A survey of mayors across the United States shows that most cities are adopting policies to encourage sustainable construction and energy efficiency in municipal buildings. The survey results were released at the 75th anniversary meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors held in June.

The City of St. Louis is keeping pace, according to Mayor Francis Slay’s office.

“We have an ordinance which requires that all newly constructed buildings meet LEED Silver standards,” Barbara Geisman, the City’s deputy mayor for development, told AEC St. Louis.

The St. Louis ordinance also requires that LEED principles be included in LEED-New Construction, and that LEED-Commercial Interiors and LEED-Existing Buildings principles be applied during retrofit and renovation projects of current standing facilities, whenever practicable. Sponsored by Alderman Fred Wessels, the ordinance was signed into law by Mayor Francis Slay in 2006.

Three St. Louis public buildings currently under development that will meet at least LEED Silver standards include two new recreation centers and the Animal House, one of the first “green building” animal shelters in the nation. The Lambert-St. Louis airport renovations will incorporate LEED principles for existing buildings wherever possible, according to the Mayor’s office.

Nationwide, nearly nine in 10 of the cities require that new city government buildings be more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable, or anticipate making that requirement in the next year. Ninety seven percent are using more energy-efficient lighting in public buildings, streetlights, parks, traffic signals, or expect to by next year.

Wellspring Development Company has announced Rock Hill Trails, a new sustainable 170 acre residential development in Madison County, Illinois near Edwardsville and Wood River. All homes in the development will conform to the “Green Building Guidelines” of the National Association of Home Builders and will be eligible for LEED certification.

According to Wellspring, the development will feature “high performance homes,” open spaces with trails and nature corridors, and neighborhood amenities. The homes will be built in clusters that offer privacy as well as open space, interconnected walking paths and trails, community gardens, a community center and common space where neighbors can gather.

Lots will be designed to allow homeowners to add energy-saving and conservation features such as geothermal heating and cooling systems, cisterns to capture rainwater for irrigation and solar voltaic panels.

The lead builder is Belcher Homes, engineer is SMS Engineers and the architectural consultant is Answers Inc. Architects.

On Friday, the St. Louis Business Journal featured the partnership of three St. Louis companies - The Lawrence Group, SG Blocks and Alberici - to develop extremely sturdy homes and residential developments from recycled shipping containers.

According to Lawrence Group principal Dan Rosenthal, quoted in the article, the finished homes are stronger than conventional construction because they resist “lateral loads” — those seen in hurricanes and earthquakes — and because steel is basically welded to steel.” The homes also are energy efficient. “When the appropriate coatings are installed, we have an envelope that reflects about 95 percent of outside radiation, resists the loss of interior heat, provides an excellent air infiltration barrier and does not allow water to migrate in. Because of the superior roof structure, it is easier to incorporate ‘green’ roof systems,” Rosenthal said in the article.

The article is available online to St. Louis Business Journal subscribers.

Source: St. Louis Business Journal

The principals of St. Louis-based The Lawrence Group architectural firm and SG Blocks plan to recycle used metal cargo shipping containers into sturdy, attractive homes and housing developments. The recycled shipping containers are much stronger than traditional construction in a hurricane or tornado and are very energy efficient. Read more in the April 20 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. And check out photos of the process at www.synergy-pr.com.

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Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

When an industry embraces an initiative the way architecture has embraced LEED green design and building, it only makes sense there will be a lot of “firsts.” FacilitiesNet reported on the first green law school, the first green building on Capitol Hill, the first green residential high-rise and the first green hotel and conference center.
And now…(drum roll)…the first LEED Gold certified building made out of straw bales.  It’s true and quite impressive! Designed by St. Louis’ own architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, the $20 million sustainable building in Santa Clarita, California serves as an administrative, maintenance and bus washing facility for the city’s new compressed natural gas bus fleet.  In addition to achieving LEED Gold, the facility exceeds California Energy Efficiency Standards by over 40 percent.

While many public agencies and architectural firms are gearing up for green design and LEED certification, developers and owners are slower to embrace the trend.

The Womble Carlyle Construction Blog addresses “Why more people don’t build green” in an April 13 post.

Here are the highlights:

• more expensive
• takes more time to build
• few incentives for developers
• low public demand
• absence of research on the impacts and benefits
• confusion over building standards

Here in St. Louis, The Lawrence Group Architects has successfully renovated The Security Building as a green historic building and is in the process of applying for LEED certification. This year, the Lawrence Group is increasing its number of LEED accredited staff to 40, five times the previous number.

The Lawrence Group occupies several floors of the building and is leasing the rest. As far as we know, the Security Building is the only LEED-designed space available for lease in St. Louis. Kudos to The Lawrence Group for making this project a success!