Understanding of Local Building Market
A solid understanding of the local building market is critical to any sustainable project. As an example, GBBN has worked closely with both the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District and local demolition contractors to understand the local recycling marketplace. Through this research, and with our experience at the Cincinnati Reds Ballpark and the Tangeman University Center projects, we now understand that reducing construction waste in Cincinnati by upwards of 75% is not only possible, but should be the norm. Other market lessons we have encountered include the increasing availability of local building materials with significant recycled content, and the local emergence of green technologies that have proven track records in other markets, such as porous concrete paving and geothermal mechanical systems.
Project Specifications
When LEED certification is a goal, GBBN has learned that outside of the design itself, the single most critical element to success is that the project specifications must be properly supplemented to account for the contractor's role in the process. Submittal requirements must be tailored to include items such as the location of extraction and manufacture, quantity of recycled content, and additional performance criteria to insure a successful LEED submittal. The specifications must also make explicit the methods by which the contractors record information that will be used in the LEED submittal and commissioning documents. Based on our experience with LEED registered projects, GBBN has updated its specifications not only with our own lessons learned, but has also integrated AIA Masterspecs most recent recommendations that assist in obtaining complete and accurate LEED documentation.
A solid understanding of the local building market is critical to any sustainable project. As an example, GBBN has worked closely with both the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District and local demolition contractors to understand the local recycling marketplace. Through this research, and with our experience at the Cincinnati Reds Ballpark and the Tangeman University Center projects, we now understand that reducing construction waste in Cincinnati by upwards of 75% is not only possible, but should be the norm. Other market lessons we have encountered include the increasing availability of local building materials with significant recycled content, and the local emergence of green technologies that have proven track records in other markets, such as porous concrete paving and geothermal mechanical systems.
Project Specifications
When LEED certification is a goal, GBBN has learned that outside of the design itself, the single most critical element to success is that the project specifications must be properly supplemented to account for the contractor's role in the process. Submittal requirements must be tailored to include items such as the location of extraction and manufacture, quantity of recycled content, and additional performance criteria to insure a successful LEED submittal. The specifications must also make explicit the methods by which the contractors record information that will be used in the LEED submittal and commissioning documents. Based on our experience with LEED registered projects, GBBN has updated its specifications not only with our own lessons learned, but has also integrated AIA Masterspecs most recent recommendations that assist in obtaining complete and accurate LEED documentation.