Consulting-Specifying Engineer - December 2007 - (Page 24) Greening the Caribbean In Puerto Rico, engineers integrate commonly used technologies to produce a unique top-rated green building. able building. The firm decided to acquire 5 acres of industrial set-aside land on the outskirts of San Juan. They acquired land in 1999, and completed the permit acquisition in 2004. Construction of the administrative building began in 2005, with occupancy beginning in 2006. Finally, the crowning glory of the project came on Sept. 21, 2006, when the facility achieved a platinum rating under USGBC LEED NC Version 2.1 for new construction— the first building in Puerto Rico, and the first in the Caribbean, to attain this highest LEED certification level. “The greatest challenge on the project was complying with requirements for LEED platinum status,” said Jorge Ledon Webster, PE, lead mechanical engineer on the project. “A lot of effort was put into providing a first-class interior environment requiring minimal energy costs. The LEED process requires a lot of documentation.” The two-story building is a 9,600-sq.-ft footprint with 12,000 sq. ft of air conditioned area for offices, cafeteria and storage areas. In addition to being designed to LEED NC BY SCOTT SIDDENS, Senior Editor S tandard Refrigeration Co. Inc.’s Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, facility was getting old. Real estate costs were skyrocketing. The shared office and manufacturing space just wasn’t cutting it any more. The mechanical/electrical contracting firm, founded 60 years ago, had to move. But firm officials didn’t want just to build a new facility—they wanted a unique, sustain- Gold Winner 24 Systems all are located on a single pad outside the building for ease of maintenance. Light pollution is reduced by using fixtures that keep light within the facility site. Consulting-Specifying Engineer • DECEMBER 2007 Photography courtesy of Standard Refrigeration
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