Green Building
Steinberger Construction is your resource for green building. Building green means making the most-efficient use of natural resources, both during the construction process and throughout the operational life of a building. It brings environmental benefits like protecting ecosystems, reducing waste, improving air and water quality, and conserving natural resources. It brings social benefits like enhancing occupant comfort and health and minimizing strain on local infrastructure.
Building green can also reduce your operating costs, improve occupant productivity, and optimize life-cycle economic performance. There are an enormous array of steps you can take to green your project. One of the most visible is to go for LEED® certification for yor project.
LEED Certification
LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a measuring system of green design administered by the U.S. Green Building Council. There are four project levels: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Here are the six major areas of focus:
- Site Sustainability: Minimizes a building's impact on
ecosystems and waterways, controls run-off and erosion, and focuses on regionally appropriate landscaping.
- Water Efficiency:
Encourages smart use of water and water reduction via smart fixtures, water wise landscaping, water recycling, etc.
- Energy and Atmosphere: Uses efficient design, energy efficient appliances, and alternative energy sources to lower energy use.
- Material and Resources: Minimizes waste on site and at the products source, encourages use of sustainably produced and transported materials, and encourages material re-use and recycling.
- Indoor Environmental Quality: Improves occupant health and productivity through improved indoor air quality, increased natural light and views, and improved acoustics.
- Innovation and design: Focuses on using innovative technology and design to improve a buildings' performance.
LEED certification can initially increase design and construction costs, but this is usually offset by lower operational costs. If you're considering LEED for one of your projects, Steinberger Construction has five LEED Accredited Professionals to guide you through the process.
More than One Way to Go Green
The LEED process may not be the right route for your project. There are many other ways to lower the project's impact on the environment and lower your energy costs. Many products that you're already familiar with add green value to your project. For example, the Butler MR-24 roof system in Solar White meets the reflectance standards for cool roofs. Cool roofs reflect the sun's rays instead of absorbing them, reducing energy costs and mitigating the Heat Island Effect, which causes smog. Adding insulation, building up a flat roof, and adding water efficient fixtures are cost effective ways to reduce your energy costs and your project's impact on the environment. Call Steinberger to discuss what green initiatives are right for your business.
Greening the Construction Process
Steinberger Construction is committed to reducing the impact of construction on the environment. We reuse and recycle as many of the materials as possible on the jobsite, including cardboard, wood, concrete, and drywall. On a recent LEED-registered project, we diverted over 90% of all of the construction debris, well over the LEED standard of 50%.
