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Making a Slice of a Building Green
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When Kraft was looking for a new distribution center, the company wanted to make sure it'd be as green as possible, even though it would only be leasing the building. Kraft made LEED certification a necessary part of its search, a result of its six-part sustainability initiative, and found a like-minded company in ProLogis, a distribution facility owner and developer.
ProLogis has committed to design all its new buildings in compliance with LEED standards. Working together, Kraft and ProLogis made enough improvements to the facility that it earned Gold LEED-Commercial Interiors certification.
Commercial Interiors certification was developed with cases like Kraft's in mind. The certification is aimed at companies or groups that are tenants -- not owners -- and want their space to be greener.
"What's really unique about it is it gives control to the tenant," said Ashley Katz, communications coordinator for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). "It really allows tenants to have that flexibility when it comes to modifying their space."
In recent years, the USGBC's LEED program has added numerous certification types for different situations. Commercial Interiors, launched at the end of 2004, was developed for building tenants that want to make their own space more resource- and energy-efficient. In addition to with the Commercial Interiors certification, the USGBC has developed a pilot program for Retail Commercial Interiors.
The certification takes into account things that tenants do not have control over, and provides enough options that most spaces can earn at least the minimum certification.
"There are so many different options and ways to get the points. There are not only prescriptive paths," Katz said. If a tenant runs into a conflict in one area, there are plenty of other areas they can make improvements. Some of the biggest conflicts, Katz said, are renewable energy and water use in shared facilities.
Where you Start Makes All the Difference
Tenants can't do much in terms of renewable energy if the building doesn't have onsite generation or if the local utility doesn't have a green power purchasing program. And if tenants share bathroom facilities, they might not have control over water-reducing improvements.
Commercial Interiors has no prerequisites in the site selection category since many tenants don't have flexibility in choosing their spaces and can't make changes associated with heat island reduction, stormwater management or onsite renewable energy.
"[Location] shouldn't be a problem," Katz said. "Lots of sites in lots of situations have gone through LEED certification."
The 281 certified Commercial Interiors projects worldwide include a mix of both companies that are already in a tenant space as well as companies planning to move into such spaces, Katz said. If a company is looking for a site with Commercial Interiors in mind, one element that will make the process easier is to look for buildings that are already LEED-certified. Other environmental characteristics buildings can have that will make earning the points needed for LEED-CI certification include water efficient irrigation and light pollution reduction, is part of a walkable community, within dense development, is close to public transportation or is bicycle-friendly.
Along with checking out these characteristics of a site from the get-go, a tenant should see what other environmental considerations are out of their reach, such as if the building has a facility-wide recycling program or if there are local recycling paths, for either day-to-day or construction waste recycling.