While LEED is often discussed when considering new commercial construction, the designation also applies to the design and operation of a number of different types of buildings, including schools, retail centers, healthcare facilities, and private homes. It is possible for existing buildings to go green and reach LEED certification by improving and maintaining day-to-day energy operations. Even entire neighborhoods can be LEED certified by promoting the principles of smart growth and urbanism.
Along with our firm’s environmental engineering services that warrant points toward LEED certification, the acquisition of Brownworth Engineering has expanded the points that can be awarded to our projects in the areas of plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems that are based on civil engineering.
The different levels of LEED certification are reached by recognizing performance in five areas of environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. Because the certification looks at a whole building’s approach to sustainability, the ''green'' choices made in new construction are guaranteed to have an immediate and measurable positive impact on the building’s performance.
At Whitman we have made it a priority to seek out and hire LEED-certified experts to better assist our clients in identifying and qualifying whether a project is suitable for certification. LEED certification was never intended to be mandatory for all new buildings or applied in a one-size-fits-all manner. Solar panels that work well in an office building and reduce operating costs over a number of months, for example, might not benefit a private homeowner. Businesses especially have to consider how they will recoup the sometimes added costs of building or redeveloping with eco-friendly material. Not all of those costs can be recouped on every project.
However, by carefully considering which environmental features to include in new construction, a developer can increase asset value, reduce waste, conserve energy and water, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many of the environmental benefits also have corresponding financial benefits, including lower operating costs and tax incentives.
But many of these benefits aren’t confined to LEED certification. By combining the benefits of LEED certification with already existing sustainability efforts such as brownfield redevelopment, corporations can more fully focus their efforts on sustainability while garnering even greater financial rewards in the process.
It is our goal at Whitman to provide a full range of environmental services to all of our clients — not only during initial site assessments and remediation but throughout the redevelopment of brownfields and the construction of environmentally conscious buildings. ''LEED certification'' isn’t just a buzz phrase. It’s an important development tool that will ensure that the communities where we develop, and the people who use these buildings, will thrive in the future.
About The Whitman Companies Inc.
The Whitman Companies Inc. is New Jersey’s leading engineering and management firm, offering expertise in brownfield redevelopment, civil and geotechnical engineering, site assessment, remediation cost recovery, groundwater contamination and recovery, indoor air-quality solutions, industrial hygiene, and innovative remediation technologies. Since its founding in 1985, the East Brunswick-based company has performed more than 2,500 site assessments, remedial investigations, and remediation designs for all types of development and redevelopment projects, including commercial, retail, and residential properties in more than 12 states. Whitman has secured more than $30 million in state and federal reimbursements for environmental work for their clients.
In 2007 Whitman acquired Brownworth Engineering, a mechanical consulting and electrical engineering firm located in Piscataway, NJ. The acquisition has created one of the largest full-service firms in the state, providing expertise in all areas of mechanical, electrical, and environmental engineering.
For more information on The Whitman Companies, please call 732-390-5858 or visit www.whitmanco.com.
