Eco-friendly building offers its own rewards
CENTER TWP — Architectural engineer Paul Scanlon doesn't just work in a green field.
He lives his philosophies, incorporating such sustainable, eco-friendly amenities as a solar panel for electricity, passive and geothermal heat and a living roof into his own home in the township.
No doubt, he said, society is getting greener — the greenest it has been in his 45-year career.
“Absolutely, it's ramping up as there's more interest and concern for the environment and energy efficiency,” Scanlon said. “It's one of the best investments you can make.”
Scanlon, Slippery Rock University's director of sustainability, said the campus, for example, improved energy efficiency by 40 percent since beginning a conservation push in 2005.
And Scanlon was instrumental in the yearlong process that earned SRU's Robert A. Macoskey Center LEED silver certification in 2008.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a well-recognized green building certification program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1993.
Isaac Smith, data and performance director at the Green Building Alliance in Pittsburgh, explained the certification identifies weighted criteria in design, construction, operation and maintenance.
Those criteria can include approved measures in nine areas, including materials used, indoor environmental quality or water efficiency.
Based on points, facilities earn one of four ratings: certified, silver, gold or platinum status in different categories, such as new or existing construction or neighborhood development.
Short listNatalie Stewart, communication director at the Green Building Alliance, identified less than 20 properties in Butler County that have been LEED certified, most of which were certified before 2012.“That's intended to be comprehensive list, but in reality it's most likely not,” she said. “The information is self-submitted, voluntarily.”
When asked about the numbers, representatives in the USGBC's Washington, D.C. office said it would be best to pose those questions to officials in Butler County.Local industry professionals, such as Scanlon, say they aren't surprised the list is relatively short and aging.LEED certification, officials say, has a cost to achieve. It has had a number of changes over the years, making it often difficult to navigate.“And you get a plaque,” Scanlon said. “The standards set forth are good. But I would recommend if you have more money for the project, put it toward more upgrades instead of the certification. Put your money in your building.”LEED certified buildings, according to Stewart, receive no tax breaks or grant advantages.Meeting the standards provide long-term cost savings and life improvement.“You make your building healthier for the occupants and Earth friendly,” Stewart said. “There is so much science that illustrates the places we live have an impact on our health … green building is about everyone.”Building owners also get a marketing advantage when wooing tenants or buyers, she said.“How real estate is classified is relative to its market. You cannot be a Class A office space if other people in your market are doing higher or better upgrades. And many companies, 34 percent, say they prioritize human health and wellness (in a location search),” Stewart said. “In certain markets, other real estate can't compete with spaces that have certification.”Smith said, “It's almost a competition at this point. Tenants are demanding certified buildings, whether it's LEED or another certification. Green buildings or any building pursuing a performance-based certification are performing at lower operating costs.”Stewart acknowledged that many neighborhoods in the county don't have that level of competition yet, so the certification costs might not pay off.“The improvements are the payoff,” she said.Stewart, Smith and Scanlon agree that another reason LEED certifications might be low is that since its inception other certifications with equally desirable outcomes have emerged, such as EnergyStar, the WELL building rating system and the Living Building Challenge.“Many building owners are creating high-efficiency, sustainable green buildings and getting no certifications at all. In the end, those buildings are still performing at a high level,” Smith said.
<b>Look long-term</b>Bob Kobert of Zelienople intermingles the economics with the philosophical.Put simply, he thinks green. So much so, that when you sit in the Macoskey Center, you're sitting in his master's degree's thesis.Kobert, now a retired green architect, was the project's architect of record, working with “an army of volunteers” to transform the 83-acre property from a rundown, one-time farm to a ecological and environmental showpiece that not only serves as steward to the Earth, but also establishes real world environmental circumstances for SRU students.For a few examples, the circa-1920s farmhouse, the “Harmony House” has composting toilets, passive solar heating as well as a high efficiency wood burner to back up a geothermal heating unit.From concrete flooring that absorbs and releases sunlight to the living roof on an outparcel structure, the building is about as Earth friendly as a Western Pennsylvania property can become.Most of the enhancements were done at the manpower expense of the volunteers, Kobert said.“And I say this with a happy heart: We did this five to 10 years (beginning in 1981) before there even was an LEED certification program,” Kobert said.Kobert said there are many people who find the concepts fueling LEED so worthy they'd strive toward those goals with or without the possibility of recognition.He said in his experience, people incorporate the fundamentals of the program into their construction, but don't necessarily seek certification.“They're using (LEED) as a blueprint,” he said. “LEED is expensive. The USGBC makes a strong argument for how and why it is cost-effective, but one still needs to have the capital to invest. It often makes more sense to clients who can sustain a longer return on investment period than is typically acceptable. For instance, the argument for investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy systems is usually stronger when the escalation in energy costs or energy insecurities is considered over time, not in the short term.”
<b>Ahead of its time</b>Today, interim director Samantha Laurence said the Macoskey Center bustles with activity from SRU students as well as the community.Shawn Davis, assistant professor in parks, conservation and recreational therapy, said he likes to hold his ecology courses there.“I can easily go from lecture to field where we can find examples, conduct labs and experiments,” Davis said. “I might, for example, lecture about birds or trees then go outside and see real life examples.”Kobert stresses that the Macoskey Center was never intended to be a “finished” product.From the start, the concept was an ever evolving, living classroom“Macoskey was a visionary,” Laurence said. “He had his own ethic of sustainability, and believed that in order for us to move ahead of life … as a society … we needed to involve all people in the sustainability movement.”
