Wisconsin stands near the head of the pack in the country in how it views building construction processes to reduce energy use, use more locally produced materials, make those facilities healthier for inhabitants and last longer before they become obsolete, report Wisconsin building experts.

“For more than 20 years, Wisconsin companies have aggressively worked toward using green and sustainable building and production practices,” says Heather McCombs, executive director of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance.

Although building projects have been severely curtailed in the last few years, those that are underway feature sustainable designs and building methods. Over the life of these buildings, they will use less energy, rely on more sustainable materials in their construction and provide better living and working spaces than buildings constructed conventionally.

“There has been a two-way shift to more sustainable buildings and building products,” says Nick Mueller, project manager at Boldt Construction. “Owners are increasingly savvy about wanting facilities that won’t be obsolete in 20 years. They realize buildings with longer life expectancies help their companies in the long term.

“Second, there has been a huge shift in consumer interest for sustainable products. They are demanding products produced locally and managed for re-growth and replacement. As the price of these materials goes down, their demand increases,” he continues.

LEED, sustainability and green
Currently, 137 projects in Wisconsin have Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and 252 projects are actively pursuing it, according to USGBC’s Web site (www.usgbc.org).

LEED is a building rating system that integrates sustainable practices and strategies into the design, construction, lifetime operations and maintenance of buildings. It has categories for commercial offices, institutional buildings, schools, retail, health care and homes.
“Many architects are specifying LEED-compliant products and contractors are standardizing their construction practices. Many suppliers stock only materials that meet LEED requirements,” says Theresa Lehman, USGBC LEED faculty member. “It doesn’t make sense to have two sets of specifications, two ways of managing construction waste, or stocking ‘green’ and ‘non-green’ versions of the same product, especially if one is no more costly than the other.”

Greater cooperation, lower costs
Establishing LEED or sustainable goals at the beginning of the building process leads to increased dialog in the project’s planning and design phases, the experts agree.

“Customers want sustainability integrated throughout the project because they realize there is even greater ‘green’ value in the design/build delivery process. Because work is better managed, there is little difference between conceptual estimates and final project costs. That means owners can plan finances more accurately. 

“I have seen projects where owners decided not to pursue LEED certification, then change their mind at some point, only to find the design was not as efficient as what was guesstimated or simply did not meet the LEED requirements because the design was not verified through calculations. This tends to cause design rework, which impacts the project budget and schedule. Implementing LEED or sustainable project goals from the start and verifying their integration throughout the design prevents this,” Lehman adds.

Working toward LEED certification does incur costs, but are negligible compared with the building’s total cost, says Mueller.

“There are fees associated with LEED certification — registration and commissioning agent fees to assure systems meet efficiency expectations. But sustainable building supplies are coming down and often cost the same or less as less-green products,” Mueller says.

Dollars and sense
The bottom line is only one driver to more sustainable building construction, Lehman adds.

“Many Wisconsin companies have sustainability philosophies in their corporate goals. Harry Quadracci made it part of Quad/Graphics’ corporate efforts years ago. Its Sussex printing plant was the first manufacturing facility to earn Silver LEED - Existing Building certification in the United States. It now serves as a model for existing production facilities around the world. Kohler and Johnson Controls have similar commitments to sustainability. We are seeing more of it in all sizes of companies.”

McCombs concurs. “Customers are demanding it. Hospital patients prefer a green facility for health care and colleges and universities say students are attracted to facilities that are built with sustainability in mind.” 

Learn more about sustainable construction in Wisconsin at www.wgba.org.

By Clair Urbain

Clair Urbain of Urbain Communications provides marketing services to a variety of business-to-business clients in Wisconsin and across the country.

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