Southern Division Headquarters Goes Green
The Boldt Co., a nationwide construction services firm, is practicing what it preaches. The firm is going green with the construction of its Southern division headquarters in Oklahoma City, OK. The $6.5 million, 42,000 sq-ft facility will be the first commercial building in that city to achieve silver LEED certification. Boldt hopes that its commitment to the environment will influence others in the region to construct new facilities in accordance with green building principles as well.
Boldt selected W&W Steel Co. to provide turnkey design, fabrication and erection services for the project. W&W partnered with Vulcraft to supply joists and deck. “The project had a quick turnaround time and needed a team that could move efficiently,” says Carl Jones, district sales manager at Vulcraft. Vulcaraft and W&W assembled their team of engineers and began working on a building plan. It wasn’t until later in the project that the decision was made to go for LEED certification. “Since Vulcraft’s joists and decks are made of nearly 100% recycled and recyclable steel, the Boldt crew got the quality they needed plus the bonus of green materials too,” says Jones. Vulcaraft is a division of Nucor, the largest manufacturer of recycled materials in the world.
Green elements of the facility include a bike rack and employee showers to encourage bicycling instead of driving, staggered exterior walls in the warehouse that allow sunlight to filter through floor-to-ceiling windows and HVAC equipment that does not require chlorofluorocarbon-based refrigerants.
While the price of going green means greater upfront costs, Boldt believes that energy savings will provide a full payback in 68 months or less. The firm expects efficiency increases of 6% in the electrical system, 21% in the mechanical system and 11% in passive design features, such as window shading and roof extensions. The efficiencies are projected to save the firm $4,000 a month in operating costs. Rising energy market costs should reduce the payback time exponentially.
True cost savings will be measured after the facility is completed later this month.
According to Jerry Ennis, president of Boldt Southern Operations, Boldt believes the energy savings, combined with a higher quality working environment, will provide efficiencies and improvements that will pay off in many more ways down the road. Ennis further states “As one of the largest providers of construction services in Oklahoma, Boldt wanted to be proactive and lead the way in bringing green building techniques to the state. What better way to accomplish this goal than by achieving LEED certification on our own building!”