“Building green with energy efficiency can also save green” Jacksonville Business Journal, May 23, 2008 From affordable homes to grand offices, Jacksonville's construction industry is laying a foundation of proof that anyone can build green. "The projects we see now demonstrate that this is do-able at all price points in the market," said Bruce Doueck, JEA's manager of conservation programs. Developers, contractors, architects and engineers increasingly see that it makes economic sense to reduce their carbon footprints. "Builders are finding out about money-saving opportunities that can offset additional costs of green construction," said Doueck, whose office will sponsor such upcoming classes as "Florida Water Star 101" and "Green Development 101." Building green can mean installing simple appliances such as dual-flow toilets and compact fluorescent lighting fixtures, or it can mean creating broad designs for advanced storm-water management and environmental protection. General contractor Paul Witt said the costs and benefits of going green evened themselves out when he built three homes on Oakley Street, east of Springfield. Witt's subcontractors used 30-percent recycled blown-in insulation and advanced framing techniques that required fewer interior studs and nails. Witt said construction costs were $3,500 higher due to the price of low-impact systems such as heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems that rely on fresh air. But he was able to save that much by using fewer construction materials. Also, instead of generating the two tons of construction waste typical for a 2,500-square-foot home, he was able to cut construction waste by half. The three homes were completed last week and are being considered as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design homes by the U.S. Green Building Council. The USBGC is a nonprofit consortium that promotes sustainable construction. If approved, Witt's projects will be the first LEED-certified affordable homes in Florida. Likewise, the new home under construction at 1118 18th Street, just off Phoenix Avenue, is being built to LEED standards and its builders are generating less than half the normal construction waste, in large part due to the wood being pre-cut at the Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville Inc. warehouse. The home is a HabiJax Women Build project, co-sponsored by the Associated Builders and Contractor's Women's Council. On the commercial side, Discovery Montessori School on 15th Street in Jacksonville Beach is applying for LEED certification for its new administration and after-care building, under design by Breaking Ground Contracting Inc. "If a small, non-profit Montessori -- a commercial construction project under $1 million -- can be green, then other businesses around town can be green," said Ellen Leroy-Reed, Breaking Ground's director of business development. "If a $130,000 Habijax house can be green, that makes it attainable for every citizen in Jacksonville." For large businesses, an example is being set by a real estate investment trust that owns and manages 2.5 million square feet of industrial and office space throughout Jacksonville. Liberty Property Trust received the city's first commercial LEED certification in January for its 5201 Gate Parkway building. Now Liberty is pursuing a LEED certificate for its new 80,000-square-foot speculative office building at 4875 Belfort Road in Butler Plaza, due for completion in the next month. Green features there include water-saving low-flow shower heads, sensor faucets and waterless urinals; energy-efficient HVAC equipment with special filters and carbon dioxide monitors; a highly reflective TPO roof membrane; and low-emission paints, carpet and adhesives. Companies that want to earn up to 17 LEED credits during new construction could turn to Jacksonville-based STT Construction Group, which builds with walls made of interlocking 20-gauge steel-core panels. The Koreteck walls reduce deforestation, offer better heating and cooling efficiency, eliminate the need for metal studs, insulation and exterior sheathing, and reduce construction time and cost, said STT's vice president of business development Beth DuMond. The Koretck system was used to build the 18,300-square-foot Native Sun store built near Baymeadows Road and State Road 9A. For the new Gate Petroleum Co. gas station and convenience store at 4120 Belfort Road across from St. Luke's Hospital, the Koreteck panels will reduce construction time from 120 days to 93 days, DuMond said. "We're coming up with ideas for value engineering," DuMond said. "We see the benefits these walls bring our clients in time and money savings and energy efficiency." Such equipment and procedures could become more routine if an ordinance proposed by the city of Jacksonville's Environmental Protection Board is approved. The ordinance would require new city-owned buildings to achieve LEED certification and would fast-track permitting for developers who choose to pursue LEED certification. It is under review by general counsel and is expected to go before the City Council in about a month. Also expected to go for council approval in the next month is a proposal by the Environmental Protection Board for a full-time sustainable building coordinator. Northeast Florida's strategies for green urban planning, conservation and legislation were studied earlier this month by a group of 15 building industry experts from around the world who came to Jacksonville to study sustainable building practices. Hosted by the International Visitor Corps of Jacksonville, they toured projects from Downtown to Cecil Field. "It was a moment of self-reflection as a Jacksonville citizen to hear those global perspectives, and to think about what we're really doing to sustain our transit-oriented communities," said Leroy-Reed, who in addition to working for Breaking Ground also serves as the public advocacy committee chairwoman for the local chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. "I hope Jacksonville takes away from the experience the desire to change and grow responsibly," Leroy-Reed said. "Going green needs to be viral, so if one person xeriscapes or uses recycled water, everyone on the street does it, until it becomes commonplace."