LACCD Sustainable Design Standards

By Lauren Kuntz, San Francisco, Commissioning Agent

With the construction industry being transformed by green building and the LEED Rating System, many new projects are "greening" their design practices and specifications to be more sustainable.  It is common for large scale Owners to find themselves with multiple projects, each with different A/E and construction teams.  Rather than reinventing the wheel with each project, these Owners are finding it beneficial to standardize their building practices and provide each A/E team a framework for their designs.

Glumac had recently come across many companies attempting to design "green prototype" office spaces, retail stores, call centers, etc. to replicate in subsequent projects.  School districts, colleges and universities have numerous buildings, often on multiple campuses, making them prime candidates for standardizing as well.  Recently, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) turned to Glumac's expertise in green design and the LEED rating system to create their new Sustainable Design Standards.

Background

The Los Angeles Community College District is the largest community college district in the United Sates, with 188,000 students at nine campuses in the greater Los Angeles area.  In November of 2008, Los Angeles voters approved Measure J, which granted $3.5 billion in construction bonds to modernize LACCD's campuses with new technologies and "green" buildings.

The modernization effort is focused on job training in new fields closely related to the emerging green economy.  LACCD's Executive Director of Facilities, Planning and Development, Larry Eisenberg, is committed to "bringing green to the under served areas and students" of Los Angeles.  With "more than 80% [of LACCD's student body] from minority communities and 40% with incomes at or below the poverty line," it is vital to include those in under served areas in the green movement.

In March of 2009, Glumac partnered with Gensler to produce a "Sustainable Design Standard" for the LACCD.  The document serves as a comprehensive design guideline to the A/E teams working for all current and future bond measure projects on the campuses.  In addition to the Standard, Glumac and Gensler also provided the LACCD with a "Sustainable Specification Guide," to give A/E teams direction in preparing the specifications for all projects, as well as a series of "Green Papers" which provide background information on some of the green technologies that could be implemented on LACCD's campuses.

LACCD Sustainable Design Standards 

The Design Standards follow the general structure of the LEED NC 2.2 Rating System.  It is the LACCD district's policy that all new buildings on all campuses must be certified under the LEED rating system, ideally earning the Platinum level of certification.  Glumac and Gensler looked at the layout and location of each of the nine campuses, as well as the characteristics of each building type, and determined if LEED credits would be "mandatory" or "recommended" for each.

Sustainable Specifications Guidelines 

Rather than having each A/E team have to research suitable materials and appropriate design considerations for green technologies, Glumac and Gensler also provided a Sustainable Specifications Guide.  This Guide lists required LEED submittals, required materials characteristics, applicable codes, equipment considerations, as well as criteria to follow when designing certain systems.  Many systems such as rainwater and graywater harvesting, solar water heating, etc. have associated "best practices," which were included in the Guide.

"Green Papers" 

Finally, Glumac also prepared a series of "green papers" (white papers on "green" technology) to give background information on certain systems.  Cool roofs, heat recovery, rainwater harvesting, underfloor air distribution, etc. were each summarized in a few pages to explain the technology and provide applications.  Additional resources were also provided for the A/E teams.

Conclusion

The Design Standards, Specifications Guide and Green Papers will assist the A/E teams on all current and future LACCD projects.  Across the nine campuses, there are over 100 bond measure projects, including renovations, modernization efforts, infrastructure upgrades and new construction.  All of these projects will be required to follow the Design Standard and Specification Guide.