BUILDING ON GREEN FOUNDATIONS

Corporate Report Wisconsin, May 2008 by Welch, Jamie

Insulation and bathroom installations are a far cry from traditional. Made from recycled blue jeans, the insulation absorbs sound, and doesn't itch or harm the environment like fiberglass. Waterless urinals, as well as toilets with separate solid- and liquid-waste buttons save up to 400,000 gallons of water per year, said Tom Thayer, Tri-North president and CEO, and the owner of the building.

"Sure there are costs to getting LEED Certified, but the payback is about seven to 10 years, and that number is decreasing with each green building we construct," Thayer said. "Using cotton from recycled jeans cost only a few cents more but the energy savings are big. The Sloan bathroom equipment only added about $40 to the cost of each bathroom, while at the same time we will be saving $700 per year on our water bill."

The upper-level flooring comprises bamboo that rapidly renews in the environment, recycled yard carpeting and recycled rubber in the employee exercise room. Cork reclaimed from wine bottles is used in the lower level flooring. Topping off everything is the green roof, which contains vegetation that reduces the amount of water run-off through a natural absorption process.

Manpower World Headquarters, Milwaukee

When the 9th Annual MANDI (Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation) event was held in March, Manpower Inc.'s World Headquarters won the Building Blocks Award for its contribution to the rebuilding of downtown neighborhoods. Gilbane Building Company of Milwaukee completed the construction of the project, which is on target to become LEED Gold Certified.

Along with helping transform a distressed neighborhood Manpower's presence is expected to contribute more than $2 million per year to the downtown economy and $100 million in surrounding development - the building is environmentally friendly.

"Gilbane was proud to be a part of building sustainable headquarters for Manpower," said Gary Grunau, Gilbane senior vice president. "Our firm is committed to environmental responsibility."

Multiple LEED Gold specifications were incorporated into the design and construction. Daylight and views are provided to more than 90% of the work spaces. Water efficient plumbing fixtures result in 41% water-use reduction. Low-volatile, organic-compound materials were specified to improve indoor air quality, and more than 10% of the building materials contain recycled content. Additionally, more than 50% of the wood used on site was harvested from rapidly renewable forests.

Efficient design uses 25% less energy and 40% less water than a typical building of smaller size. Finally, a major design element is the outdoor plaza that opens the city to Manpower employees, who indeed are a welcome addition to the neighborhood, which now has a much brighter future.

Smart Toyota Dealership, Madison

While Toyota strives to build green cars, Smart Motors has built a new 100,000-sq.-ft. sales and service center in Madison that will be the largest Toyota dealership in the region. It also is environmentally sound.