ShawneeDispatch.com

Shawnee city employees are making the move over the next few weeks to the new Justice Center complex, and they are moving to a much healthier and "greener" environment.

The Justice Center was designed and built to meet requirements for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification. As the Police, Fire and Municipal Court departments slowly move into the buildings, with an open house scheduled for Sept. 20, the city and design-build team will move forward with getting the complex officially certified as LEED by submitting a final application at the end of the month.

Bert Schnettgoecke, city project engineer, said the city's Justice Center team decided early on that creating the Police Department, Municipal Court and Fire Station No. 72 to meet LEED certifications was a top priority. In addition to being environmentally- friendly, most LEED-certified buildings realize economic benefits like lower operating costs and increased asset value.

To be LEED certified, a building must meet several requirements to earn specific points. To achieve basic certification, a building must receive at least 26 points; the highest number of points that can be earned, giving a building a platinum-level certification, is 79.

Even when the cost of building the Justice Center complex came in higher than expected, the city decided that going for LEED certification was not something it was willing to cut from the building's construction budget, and the city found other ways to save.

"We wanted the certification out there; we wanted the shingle, so to speak, to hang in the hallway," Schnettgoecke said.

Schnettgoecke estimated the cost of receiving certification to be about $70,000.

"To go through this certification takes quite a bit of time on the part of the architects and engineers," he said. "Before they'll give you that point, there's quite a bit of documentation that you have to prepare."

The city and design-build team of Hoefer-Wysocki Architects and McCownGordan Construction submitted the project for a preliminary review in February. Schnettgoecke said the preliminary review was necessary to show what information still was needed.

"The LEED board tells us 'You've applied for this point, if you could give us some more information, we'd be able to give you that point,'" Schnettgoecke said of the preliminary application.

Schnettgoecke and Chad Ingram of Hoefer-Wysocki said that the Justice Center was projected to attain enough points to be a silver-level LEED project, but it doesn't appear the project will make that level at this time.

Ingram said the design-build team would not submit some of the points not because they have been ignored, but because they are not economically feasible for this project, though the design has tried to incorporate their intent.

The following are some of the points that the facility has achieved and the methods used to obtain them, provided by Hoefer-Wysocki:

¢ Construction Activity Pollution Prevention: The erosion and sediment control measures used include the use of silt fence, gravel filter for inlet protection, and seed and mulch for stabilization. The plan has been approved and permitted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

¢ Site Development: The disturbance of the site was kept to a minimum. Excavation around the building, parking and drives was kept to a minimum to fulfill the construction need. Construction activity, vehicle movement and material storage was kept to locations where land would be disturbed for construction. These practices allow for more of the property to be untouched and ecosystems undisturbed.

¢ Light Pollution Reduction: The facility's light configuration and light levels prohibit light to encroach beyond the site. This includes both exterior and interior lighting. The lighting system is utilized to reduce sky glow, improve nighttime visibility and reduce the development's impact on the surrounding nocturnal environment.

¢ Water Efficient Landscaping: The landscape surrounding the building is of native and adapted vegetation and will require no irrigation once it has established itself. This will require the facility to use less potable water overall.

¢ Water Use Reduction: The plumbing fixtures used in the facilities provide means for using less water by means of automatic controls and controlled flow. Besides lowering the amount of water the building requires to operate, they also reduce the strain put on the municipal wastewater system.

¢ Construction Waste Management: More than 60 percent of the construction waste and land clearing debris related to project was diverted from the local landfill to local recycling centers. Materials were separated on site by the contractors.

¢ Recycled Content: More 30 percent of the materials used in the construction of these buildings are made from recycled materials, reducing the material extraction required to make it.

¢ Low-Emitting Materials: Materials with low VOCs, Volatile Organic Compounds, were utilized in the construction of the facilities to ensure the reduction of odorous, irritating and harmful air contaminants. This is important to health and well being of the individuals in the building. Materials that were included in this list are: adhesives and sealants, paints and coatings, carpet systems, composite wood systems.

Schnettgoecke added that the city also plans to have a green cleaning program at the Justice Center, using green products that will lead to a healthier environment inside for employees. He said the city also would purchase wind power from Kansas City Power & Light for the building.