| Earthlink Earns LEED® Gold: Passes Pasadena Green Building Program First |
David Summers, P.E., LEED® AP,
Los Angeles Associate Principal
"The goal of the Pasadena Green Building Program is to encourage private sector builders to construct sustainable buildings that will serve as examples for future projects to emulate. Providing incentives for the design of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® Rating System underscores the City of Pasadena's principle of Stewardship of the Natural Environment: "To encourage and promote the stewardship of Pasadena's natural environment, including energy and water conservation, clean air, natural open space protection, and recycling." - City of Pasadena website
Pasadena implemented a Green Building Program in 2006, based upon the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED® Rating System. In addition to providing financial incentives for LEED® buildings through Pasadena Water & Power (PWP), the City of Pasadena requires that all large commercial projects be at a minimum, LEED® certified.
Glumac provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering and LEED® consulting services for the 52,000 sf Earthlink tenant improvement project, the first project to pass the City's LEED® permit approval process. Since LEED® certification was a requirement of obtaining a permit, and since buildings cannot be LEED® certified until after construction is complete, the City soon realized that they had created a "Catch-22" in their permit application process. Glumac worked through the permit approval process with the City and helped define the necessary level of LEED® documentation to obtain a permit, setting the precedent for future LEED® projects in Pasadena.
"The experience of developing and constructing this LEED® Gold project was an invaluable education for the Earthlink Design & Construction organization. The discipline of the submittal process causes one to consider every element and cost vs benefit to the company, its employees, and the overall environment. There is great satisfaction in achieving the Gold Certification but the credit clearly goes to the entire design & construction team for this achievement." Hank Smith, Director of Design & Construction for Earthlink, Inc.
Going for Gold
The original project goal was LEED® Silver, but considering the PWP LEED® incentives for higher levels of LEED® certification, and a desire to "Exceed the Expectations" of Earthlink executives, it soon became apparent that LEED® Gold was achievable and would be worth the additional effort. Glumac's mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering design had already contributed to the project qualifying well above LEED® Silver by earning credits for lighting power, lighting controls, outside air monitoring, additional ventilation, thermal comfort, optimized HVAC, electrical metering, and water savings. The owner purchased renewable energy that was worth two additional LEED® credits, which boosted the project to LEED® Gold and increased the PWP LEED® incentive from $20,000 (Silver) to $25,000 (Gold).
