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Friday, April 10,
2009
With cost-savings a high priority, 'green' is the new trend
Energy-efficiency movement takes root as
firms cut costs and environmental impacts
For
In addition to cost savings,
sustainable buildings also minimize a company’s impact on the environment and
are credited with a wide range of business improvements, including higher
productivity and better worker health through improved indoor air quality.
Green building already is a huge
industry, and although it’s difficult to determine a firm dollar amount of
green projects going on in the Metroplex, residential
and commercial green building nationwide is expected to top $100 billion
annually by 2013. And cities and states are increasingly mandating that
buildings are built in a sustainable way, often with targets for reduced energy
usage. More stringent environmental regulations are anticipated from the Obama
administration.
Even companies that long have been
interested in green concepts are finding room for improvement.
When the J.C. Penney Co. (NYSE: JCP)
headquarters opened in 1992 in Plano, it was ahead of its time, designed to
reduce energy needs by making use of natural indirect lighting with an
automatic window shade system and wide roof overhang to reduce solar heat when
it’s hot outside.
“We were green before green was the
thing to do,” said Mary Knuff, facility manager for
the J.C. Penney home office and a member of the building design team. The
retailer took a long-term approach, interested in doing the “right thing” to be
as energy-efficient as possible.
“We’re always looking for things to
upgrade to save energy, with our eyes open to new technology to do that,” she
said.
Reducing energy usage is also a bit
of an art.
“We come up with some wild, crazy
ideas” she said, such as one now under consideration to use a remote-controlled
cart to return glassware to the cafeteria so that disposable containers would
no longer be needed. Already, the company uses biodiesel fuel created from the
oil used to cook french
fries to run a truck used on the 125-acre campus.
“We’re working toward a goal of
having zero waste from the building,” Knuff said. “So
we look at everything.”
Over the past five years, the company
has implemented about 40 ideas to reduce energy consumption. In 2008, J.C.
Penney received the Energy Star label, signifying commercial buildings that, on
average, use 35% less energy than a typical comparable building. Now the
company anticipates its headquarters will receive Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design certification by year-end, the result of more modifications,
including the addition of motion-controlled plumbing fixtures, minimal-water
landscaping and the conversion of cafeteria paper and plastic goods to recycled
and biodegradable products. LEED certification is based on a series of points
awarded for specific green building criteria, including the use of sustainable
building sites, water and energy efficiency and improved indoor air quality.
J.C. Penney and its facility
management contractor, Johnson Controls Inc., had
already tackled significant projects, such as changing to more energy-efficient
lighting and installing an energy management system to customize control of
more than 100 lighting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning zones. In
another effort, the facility, home to 5,000 workers, recycled 744 tons of
paper, cardboard, plastics and cans in 2008.
The company is also tackling energy
usage in its stores, investing $100 million during the past six years to
install energy management technology, lighting and other cost-saving systems.
These efforts reduced electricity usage by 6% in 800 stores and achieved energy
savings of 15% in 10 stores that were the site of an advanced energy management
project. In the 10-store test, energy management systems record energy usage
data in 15-minute intervals and compare it to the same day of the prior year,
allowing stores to identify and respond to changes in energy consumption.
And in August the company will open
its first store planned for LEED certification, a
115,000-square-foot building in
Designed to save
Dallas-based architecture firm Corgan Associates Inc. has seen the
issue from both sides, as it increasingly builds green details into clients’
plans while embracing the concept at its own new
The building’s very shape, a T-shaped
structure that shades itself, saves energy through
reduced cooling costs. The design also makes use of skylights and oversized
windows to greatly reduce the need for artificial lighting. Even features that
cost a bit more initially — such as the controls for the building’s energy
management system — quickly saved the firm money with added efficiency, said project
manager Kirk Johnson. Locally obtained materials were used as much as possible
to reduce the environmental impact of transporting materials, while a rainwater
collection system is used for landscape irrigation, reducing irrigation usage
by 50%.
Clients have a range of green
considerations when it comes to the design of their facilities, Johnson said.
Some want a green building from top to bottom and aren’t overly concerned about
the cost. Others are interested in choosing green features that offer the most
bang for their buck — those that produce significant energy savings. In the
early days of interest in sustainable buildings, going green was perceived to
be more expensive. But recent data suggests that there are marginal or no
additional costs to going green, he said.
Building in efficiency
Implementing green systems during
office tower renovations can be complex, but Dallas-based office building owner
and manager Gaedeke Group has found those efforts to pay off.
Gaedeke has updated energy management
systems in its
Changing standard light bulbs in the
company’s
“The company is very proactive about
looking for ways to save energy and lower operating costs,” Yates said. “We’re
very conscious that the little things can add up,” he said.
Gaedeke’s Dallas-area properties total about 1.2
million square feet and include office buildings