Green Business: Green Building

Credits

Written and Researched by
Robert Watson

With Additional Research by
Adam Cox

Acknowledgments

NRDC is indebted to its more than 350,000 members and supporters, without whom none of this work would be possible. NRDC would like to thank the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their support of our efforts to encourage market transformation of the building industry by reporting on and disseminating the results of our experience.

In addition, the authors would like to thank the following people for their timely and valuable research and editorial assistance: Diane Dulken, Jacob Scherr, Eric Olson, Sangeetha Rao, Justin Ward and Donna Wilcox. We are grateful to Stacy Davis and Andrew Wishart at Turner construction for their assistance in preparing the cost comparison information. NRDC would also like to thank David Adamson of Planetary Solutions, Paul Novak of Environmental Construction Outfitters and John Picard of E² for their generous help with identifying environmental products.

Design and Construction Team
NRDC would especially like to thank Interplan Inc. and Turner Construction for their outstanding work on this project and their eagerness to embrace the environmental ethos we were attempting to convey.

Architect
Shiela Kaplan, Project Architect
Aime Vickers, Interior Design
INTERPLAN INC.
170 Rollins Avenue
Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 231-9770
(301) 770-2760 fax

Construction Contractors
Andrew Wishart, Project Manager
Eddie Bucci, Site Foreman
TURNER CONSTRUCTION
Special Projects Division
4601 N. Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 841-5282
(703) 841-5245 fax

Lighting Consultants
Michael Lane, Principal Lighting Designer of the Lighting Design Lab in Seattle provided very helpful suggestions about lighting strategies for our offices. Randy Smith of the LDL helped us track down a number of fixtures that we used. NRDC was an original proponent and Steering Committee member of the Lighting Design Lab, which is operated by Seattle City Light for the benefit of people living in the Pacific Northwest region. The LDL assists Northwest region lighting specialists design energy efficiently.

How to Use this Report

The report is organized according to materials and energy issues. Each section is intended to convey basic information and experience about the environmental aspects of our Washington D.C. office. Due to space limitations, we do not address all of the potential design and material trade-offs possible in these situations. At the end of each section, we give contact information about how to obtain the particular product we used. This does not necessarily imply an endorsement of these products. Please note that other companies manufacture similar products or materials that may be more appropriate for your particular project. The information in the report is not intended to supplant the skills and experience of practicing professionals, whenever in doubt about a product or the application of a design principle, consult a licensed designer for advice.

Disclaimer

This paper was prepared with the support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations of the authors expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the EPA.

Let Us Know

If you found this guide helpful and used the information to modify a design or specify an environmental product, please let us know. We can use this information to convince others in the building industry about the market for environmental design and building products. Please contact Rob Watson at rwatson@nrdc.org with your reaction (and actions) to the contents of this report.