LEED Building Visit - Oak Bend Office Center | green

LEED Building Visit - Oak Bend Office Center

July 23rd, 2006 by Vihar Sheth
Posted in Energy, Environment, Local

Heightening Awareness: On Tuesday, July 18th I had the opportunity to tour a new LEED certified (certification pending) office building under construction in St. Louis. The tour was sponsored by the local U.S. Green Building Council chapter. Tours ran every 15 minutes. The pictures provided in this post show only a fraction of the interesting aspects of the building discussed.

This photograph shows a very cool concept that’s been available for some time but is not used as often as it should. The light tube is coated with a highly reflective surface and reflects light directly from the exterior of the building into dark spaces during the day. In this case the tube feeds into windowless stairways, making electric lighting unnecessary during the day.

Light Tube

Not quite National Geographic photography here . . . but a few solar panels are visible through the window. I don’t know what portion of the building’s electricity needs are met by the solar panels but every little bit helps, and solar panels (a.k.a. photovoltaic cells) are a great way to get free juice for a building. They’re obviously more helpful in places like California, Denver and Wichita (seriously) but once installed they require very little maintenance.

The “hair” you see spurting from atop this building is actually the branches and leaves of plants installed on the roof using Green Roof Blocks. The blocks are usually installed on a frame that’s installed with the building’s roof, though aftermarket systems are also available. Once matured, the plants require almost no maintenance and survive off the elements. Plus, they reduce the heat reaching the building’s roof, thereby requiring much less cooling power.

These may look like the “1980’s cell phone” version of water fountains but they’re actually quite innovative. The boxes mounted to the wall is personalized filtration system for the fountain. Having individual filtration systems for each unit provides fresh clean water and uses less energy . . . I think.

Let’s just say you get some weird looks when you whip out your “camera” in the bathroom. It was worth it this time. What you see before you is a waterless urinal. Oh yeah. I have not seen it in action but these babies are estimated to save the building 40,000 gallons of water annually. Most cities require a waiver to allow these but given the cost, resource and waste savings it’s well worth the hassle.

Promoting Action: On average, “greening” a building costs only about 2% more than using standard materials and construction methods. In the long run, green buildings, without a doubt, save on operating costs while having a reduced impact on the environment. When possible use green methods and products in your home and business. If you’re fortunate enough to be a decision maker on a construction project be a forward-thinker and make your building as green as possible. At worst you get a little advertising . . . I drove by hundreds of buildings to take a tour of this one and write about it. Keep that in mind.

2 Responses to “LEED Building Visit - Oak Bend Office Center”
By George Sinogeorgos on May 19, 2008

Light tube

Hello,
My name is George Sinogeorgos and we own a small company in Greece, We would like to put light tubes, for enviroment and economy help.
If someone know were can I find them and bring them to Greece, I would apreciate it.
Regards
bysinos@gmail.com
+30 2610670307
By Vihar Sheth on May 19, 2008

George, I don’t know of any companies operating in Greece. You may want to see if any German companies do business across Europe. The Germans are doing amazing things with renewable energy these days. Best of luck.

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