy

The Southface Eco Office has been a long time coming, but Frank Burdette of the Southface Energy Institute thinks they're almost there.

For more than 18 months, the project manager has been leading the construction of this model project to the highest green standard available: LEED platinum.

The Atlanta-based nonprofit Southface Energy Institute has been promoting sustainable homes and communities for more than 20 years. It is constructing the office building to serve as a model and standard for similar commercial projects of the future.

Built with a significant measure of donated materials, green products, labor and even project management, the Eco Office is nevertheless poised to stand as a model for sustainable commercial construction for the Atlanta area. With the assistance of contractors, building product manufacturers and suppliers, Southface will build this 10,000-sq-ft building for just $2 million, a little more than half of its estimated $3.7 million value.

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"The goal has always been to have a facility that could serve as a demonstration of various green building products, design strategies and construction methodologies, so it could be reproducible," says Burdette. "We would not expect that anyone would try and recreate all of these (strategies) on a single building. These are things you can readily purchase today. It's not state-of-the-art so much as the state-of-the-shelf."

The building will illustrate numerous green strategies: extensive use of daylighting; the use of insulated concrete forming systems for the building's exterior; composting toilets and dual-flush toilets; waterless urinals; rainwater harvesting to minimize the amount of potable water used throughout the building for multiple purposes; photovoltaic sensors that monitor daylight and automatically adjust or turn off artificial lighting; and a green roof.

Together, Burdette estimates that these features will lower the building's energy needs by 60% compared to a conventional office building and reduce potable water needs by about 75%.

The ultimate message of the Eco Office? "This is not rocket science," Burdette says. Instead, he adds that green building is "just working with the resources and being in tune with where the sun is in relation to your building, utilizing the rain that's falling out of the sky and trying to minimize the need to suck resources from elsewhere."

Burdette expects the project to open in March and become certified platinum later this year.

Southface Eco Office Project Team:

Owner: Southface Energy Institute, Atlanta
Project Architect: Lord, Aeck & Sargent, Atlanta
Owner's Representative: Thompson Ventulett Stainback & Associates, Atlanta
General Contractor: ECO Office Contractors: A Green Building Consortium, Atlanta; a joint venture of Hardin Construction Co., Holder Construction Co., Winter Construction Co., DPR Construction, Skanska USA Building and R.J. Griffin & Co., all of Atlanta.