LEED Gold | Green Maltese

NORMAN — An open space flooded with light, a sparkly quartz compound countertop in a spacious kitchen, and a family-size wooden table are the first things that greet the firefighters in their second home at Norman fire station No. 8, and it’s green, too.

The station recently received notification that it has received LEED gold certification, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an internationally recognized green building certification system through U.S. Green Building Council.

“We’re the first station in the state of Oklahoma to receive any LEED certification, so we received gold right off the back,” Norman Deputy Fire Chief Jim Bailey said. “Our station 9 will also seek LEED certification.”

Norman Deputy Fire Chief Jim Bailey talks about the features of Fire Station No. 8 at the grand opening of Wednesday. Transcript Photo by Kyle Phillips

After a public safety sales tax passed in May 2008 to bank the funds for two new fire stations, it was quickly determined by the City of Norman that the new buildings would be built to be energy sufficient.

The City used LEED as a way to verify that the new fire stations would be built using sustainable strategies. Station No. 9, due to begin construction in December on Alameda Street, will be a larger facility but will also seek LEED certification.

The City hired Kirkpatrick Architecture Studio firm from Denton, Texas, to build its green stations based on LEED’s performance categories: site selection and treatment, water efficiency, energy use, materials selected and the indoor environmental quality.

Bailey said the City hired Kirkpatrick Architecture because they had previous experience in building LEED certified fire stations. It was a natural fit, he said, and one that paid off by earning them the second-highest certification level for station No. 8.

The building features a variety of small and large energy efficient features, he said, such as drought resistant landscaping, automatic lighting, motion sensor lighting, solar tube lighting, highly insulated walls, and easy maintenance floors and countertops.

The entire station capitalizes on its resources, with 90 percent of common areas having access to daylight, over 20 percent of construction materials were recycled materials, and 50 percent less domestic water use. Bailey said this 10, 327 sq. ft. station will use 30 percent less energy than another station of the same size.

Built on 105 peers, the foundation has space between it and the soil to allow for soil expansion without affecting the quality of the foundation. Features such as this will allow the station to remain in high quality condition for years to come, Bailey said.

Though the station was built with energy efficiency in mind, it was also designed to appeal to the firefighters who would eventually work there.

“It’s just as easy to make it comfortable as industrial, than why not make it comfortable?,” he said. “I’ve been there, I’ve been in their spot and the more you can make it feel comfortable for them the better their attitudes are going to be.”

Orginal link:

http://normantranscript.com/headlines/x2010690170/Norman-fire-station-earns-new-gold-certification-for-being-green

I am very excited to post my 1st firehouse that was submited by using the submit a firehouse link.

My hope is that more fire departments that have green fire stations will submit their green fire station information, so other fire deparments that are considering building green will have a place to gather information.

Roanoke Green Station 3

A special thanks to Lt. Rhett Fleitz ( Fire Critic) for this submission.

Roanoke Fire Department

Mission/Vision

This Department exists to protect and preserve the lives and property of residents and visitors of the City of Roanoke from damage or loss due to fire, medical emergencies, environmental hazards and traumatic accidents.

Responsibility

Roanoke Fire-EMS is a full-service fire and emergency medical service agency providing basic and advanced pre-hospital life support, fire prevention and education programs, fire suppression services, arson detection, vehicle extrication, and heavy tactical rescue. We also support a regional hazardous materials team. In addition to housing firefighting and EMS personnel and apparatus, fire-EMS stations are neighborhood resources. Fire-EMS personnel at these sites help distribute important city documents, teach children about fire safety, and provide a safe place for lost children and adults. Six of our stations are official polling places for all city elections.

Station Mascot

Station 3 :

Fire-EMS Station #3 is located at 4803 Williamson Rd..

It houses the Engine and Ambulance previously stationed at the Airport Fire Station. This is a great opportunity to bring emergency vehicles into the community.

Roanoke Fire-EMS has another reason to be proud of this building. It is the City’s first “Green” building. No, we’re not
talking about the color – this will be the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building in the City of Roanoke, meaning it will be more environmentally friendly. The LEED process gives the Engineering Department a way to measure payback and real value.

The benefits of constructing a “LEED” building are

The building will use resources like energy, water, materials and land more efficiently than a building simply built“to code”. An improved living environment will improve the health, comfort and productivity of those that workin the building. The City will save money by reducing operations and maintenance costs, and by lowering utility bills. Energy and water efficient buildings can reduce operating costs to less than half those of a traditional building. Improved indoor environments can increase employee productivity by up to 16%! And most importantly, to set an example for the community.

Setting an example for the community is very important to the City of Roanoke. With concerns over global warming, state and
federal pressure to cut air pollution and the alarming rise of asthma and allergies in children, we have to increase the competitiveness in quality of life indicators.
By being the first LEED Building built by the City of Roanoke, the Fire-EMS Department is “leading” the way in the education process about the benefits of being environmentally friendly. To schedule a tour, please call the Public Education Office at (540)853-5785.
Link with a great video about this station.

http://www.roanokeva.gov/85256a8d0062af37/vwContentByKey/N27EVHF5438TBRYEN

Station 3 LEED Gold Certification
Roanoke,VA — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized the city’s new Williamson Road Fire Station with “gold” LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. This certification was achieved as the result of the facility scoring 39 credits (or points), which are defined and rewarded by the USGBC. To qualify as a basic LEED facility, the project must achieve 26 credits. LEED “silver” certification is achieved at 33 points. “It is a great accomplishment to have the city’s first LEED-certified facility earn the ‘gold’ status for new construction,” says City Manager Darlene Burcham. “This is an excellent demonstration of Roanoke’s strong commitment to
environmental stewardship.” The facility’s new features have the potential toreduce operating and maintenance costs to less than half those of a traditionalbuilding. The sustainable or “green” components in the fire station include:

A Rainwater Harvesting Tank and System—a 10,000-gallon tank buried on site that collects rainwater run-off form the fire station. Thiscollected water is pumped from the tank to water the landscaping, flush toilets, and wash the trucks—greatly reducing the use of potable water. The system piping is not connected in any way to the building potable water system.
A Bio-Retention Pond—an area of the property populated with native plants that provides a “Rain Garden” to collect storm water run-off. The purpose of the pond is to reduce the amount of water flowing directly into the storm drain system and filter impurities from the run-off through layers of subgrade material before it eventually reaches the storm drain.
Shower fixtures that reduce water consumption.
Pervious Concrete Pavement— used in lieu of traditional concrete pavement to allow for surface water run-off to “seep” or filterthrough the pervious concrete. This too reduces the amount of water flowing directly into the storm drain system and filters impurities from the run-off through layers of subgrade material before it eventually reaches the storm drain.
Motion Detector Light Switches—these devices use sensors to turn light fixtures on and off depending on whether a room is occupied orvacant, and reduce the amount of electricity used.
Spray Foam Insulation—used in lieu of traditional batt insulation to provide a more air-tight interior attic space, restricting theamount of cold and hot air entering the building, and thus reducing heating and cooling costs. The spray foam also provides additional noise reduction from operating HVAC units.
Walk-off Floor Mats—these mats are provided at each doorway to reduce the amount of pollutants that enter into the core of the building.They are replaced with clean mats on a weekly basis by a service company.

Points were also earned for the city’s method for disposing of debris such as cardboard, glass, metals, and masonry. These materials were recycled as much as possible utilizing the city’s Solid Waste Management services and local recycling companies. In addition, the city earned points for procuring the majority of the building materials from vendors within 500 miles of the project site who produce their materials locally, thus reducing energy use and resources required to ship and obtain these products. “The building will use resources like energy, water, materials and land more efficiently than a building simply built ‘to code,’” says Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback. “And an improved living environment will enhance the health, comfort, and productivity of those that work in the building.”

Pictures:
Pictures are by Rhett Fleitz with the exception of the graphic about the rainwater system. That one is from the City of Roanoke.