Published: October 11, 2008 05:54 pm      

"it's getting a little easier being green..."

"Green" medical building goes from ground to occupancy is six months

Kermit the Frog once said, “It’s not easy being green,” but thanks to increasing steel prices, builders of a Rockwall medical building found being “green” wasn’t so hard.

“We were able to build a green building at almost no additional cost,” said Scott Asbury, of 3L Realty Group.

Across from Presbyterian Hospital Rockwall, three medical office buildings are being constructed. Of them, 3L’s 17,000-square-foot building, which in early October was framework, will be ready for tenants in six months or less.

“We’ve only been vertical for a week,” Asbury said Oct. 2, from the construction trailer. “The entire building will be watertight in three weeks.”

Why and how? The envelope, please: Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are replacing the conventional metal stud and batt insulation wall-structure technique, said Tyler Adams, the building’s designer. He is from Centerpoint, and is LEED certified; and one can see his “Smart” car parked near the site; Adams lives what he builds, said Asbury. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design.

The SIPs are non-proprietary from EH Systems in San Marcos, and consist of solid foam core with OSB board. They come pre-cut from the vendor, including cuts for windows.

“This saves waste,” said Asbury. “We are not throwing away 2-by-4s.”

He and Adams looked at the neighboring steel frames going up on other projects.

“None of them will have the efficiency levels we can get to with this type of construction,” said Adams.

“The outside will look the same. The people who will benefit are the tenants who see the efficiencies in their electric bill and operating costs,” Adams said.

“The building envelope will be as energy efficient as anything you can build now,” Asbury said.

Instead of electric bills in the thousands, bills will be about 40 to 60 percent less, according to Asbury.

The building started off as conventional construction.

“We budgeted as conventional, and went back in and started asking questions on how to make it more environmentally friendly,” said Adams.

“As steel prices were shooting up, these prices were shooting down,” he added. The foam panels are used primarily in residential construction and “demand for it is going down,” said Adams.

SIP technology has been around since the ’70s said Adams. “It is used typically in the north where heating costs are so high.”

A side benefit is that the air is significantly cleaner inside such envelopes.

Once the panels are put together and the envelope is completed by around Oct. 22, both outside wall material, and the inside finish-out of walls, and wiring and other jobs can take place simultaneously. This is why the construction time is significantly reduced.

Additional savers on the building are the use of a white reflective roof, and a “very efficient glass system” which is a high-end standard construction. Large awnings will prevent heat gain, while allowing natural light in the interior.

Carpet, with all recycled materials, and paint with low off-gassing are being used. “We chose materials on the inside that are environmentally conscious without adding any real costs to construction.”

The envelope’s SIP construction allows “significant savings on HVAC equipment,” said Asbury.

“The EPA changed requirements for efficiency on rooftop units and that was going to cost a lot more money. We were able to go for fewer high efficiency units at only $1,500 more as opposed to $20,000 more,” Adams said.

New codes also require that lights turn on and off based on motion sensors.

“Very receptive,” and “enthusiastic” was how Asbury and Adams described the City of Rockwall building officials.