Saturday, August 2, 2008

How many Green Buildings Are There in Plano?

These are the hallmarks of Green Buildings:

1. Use of passive solar energy
2. Natural lighting (day lighting) and adjustable lighting systems
3. Highly reflective roof and building exterior
4. Indoor Air Quality (low VOC materials and ventilation)
5. HVAC energy performance and efficiency
6. Use of on-site renewable energy
7. Waste minimization (recycling, reducing, reusing)
8. Water reclamation and conservation (rainwater harvesting, use of gray water, soil amendment, native or adapted landscape material, efficient irrigation system)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think there are any yet, but I know they are working on it.

su stain said...

Check out the Cawley Wilcox Building at the NW corner of Independence and 190. It's green and ready for business!

Anonymous said...

Whenever I go by the Cawley Wilcox Building it looks empty. Are there any tenets there. How is it being marketed so people know it's a green building? Seems to me that if no one knows it's green, it's not going to make any difference. Also - how does being of green design translate into anything that makes a difference for the employees inside the space? They don't have a say in choosing the physical location of where they work - they just go wherever the work location of the job they get hired for is. So - seems like the leasing agents and company administrators are the ones who need to be educated about the benefits of a green building when looking for office space to lease (as in the Cawley Wilcox building). How is that going to happen?

Anonymous said...

No tenants yet. Price per square foot is the same as a conventional building. Electricity use is about 15% less in this building versus a same size conventional building.

Buddy Tompkins, Senior Director for Cawley Wilcox, said that he promotes this through his network of brokers. There was also a broker’s luncheon with over 160 brokers in attendance. He also plans other luncheons to promote the building to various business contacts.

Fortunately, green buildings do make a difference by reduced energy usage, using sustainable products and recycled content, recycling construction waste and reduced water usage – 14.2 million gallons saved per year for this building. There are other numerous conservation aspects to green buildings and the difference they make, but too many to list in this e-mail. I do agree that more promotion and education needs to be available and take place before there true potential is realized.

Statistics show that there is increased productivity and less absenteeism in green buildings – on average about 16% more productive. Students using day lighting consistently score higher than students in schools with conventional lighting fixtures. (according to research reported by the USGBC)