SustainableBusiness.com Newswire
04/28/2010 12:43 PM ET
News from: Tishman Construction Corporation
Tishman Construction Corp: LEED Gold for U.S. FDA Restored Historic Building
Washington, DC, April 27, 2010 - The U.S. General Services Administration has achieved the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® Gold certification for the Food & Drug Administration's Building 1, an historic landmark that was restored and renovated by Tishman Construction Corporation of Maryland (TCC-MD), the construction manager on the project in joint venture with Heery International.
Known for effectively managing the complexities of historic restoration and new construction, Tishman successfully renovated the existing, historic Naval Ordnance Building, built in 1946 and located on the FDA's new headquarters campus in the White Oak section of Silver Spring, Maryland. This four-story, 102,000-square-foot building was completely gutted; workers stripped everything to structural steel. It has been transformed into the Office of the Commissioner for FDA and serves as the gateway to the FDA campus.
The project was designed to LEED Silver standards, but through collaboration between the GSA, which is overseeing the project, the FDA, the LEED consultant, the architect (Kling Stubbins in association with RTKL Associates, Inc.) and the construction management team, the project achieved LEED Gold at no additional cost.
"We are indeed thrilled to win LEED Gold certification for this project, and we appreciate all the effort put forth by our consultants and our construction management team. Their dedication made this achievement possible," said Shapour Ebadi, Project Executive for the GSA. "Tishman developed innovative, effective ways to achieve more LEED points for this project. Their methods of purchasing, construction, and documentation were performed to LEED Gold standards, making Tishman key to the success of this project."
Restoring and Upgrading to Current Office Standards
The restoration brings the exterior façades, historic lobby, and conference rooms of Building 1 back to their original condition. It upgrades the building to reflect current office-space standards and to meet the sustainability goals of the GSA and FDA.
In the past, the FDA operated from 40 buildings in 18 locations scattered throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Many of the agency's offices were outdated, obsolete and overcrowded. The FDA is now consolidating its 8,900 employees on 130 acres on the historic site of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
The $1.4-billion FDA Headquarters Consolidation Project includes renovation of three historic buildings and construction of 17 new buildings, totaling 5.3 million square feet of new laboratories and offices. Tishman has also managed construction of a central utility plant and parking garages for approximately 5,900 vehicles. Eleven buildings have been completed and are occupied, two are under construction, and several are in the planning, programming or design phase. The project also includes building all new site utilities and infrastructure, more than 2½ miles of roads, and two new bridges. Many of the new and renovated buildings are being built to LEED Silver or LEED Gold standards. Completion is anticipated for 2012.
LEED Construction Challenges
"Tishman is very pleased to have managed the interesting complexities of this project in a way that is sensitive to wildlife on the campus, and that brings LEED Gold certification to this historic building, which we restored to its original integrity," said TCC-MD Executive Vice President Jeffrey Dodd.
Through collaboration, the construction and design team gained additional credits for bicycle storage and changing rooms, fuel-efficient vehicles, increased water-use reduction, increased recycled content, and increased use of certified wood, at no additional cost. Steps taken included:
- Implementing a transportation management plan involving shuttle buses, connection to the Metro, and dedicated parking for van and car pools;
- Existing structural frame and brick/limestone veneer were reused;
- Using low-volatile organic compound (VOC) paints, coatings, carpets and adhesives;
- Utilizing a highly reflective roof to reduce heat-island affect;
- Installing lighting that reduces light pollution;
- Abating of asbestos and lead paint according to LEED guidelines;
- Using indigenous plant materials that do not require watering;
- Improving mechanical systems, including connection to campus's central utility plant, which generates electricity and uses waste heat to power other equipment;
- Using Forest Service Certified®, easily renewable materials. The plan originally called for a smaller percentage of FSC materials, but the team moved that number to nearly 100%;
- Using materials that come from within a 500-mile radius of the project;
- Using excavation material originally planned to be hauled off site for infill, thereby diverting it from landfill; and
- Purchasing green power off the grid that is supplied by power companies who use easily renewable materials.
Unique Construction Challenges
Asbestos-Laden Windows: On Building 1, the plan had been to restore the windows; however, during the abatement testing phase, workers found that the window glazing and caulk contained asbestos. To remediate the asbestos-laden glazing and caulk and keep those windows would have exhausted the budget. It took a year before all the agencies involved agreed that the windows could be replaced, with similar windows.
The design team went back to the original manufacturer, Hope's Windows, Inc., still in business, to see if they could reproduce the original window design. Working with both the construction management team and the design team, Hope's personnel came up with several designs that mimicked the existing windows. Once the window designs were approved by the historic preservation entities, GSA moved forward with replacement of approximately 276 existing windows. Following this approval, the construction management field team began working with the general contractor and with Hope's to schedule production so the windows could be manufactured, shipped and installed in time for the Commissioner's offices to open on time.
Fish Spawn: One of the biggest challenges affecting construction on the entire campus and not just Building 1 was a stream running near the project boundaries. Because this stream is a contributory to Paint Branch Stream, which is protected as "Waters of the U.S.," no construction activities are allowed between October and May within the stream buffer zone due to the sensitivity of native fish that spawn during that time. To build a new six-lane entry road, which was crucial to the development of the entire site, the team had to divert part of that stream, and to do so they had to go to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) for a variance.
Approval of this variance came with the stipulation that it would only be good for a maximum of 14 calendar days. The CM team worked with the general contractor and the utility contractor to develop a material delivery and construction schedule that would meet the stipulations of MDE's variance approval. The team spent two months building a diversion for the stream, used the diversion for just two days during the off-season (which met the stipulation), and then returned the stream to its normal banks.
About Tishman Construction Corporation
In business for 112 years, Tishman Construction Corporation (http://www.tishman.com/) is a privately held firm headquartered in New York City and has operating units located across the United States and in the United Arab Emirates. Known for successfully managing the complexities of construction, innovative approaches to building, historic restoration, and sustainable-building leadership, Tishman is responsible for the construction of more than 450 million square feet of space, incorporating facilities of every size and type, including arts and culture, commercial, convention centers, education, gaming, government, healthcare, hospitality, residential, retail, sports and leisure, technology and transportation. TCC ranks # 1 in the nation on Building Design & Construction magazine's Top Construction Managers list for green construction, since approximately 70% of its projects are sustainable.
Tishman's current and recent projects in the Washington, DC area include:
- Department of Homeland Security Headquarters: Tishman and AECOM are providing construction-management services for Phase 1 of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's new headquarters at the former St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital campus, a National Historic Landmark in Washington, DC. This project is pursuing LEED Gold certification.
- National Institutes of Health Headquarters: On-going general contracting assignments for the NIH at its Bethesda, MD headquarters.
- American Pharmacists Association Headquarters: Renovation of a 17,000-square-foot historic structure on the National Mall, demolition of an existing non-historic annex, and construction of new 330,000-square-foot office building addition. The project won LEED® Gold certification from the United States Green Building Council in March.
TCC's current and recent projects nationwide include:
- New York: One World Trade Center (previously known as the Freedom Tower), to be LEED Gold and the city's tallest building at 1,776 feet.
- Las Vegas: MGM MIRAGE's and Dubai World's 18-milion-square-foot CityCenter complex, which achieved six LEED Gold certifications for towers designed by world-renowned architects.
- Chicago: Construction of a $2-billion capital improvement program throughout the Chicago public school system.
Note to press: hi-res photos are available from nhopcraft@tishman.com.
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For more information please contact:
Richard Kielar
Tishman Construction Corporation
(212) 399-3617
kielar@tishman.com
Barbara Wagner
Rubenstein Associates
(212) 843-8035
bwagner@rubenstein.com
