Office Buildings Go Green

The increased attention to sustainability is finding its way to developers of the Southeast’s office buildings and their projects.

By Debra Wood

There’s an increasingly green tint to many of the office buildings sprouting up throughout the Southeast.

“With rising oil prices and global warming a hot topic, individuals have more of an environmental conscience, and corporations are finding ways to satisfy that by looking for office buildings with some element of LEED certification,” says Charlie Dorr, vice president of business development for Hardin Construction Co. in Orlando. “It gives (them) peace that they are doing something to help the environment. Employees feel they are doing their part. It’s a feel-good, and it’s a real way to contribute.”

Many of the new buildings have green components as owners seek to save on long-term operating expenses, improve productivity and attract tenants. Some developers aspire to LEED certification, while others may incorporate sustainable features without seeking the designation.

The emergence of green offices is occurring as the overall adoption of sustainable development coincides with a generally positive market for office buildings.

“There seems to be a rise in office projects (overall),” Dorr says. “We’re getting more calls and tenants shifting around, whether it be consolidation or growth. Job growth is the engine behind office expansion, and things seem good.”

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Highwoods recently completed buildings at Highwoods Preserve in Tampa and Orlando’s MetroWest community. It currently has under way the first $17 million, 212,000-sq-ft building at Highwoods Bay Center in Tampa.

Matt Marzolf, Highwoods director of construction and development for Florida, says vacancy rates in the single digits bode well for the office market, but rising construction costs pushing up rents have tempered some interest in new locations.

 “There is demand out there, but a lot of folks are sitting tight until the space is built,” he says, adding that the slowing of the residential condominium market has freed up contractors, which may make it easier to proceed with office projects.

Farther south, Loretta H. Cockrum, chairman and CEO of the Foram Group of Miami, called Miami’s dynamics extremely strong, with high office-occupancy rates. Foram expects to break ground this summer on the $245 million first-phase of Brickell Financial Centre in Miami.

In Atlanta, Carl Hair, senior vice president of Hardin, reports that the office market remains fair with a steady supply of new projects, especially in the Buckhead area, but he says developers are avoiding overbuilding speculative office space.

The numbers support industry experts’ anecdotal reports. McGraw-Hill Construction Research & Analytics forecasts Southeast office construction will be up 16% in 2007 to nearly $4.4 billion, compared to 2006, when the region experienced roughly $3.7 billion in new starts. This year’s 2007 estimate is the highest dollar volume projected for the Southeast since 2000, when the area experienced about $5.1 billion in new starts.

Growing green

Foram has embraced green design at the 40-story, 600,936-sq-ft. Brickell Financial Centre. The company precertified the building as a silver-level LEED structure but aims to secure gold status once it is complete in fall 2009. 

“Two-and-a-half years ago, I was introduced to the (green) concept,” Cockrum says. “The more I learned about it, the more I realized it was the right thing to do.”

Foram intends to keep the building as part of its portfolio, and Cockrum says the LEED certification will appeal to Fortune 500 companies that are beginning to prefer locating in a sustainable building.

“The long-term cost of operations and long-term benefit of this design and these materials will have a payback,” Cockrum says. “It was a combined business decision and social decision. Business was the driver.”

RTKL Associates of Washington, D.C., designed the two-building office complex with a 30,000-sq-ft public plaza between the buildings. Rod Henderer, a vice president at RTKL, says the concept was to create a space that will have the significance for Miami that Rockefeller Center does for New York.

Green features on the first phase include glazing with two layers of low-E coatings, a receptacle to collect rainwater for irrigation, use of recycled materials and recycling of construction waste.

Foram had completed demolition of existing buildings on the site. The company should select a contractor and begin driving test piles this summer.

Skanska/JCB, a joint venture between Skanska USA Building and JCB Construction, both of Orlando, will break ground this summer on a $45.6 million, 10-story, 128,000-sq.-ft. downtown headquarters building for Orlando Utilities Commission. The utility, designer Baker Barrios Architects of Orlando and the contractor are seeking gold-level LEED status.

“We are motivated and committed to ensure OUC is leading the downtown Orlando market in the green-building approach,” says Steve Wright, Skanska senior project superintendent. He adds that achieving the certification depends not only on design but also contractors following through with recycling and documentation.

OUC’s LEED features include a highly reflective roof; high-efficiency windows that allow daylight in but keep out solar heat gain; sensors that automatically turn off electric lights when natural illumination is sufficient or people are not present; energy recovery systems that transfer heat from the incoming ventilation into the outgoing exhaust air; and solar hot-water and power-generating systems, says Mike Hess, an engineer with LEED consultant X-nth of Maitland, Fla.

“The net result of all the LEED energy features should save more then 500,000 kwh of electricity per year at the power plant and result in a building that is 25% more efficient than required by the energy code,” Hess says.

A 27,000-gallon cistern will collect and store rainwater for irrigation. Dual flush toilets will use half the water of a regular commode. The building also will have low-flow urinals and faucets with sensor controls. Hess estimates that should save almost 300,000 gallons of water per year and make the building 35% more water efficient than code.

Fuel-efficient cars will be given preferred parking, Wright adds.

In Charlotte, N.C., the $100 million, 20-story, 390,000-sq-ft NASCAR Plaza is aiming for LEED standard certification, says Marc Lotter, spokesman for Lauth Property Group, the Indianapolis-based developer.

The structural-steel building sits on spread and continuous footings with rock anchors and will have a modern energy-management system. It will connect with the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and NASCAR Images and NASCAR Licensing will lease about one third of the space when it opens in 2009.

Balfour Beatty of Charlotte broke ground in December on the $360 million, 750,000-sq-ft Bank of America headquarters building in Charlotte. The company expects the 32-story office tower to achieve LEED gold-level certification when complete in July 2009. Workstations will be bathed in natural light and have individual climate-control systems.

Four new buildings Cox & Schepp is constructing at Ballantyne Corporate Park, a 535-acre master-planned office community in Charlotte, will include green features. Current work entails two 10-story office buildings with two adjacent parking decks at one location in the commerce park and two six-story office buildings and a parking facility at another location. 

Shepherd Reynolds, project manager for LEED for architectural firm LS3P in Charlotte, says the project is seeking standard LEED certification for the Ballantyne buildings, but it may reach silver. The buildings will feature low-flow fixtures, which should result in a 30% reduction in water consumption.

A runoff catch basin on an adjacent golf course will provide water for irrigation. The buildings also will have highly reflective roofs and concrete, covered parking, recycled materials and submeters for tenants.

Without Certification

Sometimes, owners decide to include green features but forgo LEED certification.

Highwood’s Marzolf says tenants are more interested in sustainable features but are not willing to pay higher rents to locate in a green building.

Batson-Cook Construction of Tampa is constructing a building at Highwoods Bay Center in Tampa. Highwoods intends to hold the property long term and has included energy-efficient mechanical and electrical systems.

Clinton C. Glass, senior vice president with Balfour Beatty in West Palm Beach, says he sees green features everywhere, especially when it comes to glazing, insulation and cooling systems.

In Boca Raton, Fla., Balfour Beatty began construction at the end of 2006 on Office Depot’s new $110 million, 635,000-sq-ft global headquarters. The project includes a five-story, tilt-up office building with two garages on either side. The building will feature reflective glass with thermo properties, an efficient mechanical system and bicycle racks in the garage.

Balfour Beatty also is building the $52 million, 18-story CityPlace Tower in West Palm Beach, which broke ground in June 2006 and should wrap up by year-end. The building will have 100% backup power generators. It is part of the 72-acre CityPlace mixed-use project developed by The Related Companies.

Nancy Brusher, spokesperson for Stiles Construction Co. of Fort Lauderdale, says that the $37 million, 204,037-sq-ft, 17-story 200 Las Olas Circle office building in Fort Lauderdale has sustainable features but will not be LEED certified. The building has a variable-volume HVAC system with a central chilled water plant. Stiles started the mixed-use project in February 2006 and expects to complete it later this year.

Mixed-Use Strong

Hardin’s Hair says developers are proceeding with mixed-use projects, such as Terminus 100, which the company recently completed. The 26-story, concrete-frame Buckhead project adjoins a residential condominium complex.

Also in Buckhead, Hardin is building 3344 Peachtree, a 50-story office and residential condominium tower with 82 units that start at $1 million. The $139 million project is scheduled for completion in summer 2008.

Brasfield & Gorrie of Atlanta recently completed the office portion of 55 Allen in downtown Atlanta. The $75 million, 686,000-sq-ft, 13-story office building sits atop a five-story, 650-car, below-grade parking facility that also supports a hotel/condominium tower, which is part of the Allen Plaza mixed-use complex.

David Wain, an architect with designer MSTSD of Atlanta, says that except for a light-color roof, the building does not contain green features.

“We did explore sustainable items, but at the end, they were not part of the scope,” says Wain, explaining that green design is more common in owner-occupied buildings.

Hardin is building a $100 million, 33-story mixed-use tower in Raleigh, N.C., which will include the RBC Centura headquarters and 139-residential condominium units. Project architect William Ma with Cooper Carry of Atlanta says the structure is built on a brownfield site and required a vapor barrier but does not have sustainable features.

Skipping Green

Coastal Construction Group of Miami received the contract to construct the $48 million, 15-story, 575,000-sq-ft Bacardi U.S.A. building in Coral Gables. Coastal demolished a six-story building to make way for the new structure, scheduled for completion by the end of 2008. The building has no sustainable features.

RTKL’s Henderer says green construction has not taken off as quickly in South Florida as in some other parts of the country, such as California.

“There is an investment a developer has to make,” Henderer says. “It doesn’t come free, especially at the gold level.”

“In Atlanta, developers are still trying to get through what is perceived as an increased cost for building green,” Hair says.

But Hardin’s Dorr adds that green does not necessarily mean more expense. He says that orientation of the building on the site and recycling add points toward certification but do not increase the price of construction.

“A lot of LEED initiatives can be accomplished with little to no cost,” he says. “It’s how much LEED do you want to feel good about your part.”

Reynolds with LS3P has noted price declines in recycled materials.

Useful Sources:

Terminus
http://www.terminus-atlanta.com/index.html

Allen Plaza
http://www.allenplaza.com

Brickell Financial Centre
http://www.brickellfinancialcenter.net/

Ballantyne Corporate Park
http://www.ballantynecorporate.com/