When Alberici Corporation employees move into their new offices in December, they will be moving into one of the nation’s “greenest” buildings. That’s because the new headquarters — situated in the St. Louis suburb of Overland — is a model for sustainable design and construction, a way of building that significantly reduces life cycle costs, conserves natural resources and enhances the quality of work life for its occupants.
From the start, the project was registered with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and measured by their metric rating system called the LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System. Alberici is seeking to achieve Platinum LEED® certification, the highest certification level. Currently, there are only a handful of platinum-certified buildings in the world.
One of the most visible features of the new building is the massive 3-blade wind turbine that sits atop a 124-foot monopole. Not a common site in St. Louis, the wind turbine is expected to provide close to 20 percent of Alberici’s annual energy needs. Other examples from this project include:
- More than 95 percent of construction and demolition waste was diverted from the landfill, and either reused, donated or recycled.
- 500,000 (half a million) gallons of water saved per year and zero reliance on city water for sewage conveyance by using rainwater collected in a catchment system.
- Use of innovative building materials such as a soybean polymer for the garage roof membrane.
Alberici has long been recognized as an innovator in the construction industry. In 2001, the company explored several options to meet the growing needs for a larger office space. In early 2002, Alberici purchased a 14-acre tract of land on the intersection between Interstate 170 and Page Avenue. On the property stood a three-story brick office building and a large metal fabrication facility. Alberici deconstructed and recycled the 60,000-square-foot office building, diverting more than 95 percent of the materials from the landfill. The remaining 485-foot by 300-foot manufacturing shed was divided by removing a 70-foot wide, 485-foot long section out of the middle, creating a space for an outdoor courtyard.
One side of the building has been converted to a two-story, 110,000-square-foot mezzanine-style office space. The office space houses a training classrooms, a 300-person multi-purpose room, 150-person capacity cafeteria with an outdoor patio, and a fitness center complete with showers and locker rooms. Operable glass windows and a clerestory glazing system allows for an open, sun-lit office environment, and the use of natural ventilation to save on energy costs. Nearly all the occupants will have a view directly to the outdoors.
Across the courtyard, the remaining portion of the existing building has been converted to a multi-level, indoor 300-car parking garage. The top of the garage roof is layered with a white EnergyStarÒ rated, durable, natural soybean oil polymer that is regionally harvested and manufactured.
Two naturalistic water retention ponds on the property were designed to eliminate storm water run off. Extensive use of plantings native to Missouri in the landscape eliminates the need for an irrigation system. Minimal site paving significantly reduces a heat-island effect, and it is anticipated in five years that 30 percent of the remaining paved area will be shaded.
A catchment system will collect rainwater from 60 percent of the garage roof area. The rainwater will be stored in a 38,000-gallon cistern installed in an existing trench once used to serve a train spur in the old manufacturing facility. The captured water will be filtered and chlorinated, then used for all sewage conveyance, saving an estimated 500,000 gallons of water per year.
The building’s HVAC system uses a mix of under-floor air distribution and natural ventilation through operable windows. The raised floor system throughout the building enables employees to custom-control the air flow and temperature of their work space. A 65-kilowatt wind turbine will generate nearly 20 percent of the building’s energy needs. In total, the building is designed to be 61 percent more efficient compared to a baseline building’s energy cost budget.