Chris Sieroty is a contributor to Real Estate Southern California, from which this article was excerpted. Sustainable Building Sustainable features include:
  • A cost-saving HVAC under-floor displacement ventilation system at the auditorium that delivers conditioned air just above floor level.
  • Fixtures that promote water conservation, including waterless urinals, dual valve water closets, and low-flow faucets and showerheads.
  • Strategically placed rooftop plants and ground coverings that help to reduce noise, HVAC usage and the heat island effect.
  • "Builders are becoming aware of the fact that LEED is out there," says Gary Baker, vice president of design services with Smith Consulting Architects in San Diego. "If you don't mention it, they'll ask about it." In San Diego, Baker says sustainable building is relatively new, but he expects more eco-friendly housing and office to be built now that costs have come down and more of the marketplace is aware of it.The first LEED-certified product in Carlsbad will be completed in mid-January. That project is the Towers at Bressi Ranch, which will developed by Ryan Cos. and designed by Smith Consulting, Baker says.The Towers at Bressi Ranch will include high performance buildings that provide healthy environments for building occupants, as well as lowered energy and water bills. Jernigan says the increase in sustainable building is due to a change in our culture."In the past we were just building things, we didn't think about it," he says. "The single biggest shift is that we look at our buildings and ask ourselves if we can get better usage out of this stuff and what's the world going to look like in 10 years.
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