Environmental Design + Construction - October 2008 - (Page 50) CASE STUDY DUAL LEED HISTORIC LANDMARK ACHIEVES TWO LEED PLATINUM CERTIFICATIONS. BY D. BROOKE SMITH, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP. According to Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO, Founding Chair, of the U.S. Green Building Council, “The best-practices case of The Christman Building has helped expand the boundaries of what’s possible in high-performance, energy-efficient buildings, and should provide an inspiration for others.” One LEED Platinum certification by any standard is extremely commendable. Dual LEED Platinum certification in conjunction with the same project, until now, is unprecedented. Dual LEED Platinum certification in the context of a historic preservation project involving historic tax credits is almost unimaginable. Yet, this is precisely what the owner and design team were able to accomplish at The Christman Building, by earning a Platinum rating under two LEED rating systems: Core and Shell and Commercial Interiors. DEVELOPING A NEW HEADQUARTERS Initially motivated by its need for additional space, The Christman Company, a Lansing, Mich.-based construction firm, immediately realized that it was faced with a unique opportunity and elected to take a holistic approach to the development of its new corporate headquarters. Having been located in Lansing for most of its 114 years, Christman was firmly committed to the community and, spurning the trend of others favoring the suburbs, elected to become an integral partner in the city’s ongoing downtown revitalization. Almost by accident, Christman became aware of a vacant six-story building in the shadow of Michigan’s capitol in downtown Lansing. Upon further investigation, the company came to discover that the building was the landmark Mutual Building, a circa 1928 Elizabethan structure that was on the National Register of Historic Places. Shortly after acquiring the building, Christman and members of the design team embarked upon a visioning and organizational development study that led to the establishment of five guiding principals that drove the design process: represent the company’s core values of people, energy, expertise, accomplishments and history; encourage team collaboration; create an environment that shares The Christman Company created a new office environment that maximizes comfort and efficiency, earning a Platinum rating under LEED for Commercial Interiors and LEED for Core and Shell. Photo by Gene Meadows. WWW.EDCMAG.COM successes and energy, and also provides for mental and physical breaks; maximize comfort with individual thermal and lighting controls, ergonomic workstations, and daylighting; and plan adaptively for growth, change and space needs of short-term on-site project personnel. Beyond creating an “ideal” work environment for its employees, Christman realized that this was a golden opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to integrated and sustainable design and construction, to historic preservation, and to the downtown revitalization of its home city. THE CHRISTMAN BUILDING LOCATION: LANSING, MICH. SIZE: 60,000 SQUARE FEET OPENED: JANUARY 2008 CERTIFICATIONS: LEED-CI PLATINUM AND LEED CS PLATINUM DESIGN SERVICES: SMITHGROUP CONSTRUCTION: THE CHRISTMAN COMPANY (WWW.CHRISTMANCO.COM) 50 http://www.EDCmag.com http://WWW.CHRISTMANCO.COM
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