Building Green for the Long Term
It was PotashCorp's commitment to sustainability that moved Illinois architect George Cary to suggest the company's new feed phosphates administrative center in Marseilles, IL should be a green building. Now PotashCorp has the first commercial building in LaSalle County, IL designed to meet the US Green Building Council's standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
"I think it's the future, not just for PotashCorp, but for the whole building industry," says Paul DeKok, PotashCorp General Manager – Feed. "It is the right thing to do to lower our environmental footprint and use the least amount of energy possible."
Finished in late 2008, the new administrative center serves several purposes:
- It's an employee meeting and training center
- It's an emergency backup for PotashCorp's Northbrook, IL customer service and crisis communication functions
- It's a state-of-the-art safe haven in the event of a hazardous materials event in the area
- It's an example of how companies can reduce waste and save energy without adding significantly to construction costs
"It's the details that drive the project," DeKok says. "With a LEED building, you end up taking care of all the little things like the placement of windows to allow for maximum daylight."
Cary points to a feature that goes directly to the goal of preventing damage to the environment. The parking lot features "dark sky" lights, designed to minimize light at night.
"If these kinds of lights were used everywhere, it would be easier for people to see the stars at night and for migratory birds to know when it's time to fly south," he says.
LEED certification doesn't just require a green building – the whole construction process must be environmentally friendly. Cary's firm – Basalay, Cary and Alstadt Architects Ltd. of Ottawa, IL – ensured that all building materials included recycled content, and each leftover piece of wood, metal, plastic and concrete was recycled. Wherever possible, local components such as brick and concrete were used to avoid unnecessary transportation.
The building's air-to-air heat-pump system has a fan coil and thermostat in every room, making the heating more efficient throughout.
"Normally a builder won't give too much thought to where a window goes, but when you take into account the site's longitude and latitude and the lay of the land to place windows in the most light- and heat-efficient ways, you get a whole lot more than just a window," DeKok said.
Those kinds of details mean electric bills should be lower, and employees should be more comfortable in the building, he says.
Architect Cary estimates the green features added 5-10 percent to construction costs, some of which will be offset in future years in heating and air conditioning costs.
"It was a lot of work, and a capital expense on the front end, but it will pay great dividends in the years to come, in savings and in having an environmentally friendly place to work," DeKok says.