LEED® Gold Benefits Beginning to Shine in Toyota Buildings |
by David Mitchell, P.E., LEED®AP, Irvine Associate Principal
The Toyota South Campus project was showcased in two recent articles about green building: Toyota™s "Green Acres" merited a sidebar in the Harvard Business Review about "Building the Green Way;" and was highlighted in Roger Vincent™s article, "The Greening of Work," which appeared in the Los Angeles Times this past August.
There is a huge potential benefit to building owners in having healthier and more productive buildings. The Toyota South Campus building in Torrance, California, designed by LPA Architects, has now been occupied for nearly four years. The benefits of their LEED® Gold certification are beginning to shine.
According to Toyota representatives, they have found improvements in employee productivity and generally higher worker morale at this facility. In case studies from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), working in an environmentally friendly building can produce an increase in productivity by as much as 16%. Toyota has reported a 14% drop in their employee absenteeism. This measured improvement translates to a considerable cost savings. Toyota has also found that their employee retention rate has increased on this campus as compared to other existing buildings owned by Toyota Motor Sales USA.
There doesn™t seem to be any one single attribute responsible for these benefits, but is more a result of a combination of measures. For instance, the narrow, rectangular shape of the buildings and the open space plans give 90% of the building occupants views with natural daylight. These employees have reported a perceived sense of openness and connection to the outdoors. "The lighting is easier on the eyes and on the nerves," Toyota employee Mary Jo Moutsios said. "I take pride in working in this building. It™s pleasant and feels more productive."
Another contributing factor is the reduction of source emissions from less toxic building materials, paints, sealants, and carpets. Mechanical measures such as good quality and high efficient air filtration, improved control of lighting levels, extensive use of daylighting, CO2 monitoring and control to optimize the building ventilation rates all play a role.
Toyota now has about 2,400 workers in the building surrounded by eight acres of landscaped grounds. "The outer spaces “ the bamboo garden and the breezeways “ are as inviting for small meetings as the indoor spaces," manager Marnie Warrick said. "It makes you feel good to be in a building that serves a larger purpose."
According to Toyota™s Ruben De Leon, the original project objective was to build a clean, safe, comfortable work environment for their employees. This objective was successfully achieved, along with many unexpected benefits. With the exception of the added first cost from photovoltaics and reclaimed water use “ both of which have payback periods “ the overall construction costs for the building were still similar to other buildings in this area. This is a good example of how building owners today can provide similar results on a standard budget, proving that environmentally friendly buildings can be "green" in more ways than one!
