G REEN B UILDINGS S POTLIGHT S USTAINABLE D ESIGN & C ONSTRUCTION
MARE journal.com
Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal — February 24 - March 15, 2012 — 35
hile people tend to focus on the carbon that cars emit, the Bringing buildings into the 21st Century Skanska USA’s Fraser Kadera on Green Retrofits W
Thurs., March 29, 2012 in Philadelphia, PA MGKF participates in Sustainability Symposium
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Brenda Hustis Gotanda, a part- ner with Manko, Gold, Katcher
starting a sustainable business, electric cars, LEED/Energy Star issues and more. Gotanda is co-chair of the MGKF Sustainability practice and is a LEED Accredited Pro- fessional (LEED AP). She rep- resents and counsels clients on a broad range of environmen- tal, energy, land use, and health and safety issues in regula- tory compliance, transactional, permitting, and enforcement matters. Her practice includes green building, alternative energy and energy efficiency, sustainability programs, due diligence, brownfield redevelop- ment, water and waste compli- ance, spill response, and site remediation. Gotanda serves on the BOD of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council (DVGBC) and is Chair of the Radnor Twp. Environmental Advisory Council (EAC). Go- tanda is a founder and direc- tor emeritus of the Society of Women Environmental Profes- sionals of Greater Philadelphia (SWEP). ■
more in thoughtful, cost effec- tive retrofits bringing build- ings into the 21st Century for a relatively small incremental cost. Thoughtful “green” reno- vation makes good business sense. Fraser Kadera, MBA, Certified Business Energy Professional, LEED GA, is a regional executive of integrated solutions for Skanska USA in Rockville, MD. In other Skanska news, Russ Alcorn PE, DBIAhas been pro- moted to senior vice president and national director. In his new role, Alcorn will utilize his 34 years of experi- ence in federal construction to assist in the procurement and execution of Skanska’s federal construction projects across the United States. “Over the past year, Russ has proven to be an invaluable asset, successfully identifying best practices and pursuing op- portunities for Skanska,” said Bill Brennan, co-chief operat- ing officer and executive spon- sor of the Federal Center of Excellence. “Russ understands how to meet the magnitude of needs federal clients bring to the table, and we look forward to his future contributions.” During the past year, Alcorn served as a vice president help- ing identify federal pursuits, reviewing federal solicitations, and assisting with proposals and presentations to federal agencies in addition to pro- viding operational support to ongoing projects. Prior to this position, Alcorn worked as an operations manager for Hensel Phelps Construction Co. where he oversaw major federal con- struction projects. Throughout his long and successful construction career, Alcorn has grown his portfolio to include work on military bases, airports, courthouses, correctional facilities, hospi- tals, resorts and industrial plants. ■
Existing buildings already have a “carbon advantage.” The energy required to manu- facture their materials and systems and to construct them has already been spent. Even new buildings designed with sustainability in mind fill landfills with the debris of the old buildings they replace. In addition, new buildings consume energy and produce carbon during the fabrication, shipping and construction process. In the U.S., green retrofits have grown from two percent of the total construction mar- ket in 2008 to an estimated 30 percent in 2010. At Skanska, we have realized the benefits of retrofitting first hand. Two years ago, we moved into our flagship office at the Empire State Building in New York City, retrofitting our tenant space to achieve LEED Plati- num certification, reducing our electricity costs by 57 percent compared to our former office in a standard urban building. The Empire State Building fit-out is projected to save us roughly half a million dollars in electric costs over the life of its 15-year lease. By changing the cost argument from initial costs to lifecycle value, we were able to do what’s good for the environment and what’s good for our business. For those who are unable to commit to a full retrofit, there are ways to make changes in relatively easy and inexpen- sive ways. As we all know, wa- ter conservation is an issue in Baltimore. Even simple green retrofits and installations can do a lot to save water. Dual- flush toilets, low-flow fixtures, and waterless urinals are all relatively easy and inexpen- sive steps that cut down sig- nificantly on water usage. You don’t need a new build- ing to realize the benefits of sustainability. Most major building systems have a use- ful life of 25 to 35 years. When systems are about to fail, they need to replaced anyway. This is the time to invest a little
& Fox, LLP (MGKF), the environmen- tal, energy and land use l a w f i r m based in Bala Cynwyd will be a panelist on Thursday, March 29 as
truth is that most of the c a r bon d i - oxide in our atmosphere comes from b u i l d i n g s – more like- ly old ones, with little in-
BrendaHustis Gotanda
Fraser Kadera
part of the Sustainability Sym- posium PA/NJ 2012 at the Franklin Institute in Phila- delphia. The program brings together industry, university and community leaders to share best practices, ask chal- lenging questions and provide cutting edge information about sustainability in the Delaware Valley. MGKF is also one of the sponsors of the event. There will be 15 panel discus- sions running from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. focusing on energy man- agement systems, community engagement, building retrofits,
sulation, outdated mechanical systems and single-glazed win- dows. The Eastern seaboard is home to the bulk of these old buildings in a climate where buildings must work harder to keep occupants comfortable than in other, more temperate population centers. Baltimore already knows the value of green – the Bal- timore City Green Building Standards (BCGS) are an innovative effort to protect and restore Baltimore’s water supply, reduce its urban heat island effect, and encourage alternative transportation. These standards largely apply to newly constructed or exten- sively modified nonresidential or multi-family residential buildings. But there are many old buildings in Baltimore, and building owners should not forget that even simple system upgrades can make a huge dif- ference for the environment and their bottom lines. Old and inefficient buildings can and should be retrofitted to be more energy efficient – not just for environmental reasons but because it makes sound economic sense. Accord- ing to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), buildings that feature high performance systems can re- duce water usage by 40 percent and can cut energy use in half. The resulting reductions in wa- ter and energy bills go directly to the owner’s bottom line. The USGBC estimates owners who “green” their buildings can anticipate an 8-9 percent decrease in operating costs. Baltimore County also offers a tax credit for buildings that attain LEED certification.
BBS Architects & Engineers wins three 2011 Sustainability Awards
The three-story, addition to the Southampton Elementary School in Southampton, NY was among three of BBS Architects & Engineers’ projects to receive School Planning & Management magazine’s 2011 Sustainability & Innovation Awards
PATCHOGUE, NY — BBS Architects & Engineers won three out of ten awards in School Planning & Manage- ment magazine’s 2011 Sustain- ability & Innovation Awards program. The annual com- petition recognizes the most architecturally and technically advanced sustainable design practices in the United States. BBS is a regional and na- tional designer of sustainable educational, institutional and commercial facilities. The firm
designed the first LEED-certi- fied public school in NY. BBS won the Building as a Teaching Tool category award for the new Life Sciences Build- ing at the Suffolk County Com- munity College in Selden, NY and two awards in the Site Selection & Development cat- egory for the Mullarkey Hall renovation at the Long Island University’s CW Post Cam- pus in Brookville, NY and the Southampton Elementary School in Southampton, NY. ■
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