Sustainability and Security

Several executive orders have been issued since the late 1990s which mandate the “greening” of all federal projects. In my opinion, the design-build method of delivery is critical to the success of greening.

VIRTEXCO Corp. and RRMM Architects are in the process of completing their sixth design-build partnership for the Navy on jobs ranging from water parks to new state-of-the-art war rooms, in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Our latest project, the new Police and Security Building for Little Creek Amphibious Base in Norfolk, VA, adds a new twist: it is required to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, meaning that it must be deemed by the United States Green Building Council as worthy of at least 26 points, according to the Council’s rating system for “green” buildings. When the project becomes LEED certified this fall, it will be the first building certified for VIRTEXCO, the first for RRMM, and the first for the VIRTEXCO/RRMM/ Navy team.

The project at Little Creek Amphibious Base consists of a new state-of-the-art facility housing military police operations and internal security for the base, including the K-9 force. Dog kennels for the police dogs, a new maintenance facility, and a new parking lot are also featured. Once the new buildings are complete and the staff has moved in, it is VIRTEXCO’s contractual responsibility to demolish the existing buildings and return the site to a turf field.

Although I know that it has been done, I cannot quite understand how a LEED project can be successful without using the design-build process. The LEED New Construction and Major Renovation rating system includes a possible total of 69 points, granted for the different aspects of green building — such as indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and water use reduction — although only 26 points are required for the lowest level of certification on this project. Of the possible 69 points, four have to do with site selection and are achieved (or not) simply by the type and location of the site. Another nine points are in the hands of the civil designer for site design items such as site lighting, drainage, and landscaping. Nineteen points relate directly to the design of the HVAC systems and their level of efficiency and performance. As many as 14 to 16 points fall to the general contractor to win or lose, in the categories of waste management, recycled, regional, rapidly renewable, and certified materials, indoor air quality management, and low-emitting materials. Most of the possible points require at least the consent, if not the full cooperation, of the owner.

The RFP for the new Police and Security Building came out in late 2005 as the “seed” project for the Hampton Roads Multiple Area Construction Contract (MACC). Competition for the seed project is especially fierce because the stakes are as much as $100 million over five years. Therefore, the design submitted must be compelling and the price must be low, leaving little room for consideration of LEED certification points. Our proposal got us not only “on the MACC” as one of five selected contractors, but our Design and Lump Sum proposal was selected to be built.

Although the design-build team had completed the checklist for LEED points prior to submitting the proposal, major changes were made to the project during the design charrette. Our contract required that the building receive LEED certification which, as stated above, requires a minimum of 26 points. The team agreed to set a target of at least 30 points because some points may not materialize during the design and construction process, given the tight budget restrictions. Meetings were called about once every two months throughout the project for the purpose of reviewing the status of the LEED points. The Navy cooperated by agreeing to provide preferred parking spaces for carpools.

As I mentioned above, 14 to 16 points of the possible LEED points are won or lost by the contractor. These are items that basically fall into the realm of “means and methods” (the equipment, tools, labor, and sequencing) of the construction. In a conventional design-bid-build contract in which the designer is not permitted to interfere with the contractor’s “means and methods,” how are these points to be attained? On the Police and Security Building project, VIRTEXCO will attain between 10 and 14 of these points. Without these points, LEED certification will not be achieved.

The design-build team kept looking for ways to improve the building performance and VIRTEXCO kept striving to preserve the budget AND maximize LEED points. As it stands today, thanks to the hard work and cooperation of the owner, the designers, and the general contractor, the project is on track to achieve not only the contractual minimum of “certified,” but may actually receive enough points to achieve a “silver” rating. A “silver” rating requires an additional six points (32 points total) and is the next higher level in the LEED system of Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

INFO: VIRTEXCO Corporation (www.virtexco.com)