Weekly LEED roundup – 7/24/09

Clemson is waiting on Gold certification for a new building and the importance of LEED project management software is discussed.

Fri, Jul 24 2009 at 7:00 AM EST

Harris A. Smith Building - Clemson University

The Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics at Clemson University is housed in the Harris A. Smith Building. The building is expected to receive LEED Gold certification; upon completion of the certification process, it will be the first LEED Gold building on the university’s campus.

The three-story, $7 million facility uses locally sourced materials including Hanson Dark Palomino brick. The large windows allow natural light to follow into educational and public spaces. Although constructing a green building was one of the goals of the project, another goal was to do this in an economical fashion.

Josh Andrews, of Lord, Aeck & Sargent, was the project’s architect. He described how the building used sustainable features under a tight budget.

“We chose to clad the lower level plinth with a locally sourced, polished concrete masonry unit that complimented the cast stone used in conjunction with local brick. We made economical use of durable materials with high recycled content, such as the polished, integrally colored concrete floors, which have a 20 percent fly ash content.” Source: Pitch Engine

LEED Project Management Software

Okay, so this isn’t a LEED registered or certified project, but it is a topic that LEED APs may find of interest – LEED project management software. I recently had an opportunity to chat with Houston Neal at SoftwareAdvice.com about the importance of tracking LEED credits. After all, without the credits, there would be no LEED certification.

Neal reviews two software programs: EADOC and Procore. Although both software programs provider users with a bevy of options, the LEED software industry may only still be in its infancy.

“In terms of development, we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. There is great potential for software vendors to create advanced features and functionality to make LEED tracking a less complicated process. Maybe we’ll even see a “click to submit” function for companies to submit electronically to the USGBC.” Source: Software Advice